Tripod opinions, please

[Flinor]

The time has come for me to admit that I need a tripod, if only for my MF cameras. Somehow I can't imagine street shooting with a tripod. (Growing old grudgingly, not gracefully) I'd like something reasonably compact folded for travel and have come down on the Cullman Magic II or possibly one of the new Velbon Ultras. Unfortunately, there's no place in this city to go look at them.

Do any of you have any opinions, experience or comments?

Thanks much.

 

[back alley]

gitzo make some of the finest tripods out there.
expensive but it would be the last one you ever bought and you could give it to your grandkids.

joe

 

[bobofish]

Judging from your two choices, your alloted cashola probablly doesn't stretch this far, but Gitzo is very very dependable.
I was lucky enough to get a set of Gitzo legs with a Manfrotto ball at an antique store in Vienna of all odd places, and I paid a grand total of $15 for an almost new tripod. It has served me very very well, and is very very sturdy despite it's being one of the smaller four section legs.

I've had nothing but bad experience with Velbon, and especially if you've got something like MF on there, I'd say try to do a little better.
Cheers,
L

 

[Little Prince]

If I remember right the Cullman magic is one of those strangely designed tripods that are supposed to be versatile. The kind of thing people like for macro? Well I'm not sure, I'm only speaking from memory. But if it's anything like a Benbo, it's a tricky choice. Many people like it, but I have one and loathe it. It's cumbersome and tedious to use, not to mention the weight. For MF (unless you do things like macro), you might want to look at regular tripods. Most 4-section legs are supposed to fold into an airline cabin bag.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Go for light weight. The tripod you carry is better than the one you leave at home because it is too heavy. Remember that center columns are effectively upside-down pendulums. Avoid all extras such as geared center columns, QR plates, etc., on low-end tripods: they always add weight and usually add slop.

One of my favourite tripods -- I have maybe eight or ten, after buying the first when I was 16 -- is a late 50s or early 60s MPP with NO center column. Not very high, but very light (maybe 1 kg, a couple of pounds) and it holds a 5x4 inch camera OK at about 1.2-1.3 metres (4-5 feet) off the ground.

When two tripods of apparently similar specification differ greatly in price, the more expensive one will usually (not always) be a great deal more durable -- leg locks especially -- and is also likely to be quicker and smoother to use. I'd far rather have a good, used, top-quality tripod like a Gitzo than a new, cheaper one.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[peter_n]

What Joe said. I did some reasonably extensive research about a year ago, and luckily I live in a big city. To cut a long story short I ended up with a used Gitzo G-1228 (4-section legs) that cost about $320 I think. The runner-up was a G-1227 (the 3-section leg version of the same tripod). I was able to try all of my choices in a couple of dealers in Boston. You do need to try them - I can't believe that in a city the size of Phoenix there isn't a single tripod to be found...

 

[Jason_K]

Gitzo is the best, but Manfrotto makes some fine ones as well, and they're not quite as expensive as their French cousins. Bogen Imaging distributes both brands:

www.bogenimaging.us

 

[Honu-Hugger]

Sachtler makes the best tripods that I've found, better built than even the Gitzo's -- I use a couple of Video 14's with fluid heads, but they make a variety of models both larger and smaller. For a really lightweight tripod I have a small Gitzo carbon fiber model with a ballhead, but I don't recall the model number. I bought it to hike with and to only use with small cameras; it's nice within its limits.

 

[kai]

According to a guy in a Sydney camera shop I was talking to last month, Gitzo are now being manufactured by Manfrotto - does anyone know if that's really true? He said that the solid steel tripods are being (or have been) replaced with carbon fibre equivalents. I drooled over a little Gitzo compact travelling tripod of the heavy steel variety, but the high price tag drove me to a Manfrotto 714 instead. The Gitzo would have been worth every penny - a solid gem of a thing - but alas, well beyond my budget this month...

 

[Bertram2]

The time has come for me to admit that I need a tripod, if only for my MF cameras. Somehow I can't imagine street shooting with a tripod. (Growing old grudgingly, not gracefully) .

