I have been using a Berlebach for over twenty years for 6x6cm through 8x10 (it is the oldest piece of equipment in my inventory) and I have never been dissatisfied with it. Admittedly I have coveted the Ries Tripods but never could afford to spring for it!
... just noted the ballhead query. Putting one of those on a Ries is like putting a Honda Civic temporary spare on a dumptruck. Just doesn't match. You throw away
all the stability of the tripod on a weak point. As everyone should know by now, I don't even use heads on tripods for view camera work. The top of the Ries itself
makes a far more stable platform, with the camera bolted directly on. You're only as good as your weakest link.
With my camera mounted on my Ries head and tripod, I find the weakest link is me.Originally Posted by Drew Wiley
One other thing, Ries offers on its web site customized camera to tripod-head platforms to maximize the camera-tripod interface, while eliminating camera-tripod head torque. No other tripod company matches a special photographer's needs to an otherwise outstanding tripod the way Ries will.
[Disclaimer: I have no association or interest in the Ries Company, I have simply never seen anything so well engineered and produced as their tripods. The are truly master pieces that are meant for a lifetime.]
You mean that you never looked here?
https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=re...prache=english
Quote from Berlebach, "On your request we are prepared to manufacture different products specifically adjusted to your requirements. "
The difference between the way a Ries head works and a Bogen quick release is largely one of surface area. The face-to-face contact between the tripod head and the camera is what provides most of the stability. That's why Drew's experience with discarding the head altogether works so well. That is, until you want to tilt the camera more than a few degrees.
Every time I read a thread like this I am reminded of the chapter written by Russell Porter on the subject of stability in telescope mounts in Amateur Telescope Making, Book 1 (I think it was book 1.). Mr. Porter pointed out the importance of large bearing surfaces with full face contact, but also advocated increasing the mass of the mount. Fine if you're dealing with a permanently fixed mount; not so good if you want mobility with a LF camera...
My experience with the Bogen quick-release heads (admittedly several decades ago) was that their castings were rough with no machined faces such that the mating between the mounting plate and the head was ill-defined with the mounting plate/camera combination "hunting" for a secure position. Still, there is little substitute for a large bearing area and the Ries wins that contest.
Are you referring to the A250-2-L57? That's the closest I could find on their site.
And that's interesting as one of my projects a a dozen or so years ago when I had access to a friend's well-equipped machine shop was a 3/8" aluminum plate made to fit the bed of a 5x7 Linhof Technika. As it was 6 inches square, it mated fully with the top of a Ries A250 tripod head. That camera was a tank(more so with the plate attached), but it was solid as bedrock with that setup.
I have also documented previously in these pages the adapter I made for a 12x20 Folmer & Schwing which was much simpler to make as it is mostly 3/4" plywood. The plywood fully supports the bed of the camera and has hardwood rails top and bottom to prevent it from twisting atop the head or the camera twisting atop the adapter. As that camera is otherwise somewhat ungainly, the adapter helps to rein it in.
Large format is fraught with compromise. The tradeoffs increase with format size.
my 2¢.
The Ries platform head is about the best one out there for big flatbed cameras. Sinar has their own pan-tilt head for their monorails, itself significantly more stable than conventional heads. You already know my preference - none of the above. For extreme tilts downwards, sometimes I'll pack a stainless or aircraft aluminum
right-angle bracket, appropriately tapped, still more stable and lighter weight than any head.
And Linhof has their own special mounts for their monorails and I believe Cambodia, and others also did. So what?
Cambodia??
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