The Ries Tripods business status thread

[J.B. Harlin]

We have recently discovered that Ries Tripods has been sold and is now in full operation under new owners. I know there is another thread about their Intuit commercial, but here is more info on what they are up to. I have had several e-mail exchanges with the new owners and they are great people doing really good things for the photography community. Hopefully their business endeavors will be a great success. . . a lot of that depends on us, their customers.

http://jbhphoto.com/blog/index.php/2013/09/11/ries-tripods-new-owners/

[C_Remington]

So, there are NOT new owners??

"...the new owners are in reality those that have operated the company for the last 16 years."

Huh?? Completely confusing.

[Daniel Stone]

Owners are different than operators in this case.

Operators can be thought of as a manager. A shop foreman, etc... Owner="big boss"

Sounds like there was a buyout from old owners, and former management now has the reigns and 'ownership'.

-Dan

[gleaf]

I like my experiences with their service.

[C_Remington]

Sounds like semantics. I doubt anyone would have known the difference if it wasn't brought up. Plus I've heard of owner/operators too. I think it's still vague.





Owners are different than operators in this case.

Operators can be thought of as a manager. A shop foreman, etc... Owner="big boss"

Sounds like there was a buyout from old owners, and former management now has the reigns and 'ownership'.

-Dan

[Jac@stafford.net]

Sounds like semantics. I doubt anyone would have known the difference if it wasn't brought up.

In the future there will probably be questions regarding differences because some products are going to change.

[David Lindquist]

We have recently discovered that Ries Tripods has been sold and is now in full operation under new owners. I know there is another thread about their Intuit commercial, but here is more info on what they are up to. I have had several e-mail exchanges with the new owners and they are great people doing really good things for the photography community. Hopefully their business endeavors will be a great success. . . a lot of that depends on us, their customers.

http://jbhphoto.com/blog/index.php/2013/09/11/ries-tripods-new-owners/

Thank you very much for posting this. Very interesting. I wanna do the factory tour!
David

[Dhanner]

I recently bought a Ries head and Ries tripod/head kit and the experience has left a lot to be desired. It took many many weeks, e-mails, and then a call to get them. The first head looked like it was cobbled together as I order the black knobs but received one black and one bronze, but hey a partial upgrade I guess. It was wrapped in bubble wrap put in a box and shipped, no packaging, paperwork or anything. It had spots of oil here an there on it and some chips off the paint plus it didn't even have their name anywhere on it. Looked more like a used one or a prototype.

Now the tripod kit, it had bad (almost no) threads on the camera screw and the tripod head screw. I sent those back for replacement and it took at least 3 weeks with e-mails and a call before he sent me anything. Keep in mind I was told he would ship out replacements the day he received them back. When I received the replacements, the knob on the tripod screw (for the tripod head) was sloppily pressed on crooked and the brass retaining hardware on both of the screws replaced was improperly machined and wouldn't even screw on at all. I have sent photos, more e-mails, and called but no one answered to try and get replacement brass retaining hardware. That's been a few days ago and nothing since.

I really like the idea and look of these tripods but it seems to me that the quality is not non-existent and since I've pretty much been "ghosted" now I'm wondering if they are basically in the process of closing their doors now.

Anybody else here try to deal with them recently?

[Keith Pitman]

Buy a used one. The older ones were great.

[Dhanner]

Buy a used one. The older ones were great.

I surely would if I hadn’t already so much invested in the new one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vaughn]

Alas, it just tells me I need to take better care of my beast...

I had to have a part replaced, but that was back just after Ries moved up north.

[xkaes]

You should definitely post this in the Buyer-Seller Advisories SUB-FORUM -- SEE THE TOP OFF THE PAGE AND CLICK "FORUM":

Here's what it's for -- and tell Ries that you reported them:

Any reports about the outcomes of transactions with providers of products and services to large-format photographers must be made in the "Buyer/Seller Advisories" sub-forum. The purpose of this sub-forum is to provide a service to large-format photographers who need to know whom to trust in a small market. All posts in other forums complaining about specific transactions will be moved to this forum, and repeated mispostings by a person may result in moderator action. Threads in the Buyer/Seller Advisories forum must be: -Factual -Unemotional -Related only to what actually happened. Comments about the character or honesty of the person described will be deleted without notice, and repeated negative personal comments will result in moderator actions. Remember, personal attacks and abuse to other site users is not allowed on this forum. Demands for action are also not appropriate anywhere on the Large Format Photography Forum, and will be removed. The LFPF does not provide any mechanism for seeking resolution of an unsatisfactory transaction--resolution must be pursued outside the forum. This sub-forum is for simple reports of outcomes of transactions here and elsewhere. If the transaction occurred elsewhere, then it must involve transactions of products or services relevant to the large-format community.

[Jeff Keller]

I ordered a tripod from them less than a year ago. The screw used to attach the tripod head was bent, preventing a head from being attached. They replaced it without much difficulty, but they wanted to receive the bad one before they would send a replacement.

Attaching the knobs to the threaded pieces seems to be a weakness in their production methods. When I called them about getting the replacement they didn't seem surprised. I thought it was odd that they botched up, and weren't surprised, but I had to prove it before they took care of the problem. Their attitude towards customers isn't 5-star.

I am quite happy with the tripod.

[Drew Wiley]

I alway had superb rapid service from them, great quality too. I wonder if this is something pandemic-related which hit so many small businesses hard, and has proved difficult to overcome even now. They themselves are dependent upon subcontractors for components. Or it could be a generational issue; that kind of thing happens too. Hope they can respond with a reasonable answer.

[Dhanner]

I called again this afternoon (after starting this thread) and Spencer answered. Spoke with him for over 17 minutes and he brought up every issue you mention here in addition to his other two employees in the office are both out too plus he’s been out sick for nearly a week thus no returned e-mails (no good internet service at home I guess) and no returned calls. He did assure me he would send me two new brass retaining nuts and then has quite a lot of others to resolve for the same issue. Anyway, I am glad it is still going and hopefully going forward. I really like the tripod and hope he is able to keep the business going.


I alway had superb rapid service from them, great quality too. I wonder if this is something pandemic-related which hit so many small businesses hard, and has proved difficult to overcome even now. They themselves are dependent upon subcontractors for components. Or it could be a generational issue; that kind of thing happens too. Hope they can respond with a reasonable answer.

[Alan9940]

I'm with Drew...probably a pandemic-related issue, even though most think the pandemic is over. That said, seeing the stories in this thread sure makes me glad I bought my A100 and head (A200?) 40 years ago. Hope you get satisfaction eventually.