If you would tell me from what reason you now need a tripod ( age) now and for which purpose we could find out if you need a tripod at all or if a monopod could do the trick too ? A monopod can work decently down to 1/4 sec, sometimes 1/2sec is still fine. I use a Manfrotto, but Gitzo makes one which can be a Trekking stick too. If necessary you can use it as a weapon. 😀

If you really need a tripod take a leightweight (carbon) and compact for the RF. Best is to test it in the shop, the design solely does not say anything about it's stablity.

Best,
bertram

 

[Flinor]

Thanks very much , guys. I was afraid that you were going to tell me what you did. No shortcuts, just do it right the first time.

Roger, lightness is what I was trying to achieve with the two that I mentioned, but I agree completely. I went back to rangefinders after lugging a three body, seven lens SLR outfit on a trip 20 years ago. Ech day something else got left behind.

Peter_N, it's worse than that. The only store in town that had any selection at all closed last year to make room for light rail. The next best has a couple of Bogen's and some elcheapo Sunpacks. After I retired I worked in a pro oreinted store that carried everything, with access to all the reps I wanted. Now I move to the fifth largest city in the country and all I've got is the B&H catalog.

Bertram, I've got a couple of monopods, one of which doubles as a walking staff but because of my new abode, I've got less opportunity for street and urban landscape and more chance to shoot cactus and rocks. I've discovered that cactus and rocks are a good pinhole subject and the exposures are way beyond my hand holding ability.

Thanks again. It's time to turn to the Gitzo page.

 

[sf]

OK. I have very strong feelings about tripods. I shoot every format, all sorts of cameras from very light to very heavy, and the best tripod I have ever used is a Manfrotto with a traditional three knob movement. It's very very rigid, handles even my monorail with ease, and I can extend it out to something like 7 feet or more without it getting wobbly. I've used it on hikes and have set up cameras in rivers on stones. I use it daily when shooting with my other cameras and it takes really fast, tough quick release plates.

Look into Manfrotto. They are the best of the best. The model number is 3030 for the head and 322WN for the legs. Absolutely the best out there, and I would call it the standard. It came together in a box from Samy's Camera in Los Angeles.

Stay away from the carbon fiber ones. They are too light. The nice weight of my Manfrotto adds serious stability. Though it is a little heavy for hiking.

NOW I actually read through the original post to this thread and you are looking for a street photography tripod. Then you are probably best off with a monopod. Or maybe one of those little pocketable ones. I use those sometimes, and I just set it up agaist a tree, or on a chair, or whatever is around. Leitz made a really nice one.

 

[wdenies]

For the "field" work I use the Manfrotto Digi 728B.
It is not that heavy and has 3 segment legs which give a max. working height of 1.65m.
It is stable enough to support my Mamiya 645 camera.
In the past I used a Velbon but i find it too heavy for travelling.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, this illustrates how widely opinions differ. I'd second the praise of Sachtler, but even then I wouldn't say without qualification that they are 'the best'. Nor would I say that of either Gitzo and Manfrotto (and I own both) or anything else: too much depends on what you want it for.

As for a carbon fibre tripod being 'too light', I couldn't disagree more: there's no such thing as a tripod that's too light, only a tripod that isn't rigid and 'dead' enough, and the weight of a tripod is not that much related to its rigidity or deadness. By 'dead' I mean its ability to absorb vibration, and carbon fibre is excellent for this.

You probably know that a heavy camera can be MORE stable on some light tripods than a light one, because it compresses all the joints, takes up the flex in the legs, and increases the inertiia -- but this tends to be true only if you don't use a center column, or at least, don't crank it very high.

I cheerfully use a Slik Snapman or a Velbon 343 (1 kg) under 35mm cameras (Leica, Voigtlander) and hav e used it successfully under an MF Alpa, but with long lenses I need something heavier and 'deader'. My biggest tripod is a 10-kg (22 lb) Linhof but I rarely use it. Even my 12x15 inch Gandolfi sits fairly adequately on a tripod thay weighs about 7 kg (under 15 lb) and my standard tripod for 5x7 inch weighs only about 4 kg, 9 lb.

