Great job finding and posting those links! They give you some other options as well. I use an Arca Monnoball too.
Great job finding and posting those links! They give you some other options as well. I use an Arca Monnoball too.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
It's easy to make a plate. I've done it a number of times just using a basic commercial drill press.
The plate has a much larger diameter. It would take more torque to twist it. But ...
The biggest problem I've encountered was trying to use a 1000mm lens on an SLR in a windy location. I mounted it on a Gitzo series 2 with the center column all the way down and tightly locked in place. The image moved around so much that I didn't even try to take a picture. I spent 15 minutes or so trying to determine where the movement was but couldn't. The legs seemed stable, the head seemed securely tightened down, head movements seemed solid. I had previously often used the same tripod with a Tamron 400mm f4 (SLR lens) + 1.4x teleconverter getting great results. I tried holding the tripod and pushing on the lens, etc. but couldn't locate the problem. After that experience, I switched to larger Gitzo and RRS tripods without the center column and have never run into a similar problem. Perhaps it was just the legs bending a little but I try to stay away from center columns (outdoors) ever since.
I suspect the video style tripods with dual struts for each leg would be the most stable in a windy location.
jeff
Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder
Series 2 versus series 5 is a pretty big difference!
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
Very interesting series of posts on the centercolumn.com. Thank you NormaN.
The one that stood out for me was https://thecentercolumn.com/2018/04/...center-column/
The directional stiffness of carbon fiber apparently makes it a poor choice for the center column. Unfortunately, the series of articles don't give any examples of the impact on actual pictures. Is the worst still very workable in normal conditions?
Yes, for the equipment I most often use it is hard to imagine a series 5 flexing enough to be noticeable in the image. In calm conditions the series 2 was surprisingly capable. I took some photos of Monarch butterflies overnighting on some trees. Even though the view included probably a hundred Monarchs, the image could be enlarged to show their antennae.
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