[WBYonder]

I placed an order from them at the end of July and was told that it would likely be 3-4 weeks until it shipped. I called last week and they said it should be shipping the end of this week. They said that they have had a surge of orders, particularly for A-100/A-250 tripods/heads. Said they normally get more J-model orders, so this was a bit surprising, and they are doing all they can to keep (or catch) up with orders. They thought there may be a resurgence of 8x10 in the US; also mentioned that Ilford was going to start making film in the US.

[Tin Can]

WOW Good news!




I placed an order from them at the end of July and was told that it would likely be 3-4 weeks until it shipped. I called last week and they said it should be shipping the end of this week. They said that they have had a surge of orders, particularly for A-100/A-250 tripods/heads. Said they normally get more J-model orders, so this was a bit surprising, and they are doing all they can to keep (or catch) up with orders. They thought there may be a resurgence of 8x10 in the US; also mentioned that Ilford was going to start making film in the US.

[interneg]

also mentioned that Ilford was going to start making film in the US.

Before anyone gets their underwear in a twist, this, if it means anything based in reality, likely refers to master roll conversion - the M14 coating machine is nowhere near capacity, but Ilford's 35mm conversion capacity (and possibly 120 too) seems to be near flat-out - to the extent that it seems to be affecting their ability to keep up with conversion of other products.

[Dhanner]

I placed an order from them at the end of July and was told that it would likely be 3-4 weeks until it shipped. I called last week and they said it should be shipping the end of this week. They said that they have had a surge of orders, particularly for A-100/A-250 tripods/heads. Said they normally get more J-model orders, so this was a bit surprising, and they are doing all they can to keep (or catch) up with orders. They thought there may be a resurgence of 8x10 in the US; also mentioned that Ilford was going to start making film in the US.

Interesting in that on August 11th they made a post on the website that they had 5 Rosewood A series tripod/head kits and were offering them for 40% off. Maybe overbuilt or someone back out of an order. I hope your experience goes much better and you get it when they said and everything is of good quality.

[Fred L]

Yikes, the price is pretty steep now, glad I got my A and J tripods with double heads years back. Would not want anything else under my 8x10 or 7x17.

Quick question for those who have them, what are the slider loops for ? Can't seem to figure it out.

[Michael R]

Glad I never got sucked into Ries.

[interneg]

Glad I never got sucked into Ries.

They've got a certain air of Hollywood/ F64 manqué about them.

A series 5 Gitzo is almost always a better choice.

[Jeff Keller]

They are the extra clamps so that the lower leg extension is held in place by two clamps instead of one.
see: https://www.riestripod.com/product/large-format/


Yikes, the price is pretty steep now, glad I got my A and J tripods with double heads years back. Would not want anything else under my 8x10 or 7x17.

Quick question for those who have them, what are the slider loops for ? Can't seem to figure it out.

[Tin Can]

I now prefer Chinese Tripods

They make very good stuff for less and somehow ship very fast

Got ANOTHER Tripod recently and will show it off shortly, as soon as I can FlickR ON

Then I wanted SS Spikes, bingo eBay

I am working on my FULL KIT under 20lbs

News at 6, someday...

[linhofbiker]

Always fancied a Reis tripod but found a near new ZoneVI large tripod off of Ebay last year. Nice to have a wooden tripod that can take abuse, just like my very old metal ones from Linhof.

[Tracy Storer]

Opinions vary.
I like Gitzos, AND my older Ries tripods. Horses for courses.


They've got a certain air of Hollywood/ F64 manqué about them.

A series 5 Gitzo is almost always a better choice.

[Drew Wiley]

Chinese tripods. Ha! I used to sell fiberglass clad CST Berger survey tripods made in the US. The Chinese made an identical looking clone at a third the price; but the legs would slip, and the hardware would break within a month - useless. Zone VI tripods were just tweaked so-so quality survey tripods, and nowhere near in the league of Ries. Both my Ries have held up superbly over decades of sheer torture. Gitzo was OK. But who needs their skin stuck to metal in freezing weather, or likes toting around a lightning rod over the high passes? Been there, done that.

And Ries should have a Hollywood air to them - that's what they were designed for to begin with, and their reputation has held up for a very long time indeed. I'd hate to see a temporary blip during an especially difficult season with respect to supply chain issues for many manufacturers interrupt that. But keep us posted, new purchasers.

[Vaughn]

I have done things with and done things to my Ries that would have required major repair/replacement of any Gitzo. I had the threaded portion of a Gitzo leg (Studex...Series 3) snap off in the Grand Canyon back in 1984 (temp. fix was using the tape I kept around one of the legs for such emergencies). At least this was back when it was easy to get a free replacement leg (thru B&H) and they tossed in replacement 'washers' or whatever they are called for the leg locks.

But the same Gitzo above also served me well on my bike ride in New Zealand, so I fond attachment for them...and still own/use a couple of them for the minature cameras (4x5, 5x7).

[Alan9940]

This is probably going to sound a bit silly, but one aspect of my A200 head that I really enjoy is that spring-loaded camera screw when setting up. I have a little trouble getting my 8x10 Deardorff mounted on a Gitzo G1570m head, but easy-peasy on the Ries head. Yeah, I know I could use any number of different mounting plates--been there, done that--but I prefer a large, solid connection between camera and tripod head.

[Michael R]

Well I wouldn’t expect anything else from a guy who built his enlarger out of a tree, or several trees laminated together with marine epoxy or whatever it was. Nevertheless I’d take a Gitzo over some wood clunker from the golden age of terrible talkies.


Chinese tripods. Ha! I used to sell fiberglass clad CST Berger survey tripods made in the US. The Chinese made an identical looking clone at a third the price; but the legs would slip, and the hardware would break within a month - useless. Zone VI tripods were just tweaked so-so quality survey tripods, and nowhere near in the league of Ries. Both my Ries have held up superbly over decades of sheer torture. Gitzo was OK. But who needs their skin stuck to metal in freezing weather, or likes toting around a lightning rod over the high passes? Been there, done that.

And Ries should have a Hollywood air to them - that's what they were designed for to begin with, and their reputation has held up for a very long time indeed. I'd hate to see a temporary blip during an especially difficult season with respect to supply chain issues for many manufacturers interrupt that. But keep us posted, new purchasers.

[Vaughn]

...but I prefer a large, solid connection between camera and tripod head.

I find that tilting the platform of the Ries head to vertical (or almost-vertical) makes it very easy to marry the hole and the screw with the 8x10 and the 11x14.

My cameras and some of the film holders are made of wood (with metal bits)...why not the pod? :cool:

[Michael R]

Wood is ok. I’m just winding Drew up a little. :)


I find that tilting the platform of the Ries head to vertical (or almost-vertical) makes it very easy to marry the hole and the screw with the 8x10 and the 11x14.