Hope this helps,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

 

[bobofish]

If your goal is to be shooting cactus and other desert beauties, then I would heartily suggest Gitzo's Explorer tripods.
I don't own one, but almost bought one a few weeks ago after a lot of research for some particularly tricky run and gun video work out on some rivers. I discovered that the Explorer was unique for several reasons, namely the center column can be moved to many angles, and can also be inverted to mount the camera between the legs of the tripod, in other words very close to the ground.

Having your camera on a stable tripod very close to the ground could be a very unique way of shooting desert wildlife, it seems to me.

Also, all the legs lock independantly, at any angle. Consequently, you can spend more time shooting, and less figuring out exact lengths for each leg, etc. As I recall, it still has a spirit level on the legs, so if you had a bare bones head, you'd still be able to get the thing level without too much work.

Also, despite the center column being on a pivot (it's mounted just off center of the legs) it is very surprisingly stable. I anticipated that even though it was a Gitzo, it would not be particularly stable since it isn't your normal type of center column.....I was very wrong, and even though I really reefed on the thing in the shop, it was very very stable.

Unfortunately the carbon version is a lot more expensive (Gitzo carbon is among the best I've seen) the metal version (I think Gitzo's are mostly aluminum now) is not much heavier, on the order of a few ounces or so.

I heard through the grapevine that Gitzo will be coming out with an Explorer in their new Basalt fiber in the next few months, it might be worth emailing Gitzo or calling one of the reputable shops around the country.

I can't say enough good things about my little Gitzo, I've beaten the daylights out of it, and submerged it in water for video work, with a 10 pound camera. It was very stable, and after proper drying, it still works superbly.

Another option, though I am loathe to mention it is a new chinese company called Giottos. They make what seem like Gitzo spinoffs, and supposedly are quality products despite usually being half as spendy as Gitzo's. They have a set of legs very much like the explorer, and I believe the legs cost something like $110 or so, compared to B&H's Explorer price of I think $180.

I was lucky to get my Gitzo for very very cheap, but even if I had had to pay full price for it, it would have still been a bargain, because it will obviously still be in working condition many years from now....other tripods I have abused from Manfrotto, etc. fell apart after not nearly as much bad treatment.
Cheers,
L

 

[Rob]

Check out the Bogen/manfroto DIGI series. I have the older 719b and its perfect for rangefinder cameras as well as others. Has a built in ball head and they only come in black and cost about $100 us.

 

[sf]

about carbon tripods

about carbon tripods

I agree about the vibration deadening qualities of carbon fiber. I didn't think of that. The gitzo carbon tripods I tested were stable, but light enough that they were easily disturbed by bumps and such. For street stuff, I suppose carbon would be a good idea though. They ARE a fraction of the weight of my beefy manfrotto.

I wrote the bit about the heavy Manfrotto before noticing that the poster was asking for info on 'street photography' tripods. In his case, a monopod or a small carbon tripod will be best.

 

[r-h]

Berlebach

Berlebach

Just to throw in one more: www.berlebach.de - they are sold worldwide.
The reporter series (I own a 9013 and my wife a 8003) is very stable (up to 4x5 " Field without problems). Wood still has the best damping properties out there, which may important if the MF is not a RF. And you can work at a level of 8 cm over ground (w/o head) if needed.
I worked with Gitzo (the leg screws are still a nightmare) and Bogen/Manfrotto and would not change back.
Weight is not as bad as you would expect it - and they look god (but this should not be the point you make your decision)
Regards
Robert

 

[2maneekameras]

I really like my tiltall tripods, although they are not very compact or lightwieght. They used to be the standard by which other metal tripods were judged. They are robust, very adjustable and substantial. I use them for all my cameras up through 4X5. For my larger formats I use wooden tripods partially for the dampening aspects of wood as mentioned abocve by r-h.

 

[Imagestreet]

I have just bought the Manfotto Neotec with a 322 pistol grip head. The Neotec is expensive ($300 from B&H) but it has a unique pull/push leg mechanism that allows you to set it up, use it, and have it packed away in the same time as you would take to open up the leg levers on other tripods. It is SOOO fast to use. I bought it on the basis that I would actually use a tripod that didn't require at least 30-60 secs to set up. My Neotec can be up and ready to shoot in about 10 to 15 secs!