Wood or Gitzo?

[hyperma]

Hmm... I can't afford a 4x5 flat bed camera,so I have to carry the blooy heavy Toyo to climb the bloody mountain in Spring.
Now I have a China made tripod,it's really heavy and dramatically unreliable(not always,I can't lock one leg).I want to buy a G1227 but I can't afford it before June,my friend told me I'd better to think about Linhof wood tripod,I never seen it before,do you have any idea with it? Thank you.

Chen

[Aender Brepsom]

Hello Chen,

I cannot tell you anything about a Linhof tripod, but about the famous german Berlebach wooden tripods. They are very well built and sturdy, yet just slightly heavier than carbon fibre tripods and most of all, the price is veeeery interesting!
I know the people from Berlebach quite well and I can tell by experience that they are absolutely honest and reliable.
Just check the net for their website.

Another option (though more expensive) might be the new basalt rock tripods made by Gitzo.

Good luck!

Aender

[Gem Singer]

Aender,

"Basalt rock tripods"? Do you mean carbon fiber? Carbon fiber is a form of reinforced plastic, similar to the material that graphite fishing rods, skiis, and tennis racquets are made of.

Chen,

I'm not aware that Linhof ever made a wooden tripod. Reis, in the USA, and Berlebach, in Germany make excellent wooden tripods. However, save up until you can afford the Gitzo. You won't be sorry.

[tim atherton]

""Basalt rock tripods"? Do you mean carbon fiber? Carbon fiber is a form of reinforced plastic, similar to the material that graphite fishing rods, skiis, and tennis racquets are made of. "

No - I think it's crushed basalt rock extrudedwith resin into basalt fibre for making the leg tubes etc

tough and light

[Gem Singer]

Tim,

Isn't Basalt rock a form of carbon?

[Bob Salomon]

"I'd better to think about Linhof wood tripod"

Then you are looking at an antique. The wooden leg tripod is an early version of the current Heavy Duty Pro tripod. Only the two outer legs were wood.

[Tom Westbrook]

Here's an interesting article about the basalt tripods. www.cathayphoto.com.sg/viewfinder/read/2005,01,10

They don't appear to come any bigger than series 2 at a 12lb/5.5kg max, so probably not sturdy for most LF cameras.

Also www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=1&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=SearchBar&A=search&Q=*&shs=gitzo+basalt&image.x=0&image.y=0

[Steven Buczkowski]

Isn't Basalt rock a form of carbon?

Basalt is a mix of silicates. Little to no carbon.

[tim atherton]

"Isn't Basalt rock a form of carbon?"

not sure - my exploration geologist father-in-law who is here says Feldspar, magnesium, olivine, iron/pyroxine, magnatite etc depending on what type and where it's from

He didn't think carbon was an important element?

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Basalt fibre Gitzos were presented the last Photokina (Oct 2004).
They are substantially less expensive than carbon fibre.
I would say that it is a a variant of fiberglass, basalt being a natural volcanic rock of glassy structure.
Difficult not to think of some marketing trick beyond real solid technology ; geological time scales being very long, shouldn't basalt-made tripods mean unlimited guarantee ? ;-);-)