My cameras and some of the film holders are made of wood (with metal bits)...why not the pod? :cool:

[Vaughn]

Wood is ok. I’m just winding Drew up a little. :)

Watch it -- I was ready to sharpen up the spikes on my Ries!!

(Oh my, have they gotten rounded!!)

[Alan9940]

I find that tilting the platform of the Ries head to vertical (or almost-vertical) makes it very easy to marry the hole and the screw with the 8x10 and the 11x14.

My cameras and some of the film holders are made of wood (with metal bits)...why not the pod? :cool:

That's actually the way I mount the Deardorff on the Gitzo head, but these old eyes don't see so close anymore! ;)

[Torquemada]

so wierd that people are still letting high cost companies send them crappy product with massive defects, and blaming it on "covid"

[bmikiten]

so wierd that people are still letting high cost companies send them crappy product with massive defects, and blaming it on "covid"

I've been in manufacturing for 30 years and still have many contacts in both big and small industries. While there are still minor supply chain issues, small companies have simply not (based on my discussions) done much to correct these issues. They don't have the buying power to second source or redesign items, don't have the interest after deep hits to their top lines or simply don't care. I'm pretty amazed at the number of small businesses that just gave up because they were barely hanging on. Just commentary and no judgement.

[Mark Sampson]

It's perhaps a reminder of how many companies, whose products we LF photographers enjoy, are small and have few backup resources. I'm sure that for some businesses, the loss of one person can be critical. Some are 'shoe-string' operations, despite a well-known name, and lack access to the kind of financing a larger company would have... making recovery from any kind of business trauma more difficult.
I've never owned a Ries tripod, but I've seen and admired a few. I hope they get back on their feet (all three of them) before long.

[nitroplait]

Supply chain issues and associated problems staying afloat is not an acceptable excuses for shipping out defective products and thereby wiping their problems off on their customers.
It is closer to fraud IMO.

[bmikiten]

Fraud may be a bit tough. I do think they should alert the customer and let them know of changes or delays and allow them to cancel the order. I've dealt with them in the past and have several of their tripods. I have a hard time believing that they have all of a sudden decided to turn to a life of crime.

[Drew Wiley]

Take it easy. It might have been a temporary issue with a new hire, or someone who had to suddenly fill in for someone else. Who knows? Simply and politely ask to speak to the company owner and tell them your problem, or write that person in charge a letter about the specific problem. This is the first time I've ever personally heard a complaint about them, and it would be a shame to spoil a reputation which has been solid for decades due to what is mostly likely a brief anomalous blip.

Even the largest, best funded manufacturing companies sometimes encounter chuckholes, especially with regard to the past several years. And a small company like Ries relies on even smaller subcontractors. All it might take is for one key person to be ill or absent to create a speed bump.

[Michael Jones]

IMHO, the simplest way to decide what is happening is to compare a current model Reis to the same model Ries made 20 years ago. I’ve done that with multiple models & there is simply no comparison of the current to old versions. Everything is now less from the machining to the finish to the wood burned logo. Couple that with the current rash of issues (and the dearth of complaints in years past) and the answer is sad, but obvious.
As the Firesign Theater said 50 years ago “you’re not paying more for anything, you’re just getting less…”

[Drew Wiley]

Michael - that would still be largely anecdotal because the available statistical sample wouldn't be anywhere big enough for an objective before/after comparison. Good seasoned hardwood has been getting harder to get all along. Just try finding a decent wooden shovel or rake handle anymore, or even hammer handle. Hard maple needs to be carefully dried and cured shaped or it will warp. The carbide cutters need to be in good shape, and the power transport rollers in good condition too. I'd have to personally visit their factory, or else go to a camera store where a lot of recent inventory exists (if there are any of those kinds of stores anywhere anymore) to get a realistic impression. The specific people I once knew at Ries are probably retired now.

I haven't heard a dearth of complaints at all, even on this forum, so don't know what to think. But I also go around wearing a thousand dollar pair of custom hiking boots which should last me the rest of my life, made by a very innovative and skilled person, which is something the laid back heir to that same business apparently is not; so my original pair sure better last! Generational transitions in small businesses are always risky unless well planned for. I also recall the qualitative and customer service implications between classic older Deardorff and the revived neo version of it.

The whole supply chain has gotten messed up too, but is gradually improving once again. As not only a woodworker myself, but a significant supplier to some of the finest cabinet shops, artisans, and yacht-builders in the country for several decades before my retirement, I've seen it all already, over and over again. I've seen many equipment manufacturers themselves rise and fall, depending on who was in charge. I'm just hoping if there are issues with Ries, it's just a temporary blip, or else some potential competitor will sense the quality vacuum, and step in. If I didn't already own two excellent weatherbeaten Ries tripods, I'd have no problem making something equivalent myself. But given my age now, my long term investment has been in a lighter weight but still solid carbon fiber tripod instead.

[Michael Jones]

Drew:

As dearth means lack, that’s likely that’s why you haven’t found complaints about vintage Ries: there is a lack of them. On the other hand, the fact this thread exists means “something” is afoot.

From the Wayback Machine I find this quote from their 2000 site:

And all Ries products are still "Made in USA", in our own plant on Bainbridge Island in Washington State.

Similar language appears in today’s site. So supply chain issues would not be parts but raw materials which are relatively abundant wood and metal and not in General Motors quantities (and we’re not dealing with semiconductors or ICs).

Here’s a thought why they may have issues and very much pre-pandemic:

Case number: 2:18-bk-10636 - Ries Productions LLC - Washington Western Bankruptcy Court

https://www.bkalerts.com/recent-bankruptcy-cases/washington-western-bankruptcy-court/2:18-bk-10636/bankruptcy-case-ries-productions-llc

Oh, I also spent 23 years in the forest product industry. Incredible hardwood is readily available when you are ready to pay for it. Always has been. Frank Paxton made a fortune suppling it: still does. And besides, Ries is offering exotic hardwoods for the legs. Supply is not the issue.

I know of what I speak: I have purchased four new Ries tripods, at least four used and currently own four vintage models. I sold the new ones I bought as they did not hold a candle to the quality of earlier versions.

This isn’t rocket science. When you compare what Ries used to make to what they currently sell, there is no comparison. No one is wishing them ill. However, when you drop a grand on a tripod, you should feel good about it. Obviously, some forum members don’t and are expressing their opinions.

Large format is only part of their market. Telescopes, motion pictures and testing labs far outweighs what we buy. Burlebach & Mitchell already make hardwood tripods so there is no vacuum, only a contraction when you fail to keep up with the market. There is an old saying that the first generation makes the business, the second generation enjoys it and the third loses it.

