What tripod do you use? [Archive]

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gkendrick

04-11-2002, 07:15 PM

04-11-2002, 07:20 PM

Hey, Mason... 
 
 
I wonder if anybody actually bothered to read your post. Has Pete received any Emails, yet? 
 
I am composing mine tonight. 
 
Jeff

MasonResnick

04-12-2002, 10:20 AM

Pete tells me he got over a dozen responses the first day the post was up.

Michael Lopez

04-25-2002, 11:42 PM

Is Pete unable to use the Internet? And are you, Mason, incapable of printing out a thread from this forum and handing the paper copy over to Pete? 
 
Seriously, wouldn't it make more sense to post comments in this forum, where other people can see and react to them, instead of having to e-mail Pete through a back channel? Moreover, a continuing series of posts here would keep this thread near the top of this discussion forum. 
 
FWIW, I use a Slik Snapman Deluxe. As the photographer Ellis Vener pointed out, a tripod that always stays in your closet, or that you leave behind in your car trunk because it is too burdensome to carry with you, contributes *absolutely nothing* to the quality of your photographs! The first tripod I bought, a Slik U-9000, weighs 3.5 pounds. I found it far too heavy and too bulky to carry around all day on vacation or on a hike, the circumstances in which I make most of my photographs. When I bought it, the 2.1 pound Snapman was the lightest available non-flimsy tripod; and its 19.5-inch collapsed length with head attached was among the shortest. I actually sometimes take it with me, even though its weight seems to triple over the course of a 12-hour touristic day. I more commonly rely on a combination of good hand-holding technique, an image-stabilizing lens, and color print film fast enough to allow quick shutter speeds. Meanwhile, that 3.5-pound U-9000 is sleeping in its dust-covered box under the guest-room bed. 
 
My thanks go to Herbert Keppler for writing about the Snapman in his SLR column, years before the Velbon Maxi 343E was invented. The Maxi weighs 0.1 pound less and collapses to a length 1.5 inches shorter than the Snapman, but I would guess that the Snapman's 3-section legs with braces make it steadier than the Maxi's 4-section legs without braces. I hope that someone at Pop Photo will actually test the steadiness of these two "travel tripods" by photographing the same subject with the same camera and lens on both.

roofguy

04-26-2002, 03:50 AM

The most revolutionary development of the 
recent past is the new (black rubber) 
Bogen 3157N QR plate and the variety of 
Bogen heads which can use it. 
 
Finally. F'n FINALLY, a manufacturer 
got it: what we want is a variety of ways 
to attach photo gear using the same QR plate. 
We want to be able to buy those plates in any 
camera store we find, and we don't want to 
pay $20 per plate! 
 
Manfrotto has no competition in this space, 
and I'm sure they're kicking *** . Good for 
them. 
 
Next up: other tripod and tripod head manufacturers 
which can mount to the 3157N.

Art

04-26-2002, 06:53 AM

I know this is way past the April 15th deadline. 
 
I use a Bogen 3221 tripod with the center column removed. The legs expand down to ground level and is sturdy enough to hold my heaviest camera and lens. I have two heads which I change out depending on the subject I'm shooting. A bogen 3047 pan and tilt head along with a Kirk BH-1 ballhead. Both heads and all camera bodies and lens with tripod collars are equiped with Arco-Swiss quickrelease plates and platforms. For macro work I use a pentax focusing platform, also equiped with the Arco-Swiss plates.

MasonResnick

04-26-2002, 12:31 PM

Thanks to all who replied, Pete was inundated with responses, many of which will be incorporated in the story! Our thanks to all who replied. 
 
All are, of course, free to continue the discussion here.

drh681

04-28-2002, 11:47 PM

OK! 
bogen/manfrotto old 3021 and I just yesterday changed the 3028 head for the 3262qr ball-joint head. this is going to take some re-learning. 
I found that the handles on the 3028 kept getting in the way. 
I am considering a set of gitzo2220 explorer legs, or maybe the benbo trekker2(same swinging center column) 
if I had 500$ to spare I'd definetly go for the carbon fiber legs.

DEF^DFA^SST

04-30-2002, 01:37 PM

this thread don't have enough replies maybe becoZ most of us don't have a Bogen or Gitzo tripod to tell people about... /ibb/skins/default/emoticons/smile.gif 
 
 
so there you go.

JGAJ

04-30-2002, 11:17 PM

Opps, missed the deadline but who cares. 
 
I have a Bogen 3021Pro. 
 
Likes: 
1. Legs that can be angled up to 90 degrees so it can sit flat on the ground. 
2. Quick flip action leg locks instead of the screw nob type. 
3. A center column that can placed horizontal. 
4. The center column can be removed and the camera mounted directly to the tripod. 
5. Rock solid. 
 
Dislikes: 
1. Weight 
2. Weird attachment for mounting the camera directly to the tripod. Could of been a better design. 
 
 
Heads: 
The Bogen 3265 Action Grip Ballhead. 
Likes: 
1. Fast one lever action. 
2. No creep. 
3. Quick release 
 
Dislike: 
1. It's 8-1/4" tall.