Needed: Tripod Wisdom

[mdm]

This is what I would get. A berlebach 4032 with pan, I have a 4032 without the pan thing, but would go for it if I was doing it again. Centre posts are horrible, they destroy the nice clean lines and stability of a good tripod. It will hold my Korona 11x14 at a push, and the leverage on the ball is pretty massive, it does not move. http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=det...prache=english Use a 3 way head if you want, but its fine for most purposes without. Mostly I use it for a 5x7 2D and a 5x7 Nagaoka, a perfect match for me.

[Jac@stafford.net]

I inherited a Zone tripod that was a modified surveyor tripod. I built a thick aluminum replacement for the head. It is beautiful and heavy and absolutely steadfast. I used it with my forty pound plus handmade camera.

You can find the same in modern surveyor tripods and easily modify the head. The modern 'pod will be much lighter and just as functionary.

[Peter Spangenberg]

One more opinion that i hope is of some use to you. I shoot 5x7 and 8x10 Deardorffs with weights similar to your cameras. I use an old Gitzo traveller for both (heavy but solid), a tiltall occasionally for travel with the 5x7 (compact and sturdy enough), a wood Miller for 8x10 work (extremely sturdy, but heavy and large), and a J100 with J250 head for both. I have settled into the Gitzo for both when I plan to be in water, and the Ries for both for non water work. The Ries has never given me a fuzzy 8x10 negative, but it seems like it's about at it's capacity when the bellows is extended and there's wind. Wouldn't be without the j250 head. I had a Berleback with a ball head, and I didn't care for it for view camera work. Also, the Berlebach was heavier than the Ries.

[Bob Mann]

I am another very happy Ries user. There are differences between all of the ones you mention in adjustments and handles, but I think they would all work for you in the field. For me the location of the leg locks on the Ries means I can set and lock the leg angles from a standing position and I like that there are no preset leg angle stops.

[evan clarke]

I use a Zone VI 4x5 camera, a B&J 5x7 antique and a 12-lb B&J 8x10 Grover monorail, my heaviest camera. I've been using these cameras on an aluminum Bogen 3028 tripod with their 3-way head. I know, I know: the tripod is really adequate for a medium format camera (which is what I originally bought it for, many many eons ago,) but it's been "all right" for the larger stuff so long as it isn't windy and I'm careful about balance and so on.

Limiting one's photography to "nice weather" is rather frustrating though, and I want to go further into the danger zone. Thus, I'm hoping that you'll give me your thoughts and advice on the following tripods:

- Ries J100 tripod with some 3-way head.
- Berlebach 3042 tripod with a 3-way head,
- Zone VI tripod with a 3-way head.
- Recommendations on a 3-way head

Please keep in mind that while not elderly I'm not getting any younger and my days of traipsing up sand dunes with 30 lbs of camera gear are over.

Thanks!

Mike

MIKE.. Buy a Gitzo carbon..

[AJ Edmondson]

I have used a Berlebach (no center column) for about twenty years with everything from a Hasselblad on the small end to a Calumet C1 on the upper end and it is one of the few pieces of equipment that I have been completely satisfied with. The two-section legs adjust quickly and easily and - while it is a bit long when collapsed due to the two-section (instead of the three-section) construction I wouldn't swap it out for anything else I have used (Gitzo, Quick-set, Manfrotto and a few others! I relate to the comment on "getting longer in the tooth"... at 70 I am not ready to quit but the trips get shorter, the pack gets lighter and the breaks a little more frequent.
Joel

[MIke Sherck]

I'm curious about carbon fiber tripods. From reading over the years I am under the impression that the weight of a tripod contributes to stability, to the point where some photographers hang a bag of rocks from their tripods to increase their weight. Given that, wouldn't a lightweight tripod such as one made from carbon fiber be at a disadvantage compared to a heavier tripod, or does everyone with a carbon fiber tripod carry a bag with them to fill with rocks at need?

Mike

[Peter Gomena]

I own a Zone VI "lightweight" tripod I bought in 1980. I've used it with a Korona 8x10, my current whole plate camera, and my 4x5 field camera. It has served me well. It's solid as a rock under the 4x5 and the WP camera. It was adequate to hold the Korona. It is heavy, solid, and has steel feet that are easy to drive into the ground with a hiking boot. Would I trade it for a carbon fiber Gitzo capable of holding my biggest camera? Yes, in a minute. I'm not getting any younger and I'd like to lighten the load. Not being made of money, the big carbon fiber Gitzo or equivalent is not going to happen soon.

[biedron]

I'm curious about carbon fiber tripods. From reading over the years I am under the impression that the weight of a tripod contributes to stability, to the point where some photographers hang a bag of rocks from their tripods to increase their weight. Given that, wouldn't a lightweight tripod such as one made from carbon fiber be at a disadvantage compared to a heavier tripod, or does everyone with a carbon fiber tripod carry a bag with them to fill with rocks at need?

Mike

If need be I hang my backpack with the rest of the gear I'm not using at the moment from the tripod. No need for a special bag for rocks. But unless it is really windy the tripod alone is quite sufficient.

Bob

[Len Middleton]

I'm curious about carbon fiber tripods. From reading over the years I am under the impression that the weight of a tripod contributes to stability, to the point where some photographers hang a bag of rocks from their tripods to increase their weight. Given that, wouldn't a lightweight tripod such as one made from carbon fiber be at a disadvantage compared to a heavier tripod, or does everyone with a carbon fiber tripod carry a bag with them to fill with rocks at need?

Mike

Unlike a heavy tripod, you do not have to backpack the rocks, just use what you find on location...