[Drew Wiley]

Look, we sold hardwoods too, and it was getting cagey to even find stocks of maple ply during the pandemic, let alone solid domestic maple that was properly cured. And our client base had a LOT of money to spend; but still, you can tell a billionaire from a millionaire by how much longer they haggle to get the price down. Hardwood tripods in general are almost extinct. Every company you mention is tiny compared to the tens of thousands of survey as well as aluminum tripods being sold every year, and now lots of CF ones too. Good survey tripods are actually fiberglass clad soft "hardwood" (typically poplar). But they lack the deluxe nonferrous hardware of Ries tripods.

I can firmly state that the sources for forged bronze and brass hardware are only about 2% of what they once were. I was very much in that business too, especially from around the mid 80-s to around 2010, when the manufacturing base itself started seriously collapsing due to stock market shenanigans. Stainless is far easier to get.

I'm not doubting what you claim - I'm just HOPING it isn't true. But since I'm not shopping for any more tripods myself, I have no reason to dig deeper into the question. Sometimes companies fumble and learn from their mistakes; sometimes they don't; and frequently they realize it too late.

[darr]

Sometimes companies fumble and learn from their mistakes; sometimes they don't; and frequently they realize it too late.

Kodak comes to mind. :rolleyes:

Truth be told, I reached out to Ries five years ago to inquire about placing an order. However, despite leaving two messages, I have yet to receive a response. I owned a J100 over 15 years ago but found it too heavy for my needs at the time. After shooting medium-format digital technical cameras for a time, I returned to 4x5 and considered purchasing an 8x10 Deardorff. I was intrigued by the idea of getting a Ries tripod after learning that wood tripods handle vibrations better than metal. Unfortunately, nothing ever came of the 8x10. Nonetheless, I am content with my 4x5 camera setup. The Ries I had was high-quality, but they never returned my calls, so I decided not to do business with them.

Edit: I remember having to contact Ries when I had the J100 for a missing/broken part. I spoke with a very kind lady that sent multiple parts (screws, I believe) for no charge.

[Michael Jones]

I'm not doubting what you claim - I'm just HOPING it isn't true.

Drew: all the deeper you need to dig is compare your tripod to a current offering. Surely someone is your area can accommodate. Done & done. If not, and not to be disrespectful, what basis do you have to comment on the current state of business with Reis? Thoughts & prayers? At least I have put my money where my mouth is to form my opinion and the others have had lesser experiences than they hoped for when dropping $1000. Reality bites sometimes.

I hope they figure it out but just not on my (or forum members) dime.

But if not, Luland has reverse engineered very attractive (and lower cost) tripod heads for 4x5 and even a clone of the A-250-2 ready for purchase. If it’s like their lens boards, well the handwriting is likely on the wall.

[David Lindquist]

I know of what I speak: I have purchased four new Ries tripods, at least four used and currently own four vintage models. I sold the new ones I bought as they did not hold a candle to the quality of earlier versions.


When did you buy the new Ries tripods Michael? I ask because the last new tripod I bought from them was in early 2017, (that was six years ago) a model J 100. I consider the quality of workmanship, fit, finish, machining to be very good. By this time they had stopped using die-castings. I bought one other tripod from them new in 2011, a Model C (since discontinued). At that time they were located on Bainbridge Island. I consider it to be nicely made too. I do have some older Ries tripods bought used to compare with.

On the other hand back about 1974 I bought a new Ries, the equivalent then of the current J-600. At this time they were located in Costa Mesa. They guys running the place then were very nice, showed me around the shop. But I'm afraid the fit and finish and quality of machining was really not very good, certainly not in comparison with the used Ries tripod I already had. I ultimately sold this, probably with in a year.

As far as the 2018 bankruptcy, I came across this: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/23730149/Ries_Productions_LLC
It includes the statement "Order dismissing has been entered by the court" (May 2018). I don't know what that means.

David

[Michael Jones]

When did you buy the new Ries tripods Michael?

As far as the 2018 bankruptcy, I came across this: https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/23730149/Ries_Productions_LLC
It includes the statement "Order dismissing has been entered by the court" (May 2018). I don't know what that means.

David

I bought my first one, a C-600 with the aluminum thumb wheel lock, in 1988. I purchased a J-100 in the OO’s. The last new one was an A100-2 & an A250-2 head in 2019. I had an A100 with an A250 head from 2006 which came with a camera I bought. I compared them and did not keep the new one: there was no quality comparison between the two, in my opinion.

In between, the used ones are almost too varied to remember, several backpackers, a pair of H100s, an A100, all with Reis heads. I still use an H100-2 and and H-100 but I replaced the heads with Monfrotto geared heads. All these tripods are vintage and rock solid. I love ‘em!

The dismissal of the bankruptcy filing with no order usually means the creditors and debtor came to a debt restructuring agreement and the business moved forward. It may have meant new terms, some debt forgiveness or a combination of the two worked out without necessity of a final adjudication of bankruptcy or reorganization.

Mike

[Michael Wellman]

I purchased by first Ries tripod in the late 90's. Loved it. Sold it with the rest of my gear in 2012 when I went digital. Got back into LF in 2018 and got a J100 tripod (since I was only going to shoot 4x5-LOL). Since that time I have moved up to 8x10, 8x20 and 14x17. I got another brand wooden tripod from a friend but it is no where near as good as a Ries. I ordered a new tripod at the start of summer and I will have it tomorrow and will be happy to give you my thoughts on it. There was a delay in shipping which seems to have been thru a communication problem within their organization. That is my only complaint so far.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, Mr. Jones, the era is long gone when there were big photo stores even in this metropolitan area which stocked big selections of pro LF and MF gear, including a selection of Ries tripods one could actually examine in person. Their still is a lot of movie making even here in the SF Bay area, but none of the specialty lighting and gear houses stock wooden tripods. Serious surveying gear is not only sold around here, but this is the world epicenter for much of its innovation, especially with respect to lasers; but survey tripods are in a different category, although adaptable to view camera usage if necessary. I sold a lot of them, good domestic ones.

So why the heck would I "put my money where my mouth is" to know what I'm talking about. I did put millions of dollars a year of my employer's money where my mouth is for four decades as a professional equipment buyer, and in turn, seller, to architectural and construction trades, often the best of the best, and had the reputation among both manufacturers and clients as one of the most reputable reviewers in the country, with a big warranty and repair dept as and adjunct to my own role. So I pretty much know how "the system" in general works, far better than most.

Rags to riches back to rags is the biography of many an American manufacturer. But sometimes they repent and take flight again, even after a nose dive. But it's hard to attract fresh capital or modernize your mfg equipment when your niche might seem a little nostalgic. And I have helped many many commercial and tutorial woodworking shops, cabinet factories, etc, modernize - either do it or die; competition exists. We love our old classic Ries tripods; but you probably won't find any rich collectors displaying them on their fireplace mantles. Most people stare with disbelief when they see me toting a wood tripod. But nothing beats the sheer bully mass of the real deal. And my Ries tripods wear their battle scars with dignity.

