View Poll Results: How do you carry your tripod? (Select as my as you like.)

Voters
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  • 1) It’s inside (or attached outside) my pack/bag

    38 22.89%
  • 2) Usually in hand, switching L and R

    55 33.13%
  • 3) It’s in hand – often in “hiking stick” style

    13 7.83%
  • 4) Over the shoulder(s)

    97 58.43%
  • 5) On wheels! (e.g., a baby carriage)

    8 4.82%
  • 6) Me carry? I use family/friend/assistant/beast of burden

    5 3.01%
  • 7) Depends on the distance

    16 9.64%
  • 8) Depends on the weather/terrain/set-up location

    8 4.82%
  • 9) Depends on which tripod I use

    10 6.02%
  • 10) “My way is different – check-out my post!”

    6 3.61%
Multiple Choice Poll.
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Thread: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

  1. #21
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    Most people tend not to trust the camera's hand strap -- especially with older cameras. If I am carrying the 8x10 across the room I tend to carry it under my arm rather than by the strap -- even though it is a relatively new camera. If the leather does not break, then one still has to worry about the fittings and the screws holding in the wood.

    I have an old Eastman View No. 2 5x7 that I carry on the pod -- I have a nylon stuff sack that fits over the camera (and head). Hiking through the redwoods, the sack reduces the chance of the camera catching on something, the bellows getting punctured, or drips from leaves getting the camera wet.

    I find the Zone VI 8x10 just too big to carry on the pod -- awkward weight.

  2. #22
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    Quote Originally Posted by William McEwen View Post
    ...Stieglitz had the tripod over his shoulder. The camera was folded, and hanging from the tripod’s legs by the camera's handstrap. Camera was out in front of him...
    I think I can imagine this, like the hobo below, stick over shoulder – but w/ “belongings” in front, not behind. Probably better balance that way, if Stieglitz’s tripod was already top-heavy.

    Like Vaughn, I’d always worry about the camera catching on a branch or vine, or knocking against a tree or rock.

    BTW, the Ries wooden design makes it comfortable on the shoulder. You can see how the knobs stay out of the way. Two of its legs actually lay on the shoulder (not just one), better distributing the weight. There’s also a slight “springiness” in the wood, like a shock absorber. Maybe not as comfortable as Kev’s foam pipe insulation, but prettier!

  3. #23
    Stefan
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    Apr 2010
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    For all of you carrying the tripod over your shoulder, how far are you comfortable carrying it like this?

  4. #24
    austin granger's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    Quote Originally Posted by engl View Post
    For all of you carrying the tripod over your shoulder, how far are you comfortable carrying it like this?
    About sixteen miles, eight per shoulder.

    I strikes me that perhaps someone should develop a fitness plan specifically for large format photographers.

  5. #25
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    My personal answer is very different from the master of balance, Austin:

    As a “tripod-in-hand” person, only a few yards to the next shot!

    For me, the principal attraction of carrying the tripod “in-hand” when on the trail is its use as a “balancing pole.” It works this way every single second I’m walking, w/o my thinking about it. That is, I’ll move the tripod slightly this way or that – I’m talking inches – correcting my balance (or counter-acting my imbalance). When on my shoulder, this trail benefit is lost – as is its use as an occasional walking stick, or an emergency, in-the-ground stability pole.

    Coincidentally, the farthest I’ve walked w/ my tripod (the Ries J600) in one day is about 16 miles, but that was down a flat canyon in Utah. I carried it the whole time in my hand, not in my pack. It was a cool autumn day, and I was wearing gloves…

  6. #26
    ARS KC2UU
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    I use a Tamrac tripod bag with a perfect fit and carry it by the handles.

    Bob G.
    All natural images are analog. But the retina converts them to digital on their way to the brain.

  7. #27
    austin granger's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    I should amend my last. I can do sixteen miles, but not "comfortably." There's a lot of suffering involved.

  8. #28

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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    Quote Originally Posted by austin granger View Post
    It strikes me that perhaps someone should develop a fitness plan specifically for large format photographers.
    I think being a large format photographer is a fitness plan!

  9. #29
    ROL's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?


    Complete 5X7 camera pack - the reason I use 4 leg sectioned tripods and ballheads – always except for very short distances over open terrain.

  10. #30
    MIke Sherck's Avatar
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    Re: How do you carry your tripod over hill & dale?

    Quote Originally Posted by engl View Post
    For all of you carrying the tripod over your shoulder, how far are you comfortable carrying it like this?
    With the 4x5 and most gear in a backpack and the tripod on a strap over my shoulder, I'm good for as many miles as my feet will hold up to. For the 8x10 monorail on the tripod and carried over one shoulder (with the dark cloth as padding and the tripod legs wrapped in foam insulation,) there's also a cooler bag with lenses, film holders, etc. over the other shoulder. Three or four miles on the level, a couple if there are hills involved. Wish I were 20 years old again -- the mileage would be a lot greater than it is today at 53!

    Mike
    Politically, aerodynamically, and fashionably incorrect.

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