carbon tripod for 8x10

[Vincent Malaud]

Hello,

I have not yet an 8x10 camera but I am really thinking of getting one. I use hasselblad and a graflex and was thinking of replacing my tripod.

The question is do you thing the Gitzo G1348 is enough for an 8x10 like Shen hao?? or shall I go for the G1548 ?

Thanks for your comments,

Vincent

[Walter Calahan]

For 8x10, the larger the better. Don't know the G1348, but if it has a center column hook to hang a weight, that's good.

I prefer a solid wood Ries tripod for 8x10 with a double tilt head.

You want so beef under a large camera even if it weighs less than 10 lbs. (have no idea how heavy that is in kilos). Why? Wind can move a lighter but bulky camera that has a lot of surface area to catch moving air.

[Jim Rhoades]

I agree with Walter. It is not so much the weight of an 8x10 as it is the sail area of the bellows. A undersize carbon tripod will be fine under perfect conditions. In the real world, wind and stuff happens. The 1500 series will handle the weight but...

There is a very good reason why so many of us love our Ries tripods. Faster to set up and use too.

[Frank Petronio]

I like Gitzos but a wood tripod would look nicer with a Shen. Maybe on of those less expensive German Wolfs (Sp?) that are sorta like a Ries, in the same way that a Shen is sorta like an Ebony?

[Rory_5244]

I'll disagree completely and say go for a G1228.

It works great. Wind doesn't phase it, or blow it over with the slightest puff. In any case, if your camera bellows is vibrating in the wind, the picture will still be affected even if you had the camera mounted and mortared in concrete. And the best reason to use a G1228: it just irritates everyone here when someone mentions it.

[tim atherton]

I find the Gitzo 1325 works just fine with my 8x10's (okay they are light - 5+ and 8+ lbs - but I've also used it with a Dorff). Get a nice used Gitzo low profile pan and tilt head to go with it

The cameras are heavy enough as it is, without a monster tripod

[Brian Ellis]

I'm not familiar with either of the tripods you mention so I can't comment on them except to suggest you go for whichever is the lightest. The worst tripod in the world is the one you leave at home because it's so heavy you hate carrying it.

Different people have different views on this but FWIW I don't subscribe to the notion that you must carry around a heavy tripod for an 8x10 camera just because a wind might come up. Frankly with the small apertures often needed to gain depth of field with 8x10 lenses you're going to have trouble with a strong wind no matter what you do. A heavy tripod won't stop the bellows from flapping or the foliage from moving. And for every minute I spend trying to photograph in a strong wind I spend hours carrying the tripod. I'll take my chances with the wind and in return I'll take a light weight tripod any day. I have a Gitzo 1325 that I used when I had a Deardorff and it worked fine so you might consider it if the two you mention don't work out.

[Capocheny]

I use a Manfrotto 475 studio tripod with a 405 head on it. It's certainly a hefty tripod but it's as sturdy as The Rocky Mountains. Having lugged it around on a number of shoots... I'm thinking of using it strictly in a studio environment.

[My back is fluttering in anticipation and gratitude! ]

The tripods I'm now considering for field work is either the Gitzo 1325 or the Berlebach 3022 wooden model.

I'll be using one of these models to hold a 8x10 Deardorff. So, all of these models will hold your Shen-Hao with absolutely no problems at all.

Price wise, the Gitzo 1325 is quite a bit more expensive than the Berlebach.

Cheers

[Vincent Malaud]

Thanks for your comments. I agree with Brian (to quote “The worst tripod in the world is the one you leave at home because it's so heavy you hate carrying it”). Therefore I thought carbon was the best deal but when you think of it, it is really expensive compare to wood tripods (except Ries!!).
I might go for the german tripods Wolfs mentioned by Frank… Thanks I will save some money

[Frank Petronio]

If you think about it, those expensive Carbon tripods may well have been wood. A hundred million years ago.