Let's see how this all turns out. Few things disappoint me more than seeing classic old US manufacturers sacrificing their reputation for quality. But sometimes they go into tailspins and can't recover. The 90's were like the black plague in that respect. Stupid corporate suicide every direction you looked.

[Dhanner]

I purchased by first Ries tripod in the late 90's. Loved it. Sold it with the rest of my gear in 2012 when I went digital. Got back into LF in 2018 and got a J100 tripod (since I was only going to shoot 4x5-LOL). Since that time I have moved up to 8x10, 8x20 and 14x17. I got another brand wooden tripod from a friend but it is no where near as good as a Ries. I ordered a new tripod at the start of summer and I will have it tomorrow and will be happy to give you my thoughts on it. There was a delay in shipping which seems to have been thru a communication problem within their organization. That is my only complaint so far.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it, thanks.

[bmikiten]

So.. has anyone actually picked up the phone and called the company to get some clarity or perhaps to allow them to respond here? Just a thought.

[Dhanner]

So.. has anyone actually picked up the phone and called the company to get some clarity or perhaps to allow them to respond here? Just a thought.

I spoke with him on at least two occasions. Most recently for about 17 minutes about a week and a half ago trying to get replacement brass retaining nuts for the two screw that were sent to me (as replacements for the first ones that had bad threads which I sent back) since they also had bad threads and would not screw on. He brought up about everything mentioned earlier in this thread and then some. Bad outsourcing quality, hard to find good workers, employees not doing what they are told, untrained workers, and key employees out sick for a week or more and another on early maternity leave for 6 months. Really sounded like the perfect storm of business challenges all happening at the same time. I am following up with him today to see if he has sent the replacement brass retaining nuts.

[Drew Wiley]

Bingo. I could say the same thing about outsourced doorlocks made in the millions. Reliable domestic component suppliers are no more. And there's no way a tiny company like that could afford to make those parts themselves. Seattle is not the best climate for curing you own hardwoods, and often what is shipped in from the South suffers from humidity shifts n transit. (I've had my own one on one discussions about the climate-control issues in that particular factory space.) I had nightmares with warpage issues with regard to my own picture frame hardwood profile shipments. I eventually ended up milling my own mouldings based on kiln-dried hardwood stock.

At least they know what the problem is. Same problems as underfunded wood furniture factories all around my old neighborhood. Good shop labor is hard to find, because if they are good, they go into business for themselves. And I was mainly the one who equipped them to do so!

[David Lindquist]

I bought my first one, a C-600 with the aluminum thumb wheel lock, in 1988. I purchased a J-100 in the OO’s. The last new one was an A100-2 & an A250-2 head in 2019. I had an A100 with an A250 head from 2006 which came with a camera I bought. I compared them and did not keep the new one: there was no quality comparison between the two, in my opinion.

In between, the used ones are almost too varied to remember, several backpackers, a pair of H100s, an A100, all with Reis heads. I still use an H100-2 and and H-100 but I replaced the heads with Monfrotto geared heads. All these tripods are vintage and rock solid. I love ‘em!

The dismissal of the bankruptcy filing with no order usually means the creditors and debtor came to a debt restructuring agreement and the business moved forward. It may have meant new terms, some debt forgiveness or a combination of the two worked out without necessity of a final adjudication of bankruptcy or reorganization.

Mike

Thank you for this information Mike. Given my inventory of Ries tripods and heads, purchased both new and used, and my age I don't expect to be acquiring any more. I do hope Ries gets things straightened out.

David

[Michael Jones]

LOL: my dog ate my homework…

And I assume people read this thread:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?106966-Ries-tripods-new-owners

I’m not implying anything other than I knew “something” had changed at Ries.

Lets see how the current purchasers & forum members seeking replacement parts fare.

[bmikiten]

It's always good to communicate with a vendor and I'm glad you got some answers. Was he aware of the commentary here? We certainly don't need more betterscanning business threads!

[Drew Wiley]

The plot thickens. Maybe the Butler did it.

[Fred L]

I'm confused about The Big Game...in 2014 ?

They plan to expand and I hope it doesn't take away from their core business. Having said that, if they can make a changing tent similar Harrison or the Chinese versions, AND there is no sticky coating issues to worry about, TAKE MY MONEY lol.

Either way, hope they do well with more control over the direction of their company, as new owners.

[Carlos R Herrera]

I spoke with him on at least two occasions. Most recently for about 17 minutes about a week and a half ago trying to get replacement brass retaining nuts for the two screw that were sent to me (as replacements for the first ones that had bad threads which I sent back) since they also had bad threads and would not screw on. He brought up about everything mentioned earlier in this thread and then some. Bad outsourcing quality, hard to find good workers, employees not doing what they are told, untrained workers, and key employees out sick for a week or more and another on early maternity leave for 6 months. Really sounded like the perfect storm of business challenges all happening at the same time. I am following up with him today to see if he has sent the replacement brass retaining nuts.

I had the same issue: brass nut that wouldn't screw on an older J250. Ries made a new 3/8 camera screw for me with the correct bronze knob to match my old tripod, but the screw profile was machined for the current J250. So I sent that one back and a new screw was machined with the right profile. That screw arrived but the brass nut wasn't machined correctly and wouldn't screw on. I knew my J250 was early 90s, so I sent in my original 1/4-20 to Spencer to compare (I know, I know). Now I out two camera screws. I spoke to Spencer twice since Feb, plus lots of emails. He said my original and redone screw had shipped in April. Nothing arrived here and I know when they ship, you normally get a USPS or UPS confirmation email. He also told me the shop had flooded during December, so things were in disarray. Messaged him again today.

CH

[Vaughan]

I saw a YT video of Shane Dignam using a Toyo Field M810 with a really funky tripod head made by Luland in China. I bought one to put on an Innorel ST42C carbon tripod, then later discovered the head is a copy of one made by Ries. IMHO Luland is Ries' competition, at least for heads.

[Drew Wiley]

The more important thing to note is that the facility itself is being remodeled and somewhat re-equipped. That can make a big difference, especially if the climate control has been improved. They had a big problem with cold and humidity before. It's also a good sign if it allows them to make more of their components in house rather than relying on subcontractors.

[Merg Ross]

I'm confused about The Big Game...in 2014 ?

They plan to expand and I hope it doesn't take away from their core business. Having said that, if they can make a changing tent similar Harrison or the Chinese versions, AND there is no sticky coating issues to worry about, TAKE MY MONEY lol.

Either way, hope they do well with more control over the direction of their company, as new owners.

