tripod for toyo 45 cf

[Alan Gales]

I'm not Jerold so I can't speak for him but I do own 2 Ries tripods.

The Feisol is a very well made, strong, very lightweight carbon fiber tripod. The Ries is a very well made, strong, not lightweight wooden tripod.

The advantage of the Feisol is it being very light weight.

The advantage of the Ries is it being on the heavy side and the leg locks.

When you are clumsy and bump into a heavy tripod they don't budge quite as easily. Yeah, outdoors you can hang rocks or water jugs from your tripod but it doesn't really work that well taking portraits indoors or interior architectural shots.

The Ries leg locks are fantastic. You can lock any of the three legs in any position so you can level the tripod on almost any terrain.

Both tripods are a great choice. Just pick the one that works for you.

[Yef]

You should get the lightweight Gitzo tripod of the 02 or 01 series - http://www.gitzo.us/series-2-carbon-...on-with-g-lock and a small ball head of Gitzo or Arca Swiss something like - http://www.gitzo.us/systematic-ball-...hydraulic-lock or http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...h_Panning.html
You can use a way bigger camera and heavier lenses with this kit .

[David A. Goldfarb]

For 8x10, I prefer a big Gitzo pan-tilt head. I find it easier to attach the big camera that way because a quick release plate is so obscured by the bottom of the camera that I have to duck down while holding up the camera to attach it.

Point the platform of the tripod as if you were going to set the camera to shoot straight down (or maybe for a vertical with a smaller camera--depending on how you orient the QR plate and head), and then attach the camera. No ducking down to see the QR that way, and less scratching the bottom of a flatbed camera with the tripod screw without a QR.

Also, if you have an older Arca-Swiss head with a large knob that interferes with the camera bed, RRS makes a smaller replacement knob. I had that issue with my B2 head.

[Trius]

I recently acquired a Velbon Geo E630 and Acratech GP head with Acratech clamp and plate. Both are very light but very stable and strong. The controls on the head are tight and positive. It's not necessarily the cheapest combination, but I feel certain I won't have to "buy again". I was going to get the Feisol, but the one I wanted was out of stock and the Velbon was a recommendation from Acratech.

[Brian Ellis]

I will check that out Jerold, thank you (I also spotted some feisol tripods on ebay).
By the way do you think it is better to use a 3-way head instead of a ball head? Isn't it a bit hard to control the movements precisely with a ball head (even though the weight is not much)? But I guess on that matter the best thing would be actually trying the tripod with the camera attached.

This question has come up here fairly often. While some people do use ball heads with LF cameras, I think it's fair to say more don't than do. A ball head might be more feasible with a camera as light as yours, especially if the photography you do doesn't require ultra-precision (e.g. landscape). But a 3-way head, or better yet a geared head, is generally easier to align precisely side-to-side and front-to-back than a ball head.

I use both a Feisol tripod and a Gitzo tripod. The Feisol is an excellent tripod, seemingly as well built as the Gitzo, and costs a whole lot less.