Thoughts on wood tripods

[Fred L]

I absolutely love the leg locks on the Ries tripods.

Ditto this and the reason why I sold my Berlebach to get a Ries. Yeah it's heavier but feels much more solid imo. The two way heads are dead simple to use and I like them better than ball heads for LF work.

If it's still for sale, I'd suggest emailing john sanderson about the Ries he has for sale here.

[Bob Salomon]

Ditto this and the reason why I sold my Berlebach to get a Ries. Yeah it's heavier but feels much more solid imo. The two way heads are dead simple to use and I like them better than ball heads for LF work.

If it's still for sale, I'd suggest emailing john sanderson about the Ries he has for sale here.

We still have too much confusion about Berlebach.

You apparently had the Berlebach Report series. That is much lighter then the Berlebach UNI series.
A UNI series tripod, without head, weighs between 9.3 Lb and 19.6 Lb, depending on the model.
A Report series tripod weighs between 4 Lb and 8.6 Lb depending on the model chosen, also less head.

A Ries may not be lighter then a Berlebach, it simply depends on which you are comparing to what.

The most common Berlebach tripods sold in the USA are the Report series but we do sell the UNI series as well. So they are not uncommon. And at PMA in Jan. both series will be on display. At PHOTOPLUS in NYC this month only the Report will be shown.

[R Mann]

It's hard to beat a Ries. I own two of them. You can buy lighter weight tripods and you can buy cheaper tripods but if you want the best, it's hard to beat a Ries.

Another vote for Ries over Berlebach.

I have owned both brands and they both are good solid tripods. But, I did not like the preset leg angles on the Report series and the lack of a leg angle lock when you didn't use one of the preset angle stops. On the Ries you can place the legs in any position you want and lock them there quickly. The only reason I can think of to prefer a Berlebach would be if you didn't want to use a head, their built in leveling ball is a nice feature.

[Fred L]

You apparently had the Berlebach Report series. That is much lighter then the Berlebach UNI series.

The Uni series wasn't available when I bought my Report tripod and not sure it's currently available in Canada unless it's a special order item. There are many who love their Berlebachs and indeed I enjoyed using mine until I became familiar with Ries and their leg locks.

You cant go wrong with either and each will have features that the other won't. For me, the leg locks were more important than the levelling head/ball. ymmv

[Bob Salomon]

Another vote for Ries over Berlebach.

I have owned both brands and they both are good solid tripods. But, I did not like the preset leg angles on the Report series and the lack of a leg angle lock when you didn't use one of the preset angle stops. On the Ries you can place the legs in any position you want and lock them there quickly. The only reason I can think of to prefer a Berlebach would be if you didn't want to use a head, their built in leveling ball is a nice feature.

Again, Berlebach tripods have hooks on the back of the legs to hold leg angles wherever you want them by connecting a chain or twine to hold the legs at the desired angle. Additionally some Berleebach tripods are equipped with pre-set angle adjustments. These versions still have the hooks as well.

[john biskupski]

Another consideration, in addition to a tripod's dampening characteristics, are said to be the anti-rotational properties of twin-shank construction tripods like Ries, Berlebach and Linhof, which are pertinent to LF cameras with bellows extensions in the field. Gitzo also makes a big thing for its CF tripods about anti-rotational construction of its legs.

In terms of use, big Gitzo CF tripods like the 1325 and 1580 are very rigid indeed, more so than a Berlebach Report series, but not more so than a Ries A in my experience, but the Ries A is considerable heavier.

[Bob Salomon]

Another consideration, in addition to a tripod's dampening characteristics, are said to be the anti-rotational properties of twin-shank construction tripods like Ries, Berlebach and Linhof, which are pertinent to LF cameras with bellows extensions in the field. Gitzo also makes a big thing for its CF tripods about anti-rotational construction of its legs.

In terms of use, big Gitzo CF tripods like the 1325 and 1580 are very rigid indeed, more so than a Berlebach Report series, but not more so than a Ries A in my experience, but the Ries A is considerable heavier.

Then you might find these tests of interest:

http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=pro...prache=english

[ki6mf]

I have a Berlebach used it on Cambo and Shen Hao for 5 years now. Got the two leg version half the cost appx of a Reis. works great. No complaints.

[Jeff Dexheimer]

It came today. It's big and heavy (7 lbs exact) but it looks as good as my camera and it is sturdy as an tree (pun intended). So far I love the thing. I don't think I am going to miss having a ball head either. The rotation and tilt this offers is more than plenty for what I do.

[Fred L]

did you get the Ries posted here ?