The J.B. Harlin post above is from September, 2013; ten years ago.

[Oren Grad]

Threads merged.

[Michael Wellman]

I ordered a new A100 tripod from them at the beginning of summer and it arrived the other day. Took it out yesterday and it performed flawlessly (as expected). The thing that surprised me is that they have changed the design on their tripod legs. Their old tripods, like most tripods, used a cylinder leg, but the new ones. The new design has the inner leg has with a elevated piece of wood (it's cut out from the wood not a separate piece) that runs down the outer pieces like a channel. Looks like it strengthens the tripod when you are extending the legs. 242391

[Drew Wiley]

They have long offered both of those leg styles depending on the specific model. I have an example of each.

[Vaughn]

My A100 legs from the early 90s have the same shape, although yours seem slightly more pronounced...might be mine are just worn a bit. I store and use the spikes at the bottom, and the ridge is more worn at that end.

[Dhanner]

Finally after 3 weeks and several e-mails received replacement brass retaining nuts from them and not really surprised but they are bad just like the first two. Slightly too small diameter to screw on. Sent in my tripod head screw and camera screw in to correct one problem and now continue to be faced with another problem. There’s no quality control and now I’m convinced not much integrity either. All I can say if you want to buy from them today is caveat emptor.

[Carlos R Herrera]

Finally after 3 weeks and several e-mails received replacement brass retaining nuts from them and not really surprised but they are bad just like the first two. Slightly too small diameter to screw on. Sent in my tripod head screw and camera screw in to correct one problem and now continue to be faced with another problem. There’s no quality control and now I’m convinced not much integrity either. All I can say if you want to buy from them today is caveat emptor.

3 weeks? I've been waiting months. Ugh. I need to call again. Emails aren't working. They have\had my original 1/4-20 and the new 3/8 camera screw with the bad brass nut. Same issue, too small to screw on. Spencer said parts shipped in April.

CH

[Dhanner]

3 weeks? I've been waiting months. Ugh. I need to call again. Emails aren't working. They have\had my original 1/4-20 and the new 3/8 camera screw with the bad brass nut. Same issue, too small to screw on. Spencer said parts shipped in April.

CH

Unfortunately a call is in order. Not sure what I am going to do at this point. Seems like he just doesn’t have any good ones or is only using them for complete tripods and heads.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Drew Wiley]

Sounds like the Donner Party. Ran out of supplies, and now has to either cannibalize or die.

[Dhanner]

Received the following e-mail from Spencer today!

Very exciting to hear this!

“Dave,

After your last email showing the issues with those screws I had a coming to Jesus moment. Ries Tripod Needed Leadership.

1. Fired our contractors that we were using to make the brass nuts and screws.
2. Bought another CNC Machine.
3. Brought in 2 Master Machinists to train my folks how to properly machine all of the hardware.
4. I also brought in a Sigma 6 expert to show how to recognize issues and improve our products.

You were not the only customer that had some issues with our products. We are contacting all of these customers and making it right.

We will always stand behind our customer service. We have stumbled recently after we had a flood but we faced our issues and will continue to improve.

I am sorry that these issues took this long to fix, but I believe we are there.

I am sending you, today, 2 new complete screws USPS Priority mail.

The new screws come with a newly designed brass nut and are made by us in house. The screw has been improved by eliminating the press on collar and replacing it with a tapped collar that can accomodate custom thread lengths. Again, made in house by us.

Please, if you know of any other issues, please let me know. Ries Products come with a full lifetime warranty. We will always be here for you.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bmikiten]

I'm impressed but as someone who was in manufacturing for years running a large operation, Sigma 6 may be a bit of a reach. Good for them!

[Jim Andrada]

It might be a shade "optimistic" without a significant investment in QC, but as an objective 6 Sigma is great.

[Tin Can]

I almost bought a new giant Ries

then you made HUGE price increases

and now you think SIGMA 6

will save...

glad I have a very old

PERFECT

Ries Model C Deluxe

[AuditorOne]

My old Ries is terrific and I love it. Sorry your new one doesn't meet that standard. Hopefully they will get better.

[Fred L]

hope the new screws do the job ! I think it would be worthwhile for Ries to incorporate QR plates into the A and J heads, similar to what Luland has. Would make life much simpler for me when trying to mount the 7x17 ;)

[Drew Wiley]

Of all the crazy things, I had the owner of a local automated lathe manufacturing startup walk out on me when I told him the price of a long Starrett caliper. So he ordered a cheap one from China. Then he measured a particular threaded post on his lathe prototype for sake of chucks, and ordered those chucks themselves from China too. They took a long time to get, and none of them fit. He had already sold a couple dozen lathes in advance at around 70K apiece, and his customers were getting impatient. Then he located a subcontractor in India who promised delivery in under a week. Those chucks did arrive promptly, but none of those fit either. He went into a panic and phoned them, and they told him they kept their promise to ship promptly, but that they never promised a thing about the diameter or threads matching! And he had the nerve to commiserate all this to me, after accusing us of being overpriced, then going out and making his own incorrect measurement using a junk caliper. Poetic justice. His next stop was with a bankruptcy attorney.

All it takes is one critical component being off; or one parts subcontractor failing at their end.

[Jim Andrada]

Well, I was involved in moving the assembly line for IBM LTO tape drives from Japan to China. And this isn't a story about crappy Chinese goods - by the time we qualified the factory the quality of the product was better than what had been made in Japan - because there was a full time contingent of Japanese engineers at the factory and it was managed just like the original factory with a lot of the original team members and the quality improvement process stayed in place.

One thing I noticed was that relatively non-critical measurements were made with Chinese measuring tools, but the high precision stuff was measured with 100% high end Mitutoyo equipment in temperature/humidity controlled clean rooms.

By the way, oddly enough even though they spell it "Mitutoyo" it's actually pronounced "MitSutoyo" because the "tu" sound doesn't exist in Japanese and the sound "tsu" can be represented as "tu" in the alternative official Romanization system. You could at one time see the same thing on the napkins used on the high speed trains - it was written as "Sinkansen" although pronounced as "SHinkansen" because, again, the "si" sound doesn't exist in the language and the written "si" is pronounced as "shi" .

[Greg]

IMHO Luland is Ries' competition, at least for heads.

Own and use both... will post a comparison.

[Drew Wiley]

Yeah, Mitutoyo is certainly a worthy rival to Starrett. They offer a serious line of industrial microscopes too. I and one other person set up the first (or tie for the first) Makita showroom in the US, back when it was entirely industrial quality. Their best products are made in southern Japan, in the US near Atlanta, and in Germany. But they too have their own dedicated factories in China which operate on a quite different basis than the proverbial outsourcing model. But a fair amount of counterfeit Makita does get into this country, made by the usual suspects in China, and sold by the usual suspects here.

