Al Kaplan
Veteran
I'ver had my Studex since the 1970's. The weight adds stability. Push come to shove it'd make one hell of a defensive weapon!
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Wow! A lot of people here seem to be into the Studex/Tiltall/Davidson sort of really rugged, heavy, rock solid tripods, with collets, from the 70s.
Yeah, if that idiot Timothy Treadwell had one of our tripods, he might still be alive.
fotobiblios
Established
Berlebach
Berlebach
Anyone using the excellent Berlebach wooden tripods from Germany?? very well made - www.berlebach.de - I have one with the three-section legs with centre post (non-berlebach head) cost me half the price of the carbon I was wanting and delivery Germany-UK took one day. I'm very impressed with it.
Also use a Tiltall and small Vivitar.
Danny
Berlebach
Anyone using the excellent Berlebach wooden tripods from Germany?? very well made - www.berlebach.de - I have one with the three-section legs with centre post (non-berlebach head) cost me half the price of the carbon I was wanting and delivery Germany-UK took one day. I'm very impressed with it.
Also use a Tiltall and small Vivitar.
Danny
I just bought a Manfrotto 55xbPro. I was going to get the plain old xb, but the pro model was cheaper on Amazon. (interestingly B&H only offers this tripod in kits and I already have a ball head).
I have never had a real tripod before. I have an old cheap Slik which did the trick for a little while. I am looking forward to having a real tripod.
I have never had a real tripod before. I have an old cheap Slik which did the trick for a little while. I am looking forward to having a real tripod.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
I've been looking for one to use with my Cambo 4x5. Haven't found one for next to nothing on ebay yet though.
antistatic
Well-known
Another Gitzo Basalt user here. With the Gitzo off centre ball head it is a great combination.
Frank Petronio
Well-known
Currently using a black Leitz Tiltall that I found in mint condition for $125 and it's well worth it, although they usually cost less. The Leitz-era manufactured Tiltalls are the best, the current ones the worst. Gary Regester has a Tiltall fetish and sells various parts and modifications:
http://www.plumeltd.com/tiltall.htm
I also have a giant #5 Gitzo 5-section 110" legset but I sold the Sinar pan-tilt head that was on it. But when I get around to it I will put one of the big Gitzo #5 low profile heads on so I can use it with my Olympus Stylus.
The very best tripod I ever have seen or used was the latest, tallest Gitzo #3-series carbon-fiber with the exquisite Linhof 3-way head. It went 9 feet tall and could hold an 8x10 while being only 4-5 lbs. I sold it last year when I needed the money, it was worth well into the middle-teens.
I used to think weight was good, but if you can afford carbon-fiber it is best because it dampens the vibration far better than the metal legs (and if you set it up right and have half a brain it isn't going to blow away....)
Finally, I used to have all that Arca-Swiss clamp junk and it is a great way to piss a lot of money down the drain. Just screw it.
http://www.plumeltd.com/tiltall.htm
I also have a giant #5 Gitzo 5-section 110" legset but I sold the Sinar pan-tilt head that was on it. But when I get around to it I will put one of the big Gitzo #5 low profile heads on so I can use it with my Olympus Stylus.
The very best tripod I ever have seen or used was the latest, tallest Gitzo #3-series carbon-fiber with the exquisite Linhof 3-way head. It went 9 feet tall and could hold an 8x10 while being only 4-5 lbs. I sold it last year when I needed the money, it was worth well into the middle-teens.
I used to think weight was good, but if you can afford carbon-fiber it is best because it dampens the vibration far better than the metal legs (and if you set it up right and have half a brain it isn't going to blow away....)
Finally, I used to have all that Arca-Swiss clamp junk and it is a great way to piss a lot of money down the drain. Just screw it.
FallisPhoto
Veteran
Well, weight is good -- if you're not going to ever have to lift it. I guess that's why Canon's test "tripods" are big honking blocks of concrete with threaded studs sticking out of the top of them.
maddoc
... likes film again.
... Gitzo GT2941 with Gitzo G1177M head. Works great at -12 degrees Celsius with a Hasselblad 500 C/M + 80/2.8 Planar T* 
With Roleiflex 3.5E + Rolleifix it loks like this:
With Roleiflex 3.5E + Rolleifix it loks like this:
Jerevan
Recycled User
A few years ago (must've been 5-6 years ago come of think of it) I bought some Slik 700DX tripod legs with a Manfrotto 141 RC head. It was light but it wasn't optimal as the head tended to work itself loose from the legs (there's no way to use a set screw with the Slik as with the Manfrotto legs). In the end I started to look for a replacement and found a nice, used 229 head instead.
I have had a Manfrotto 058, too. I think "heavy metal" is the key words here. Coupled with a Arca Swiss B1, it held a Horseman LE and a Sironar 210 pointing downwards at closeup distances like it was a Minox.
The nerd in me wants to get a Berlebach tripod to match my wooden LF, but I haven't gone that far. Yet.
I have had a Manfrotto 058, too. I think "heavy metal" is the key words here. Coupled with a Arca Swiss B1, it held a Horseman LE and a Sironar 210 pointing downwards at closeup distances like it was a Minox.
The nerd in me wants to get a Berlebach tripod to match my wooden LF, but I haven't gone that far. Yet.
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SteveM
Established
I use the same tripod, but with a 488RC2 head. Not the lightest for carrying around, but solid. Also use it only for MF, and usually only in low light.
For travel I take a Gitzo carbon fiber monopod with simple tilt head. Very light, compact, and adds great stability where hand held just won't work. They can be braced rigidly if necessary.
Steve
Dante_Stella
Rex canum cattorumque
A friend just gave me a Gibran yesterday. It's lovely, but as Roger says, a bit heavy. It is amazingly designed (it closes to a triangular tube) and extremely solid (easily as solid as my Linhof Profi-Stativ 2), although it is a challenge to close it without pinching your fingers (people thought it was a cut hazard - it's more of a crush/pinch hazard). Now I just need to find a head that's just as pretty. Well, at least I have a pod that looks good with a Silvestri...
Dante