I've been in face to face discussions with up to a dozen Makita engineers at a time. They'd bring along junior ones as part of their training; but those less experienced individuals would only be granted assignments relative to cheap Home Center tools. Just a couple hours ago I was using a miniature sliding miter saw made in Japan which I commissioned from them in the first place and sold many of, which is ten times better built than the version they now make in China, and would easily cost over a thousand dollars today. They had all kinds of wonderful specialty things like that, sold only a handful of places in the US, which went out of production once the Fukushima disaster dramatically elevated the price of energy in Japan. Manufacture involves a lot of variables, some of them unpredictable.

[Vaughan]

I think it would be worthwhile for Ries to incorporate QR plates into the A and J heads, similar to what Luland has.

IMHO they could go one better than Luland and innovate by making the top a panorama plate with quick release clamp. My preferred method of operation is to get the top plate level so I can adjust composition by panning the camera around. The current heads only have pan on the bottom of the head.

[Drew Wiley]

Given the extra fuss and careful machining of insetting quality levels alone into the top, that would add hundreds of dollars more to any such head. Given their present trouble with just threading, it would be quite a reach. It doesn't sound like they have a serious machinist on staff, or even sufficient payroll for one.

[Michael R]

Yeah I think Mitutoyo gauge blocks are top of the line. Not like these wooden tripods people think are great just because 100 years ago Morley Baer said they were the best lol.


Yeah, Mitutoyo is certainly a worthy rival to Starrett. They offer a serious line of industrial microscopes too. I and one other person set up the first (or tie for the first) Makita showroom in the US, back when it was entirely industrial quality. Their best products are made in southern Japan, in the US near Atlanta, and in Germany. But they too have their own dedicated factories in China which operate on a quite different basis than the proverbial outsourcing model. But a fair amount of counterfeit Makita does get into this country, made by the usual suspects in China, and sold by the usual suspects here.

I've been in face to face discussions with up to a dozen Makita engineers at a time. They'd bring along junior ones as part of their training; but those less experienced individuals would only be granted assignments relative to cheap Home Center tools. Just a couple hours ago I was using a miniature sliding miter saw made in Japan which I commissioned from them in the first place and sold many of, which is ten times better built than the version they now make in China, and would easily cost over a thousand dollars today. They had all kinds of wonderful specialty things like that, sold only a handful of places in the US, which went out of production once the Fukushima disaster dramatically elevated the price of energy in Japan. Manufacture involves a lot of variables, some of them unpredictable.

[Drew Wiley]

A hundred years ago there were still a few real mountain men around whose wooden tripods and skis you would not even to worthy to touch. Uphill from us was the fellow who skied the entire Muir Trail in 1927 on homemade wooden skis, and with only a buffalo hide for warmth and weather protection. It was another 50 years before that was did that again, and on modern equipment. And I myself had real wooden Lincoln Logs as child - none of that plastic Lego stuff, much less a set of shiny Mitutoyo blocks to stack up.

[Michael R]

True enough. By the time I learnt to ski the skis hadn’t been made of wood for a long time. They were also shorter than those crazy old wooden springy skis. Now the skis are far shorter still. Don’t knock Lego. It was a great toy. Still is, except now it seems to be more about building things once for display.


A hundred years ago there were still a few real mountain men around whose wooden tripods and skis you would not even to worthy to touch. Uphill from us was the fellow who skied the entire Muir Trail in 1927 on homemade wooden skis, and with only a buffalo hide for warmth and weather protection. It was another 50 years before that was did that again, and on modern equipment. And I myself had real wooden Lincoln Logs as child - none of that plastic Lego stuff, much less a set of shiny Mitutoyo blocks to stack up.

[David Lindquist]

Yeah I think Mitutoyo gauge blocks are top of the line. Not like these wooden tripods people think are great just because 100 years ago Morley Baer said they were the best lol.

Really nit-picking here. In this context the spelling is "gage" not "gauge".

Some day I'll try to track down why....

You are very fortunate to have known Morley Baer when he was four years old:)

David

[Michael R]

You might be right about the spelling, although I think both spellings are used - I saw a program on the topic of precision a while back in which the history of these things was explained (Johansson, Ford etc.) but I can’t seem to remember the details.

Regarding Baer, all I remember are the Ries ads in View Camera magazine quoting him. Something like “why do I use Ries? Because…it’s the best there is”. At least I think I remember it being Baer. I could be wrong about that too though :) My brain ain’t what it used to be, unfortunately.


Really nit-picking here. In this context the spelling is "gage" not "gauge".

Some day I'll try to track down why....

You are very fortunate to have known Morley Baer when he was four years old:)

David

[Mick Fagan]

Swedish patent No. 17017 called "Gauge Block Sets for Precision Measurement". Often referred to as "Jo blocks" after their inventor, Carl Edvard Johansson.

I would suggest that as the inventor was given his Swedish patent in 1901, spelling them "gauge", gauge it is.

[WBYonder]

You might be right about the spelling, although I think both spellings are used - I saw a program on the topic of precision a while back in which the history of these things was explained (Johansson, Ford etc.) but I can’t seem to remember the details.

Regarding Baer, all I remember are the Ries ads in View Camera magazine quoting him. Something like “why do I use Ries? Because…it’s the best there is”. At least I think I remember it being Baer. I could be wrong about that too though :) My brain ain’t what it used to be, unfortunately.

It may not have been. All the pictures I’ve seen of him are with a Miller tripod.

[Michael R]

Now I’m wondering what it is I think I saw. Anyway it doesn’t matter. I was just trying to get a ries out of Drew.


It may not have been. All the pictures I’ve seen of him are with a Miller tripod.

[Drew Wiley]

Mick - Then there's the price spelling, gouge.

And I think Michael is a bit confused, because in Canada tripods have legs that are curved at the bottom, made from old hockey sticks. Guess they'd be even more curved Down Under, made from old boomerangs.

[Michael R]

Here’s a fun fact - I’ve never owned a hockey stick. I did once have some sort of Nerf boomerang but that was circa early 1980s and it didn’t look like a traditional boomerang, more like a giant fidget spinner. Edward Weston had a wooden boomerang. That’s why some people still use them.


Mick - Then there's the price spelling, gouge.

And I think Michael is a bit confused, because in Canada tripods have legs that are curved at the bottom, made from old hockey sticks. Guess they'd be even more curved Down Under, made from old boomerangs.

[Mick Fagan]

Good one Drew, but I would use woomera's for a tripod instead of boomerangs.

A woomera is generally sturdy and as a youngster in the 1950's living outback for a time, I saw people using them. I'm also sure in parts of Australia today, a woomera is part of some people's arsenal.

As for gauging whether you are being gouged when shopping...

[starvingartist]

I have 2 Ries Tripods and 2 Ries Heads, the A series and the J series. I originally bought my first Ries A series Tripod about 8 years ago and have had a wonderful experience with the company. I have ordered spare parts over the years without any problem. Their products are all under warranty. I did have one issue where i needed a part, I lost my Tripod screw, while I was on vacation in Spain. They sent it 2 Day Air, no charge. I offered to pay for it, but they said no.

My latest purchase was recently in early September. I am enjoying my 4X5 and my Medium formats more than my larger 8X10 format so I needed a smaller tripod and head. I called and ordered my new tripod and head over the phone with Debbie. She was very helpful and knew what she was talking about. She did say that they are about 2 to 3 weeks out for the J series items and 4-6 weeks out on A series items. According to her there has been a huge shift in sales for the A series and that they are catching up. The tripod and head that I ordered arrived exactly 23 days from from when I ordered it. Technically that is when they said it would be shipped.

I have had only good experiences with this company. Everyone that sees my equipment comments on my tripod. Whenever I have had an issue or questions they have been there for me. I have compared my first Ries tripod side by side to a Berlebach tripod and there is absolutely no comparison. I am looking at this tripod and it is a work of art. I cannot believe that there are people out there that say the old ones are better. Mostly, I am wondering about the true motives of the naysayers on this thread. Are they actually trolls? Maybe they work for Berlebach.

Also, I wonder if there is any follow ups. Did they help you after your temper tantrum post but did not bother to follow up.

[Drew Wiley]

Mick, I happen to have a didgeridoo propped up in the room corner. It's just a tourist shop replica my sister brought back for me; but that might well be the prototype behind modern hollow aluminum and carbon fiber tripod legs. I should go find the hollow riser column from one of my CF tripods, and see what kind of sound it makes. In fact, there's no other use I have for a center column.

My own experience with boomerangs was a kid thing. We'd scramble way up on atop a brushy ridge which had particularly old mountain mahogany trees - unrelated to tropical mahogany. But when cut, it's bright orange, and an extremely dense heavy wood which sinks in water. We'd find an appropriate Y-branch, remove that, cure it, then rasp shape it. A lot more work than a modern multi-ply boomerang, but the darn things worked, and would be lethal if it hit someone. I can't recall ever bagging a rabbit with one, but we tried. Maybe a duck or goose. And the only marsupials we have around are smelly possums, which nobody eats outside the Southeast. I also had nice mountain mahogany gunstock - stable as a rock, but darn near as heavy too.

I do have some true Caribbean mahogany stock laying around, if I wanted to make my own wooden tripod. But I have too many projects already, and will settle for the hard maple legs of my two Ries tripods. I'm afraid that most of my woodworking going forward is going to be for sake of house remodeling.

[Mick Fagan]

Well Drew, you need to look at this small lesson in how to play a didgeridoo. Can't have your didgeridoo just looking good, can we? :)

Filmed probably around 15 years ago, at the start he demonstrates various sounds, then around the halfway mark, he explains and demonstrates how to continuously breathe in, and at the same time, keep blowing the instrument.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlEkeot7HM

[Drew Wiley]

My grammar school music teacher gave me dirty looks from the time I was 7 until his death, never forgiving me for what I did with a violin. He'd roll in his grave if I put a sound out of a didgeridoo.

[MrFujicaman]

Us real men use a old "Chicago" Majestic....

[Drew Wiley]

What do you mean? There never were mountain men in Chicago. And even Capone's public relations crew used a brand called Thompson instead.

[Vaughn]

Us real men use a old "Chicago" Majestic....

I had one...must have lent it out because I have not seen it for years. The geared head was nice, too, but there so many knobs and such on the dang 'pod it was tough to carry over a shoulder any significant distance. Which I did anyway...until I got the Ries A100/250.

But I got the Majestic at a yard sale for 25 bucks. I had to take the bent rod out of the gear head and bash it with a hammer to straighten it, but it worked fine after that.

[David Lindquist]

Us real men use a old "Chicago" Majestic....

Wynn Bullock combined both, here using a Ries tripod with a Majestic head: https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnlegweak/4161509897

I first saw this photograph many years ago, pre-internet, in the book The Photographer's Eye, John Szarkowski, Museum of Modern Art, New York.

I remember the story was that the Majestic tripod was originally made by a Chicago company called (I think) Modern Builders whose main product was scaffolding.

David

[Drew Wiley]

I've seen pictures of literal scaffolding being built to support giant frontier cameras. Every different location, another scaffold. A carpentry crew accompanied the photographer, and given some of the prairie locations, they must have brought along their own lumber too.

[MrFujicaman]

I had one...must have lent it out because I have not seen it for years. The geared head was nice, too, but there so many knobs and such on the dang 'pod it was tough to carry over a shoulder any significant distance. Which I did anyway...until I got the Ries A100/250.

But I got the Majestic at a yard sale for 25 bucks. I had to take the bent rod out of the gear head and bash it with a hammer to straighten it, but it worked fine after that.

I got the legs for the Majestic at a flea market about 1988 for a blistering $5. I had an adapter made so I could mount a Bogen 3047 head on it.

[r.e.]

I recently bought a Ries head and Ries tripod/head kit and the experience has left a lot to be desired. It took many many weeks, e-mails, and then a call to get them. The first head looked like it was cobbled together as I order the black knobs but received one black and one bronze, but hey a partial upgrade I guess. It was wrapped in bubble wrap put in a box and shipped, no packaging, paperwork or anything. It had spots of oil here an there on it and some chips off the paint plus it didn't even have their name anywhere on it. Looked more like a used one or a prototype.

Now the tripod kit, it had bad (almost no) threads on the camera screw and the tripod head screw. I sent those back for replacement and it took at least 3 weeks with e-mails and a call before he sent me anything. Keep in mind I was told he would ship out replacements the day he received them back. When I received the replacements, the knob on the tripod screw (for the tripod head) was sloppily pressed on crooked and the brass retaining hardware on both of the screws replaced was improperly machined and wouldn't even screw on at all. I have sent photos, more e-mails, and called but no one answered to try and get replacement brass retaining hardware. That's been a few days ago and nothing since.

I really like the idea and look of these tripods but it seems to me that the quality is not non-existent and since I've pretty much been "ghosted" now I'm wondering if they are basically in the process of closing their doors now.

Anybody else here try to deal with them recently?

Your experience is not unique. I'm aware of discussions via personal message and e-mail, involving credible people, about delays, communication and construction. People are reluctant to say anything in posts. Some of the posts in this thread show why. I purchased a tripod from Ries some months ago. The tripod was the last of a set that Ries was selling at a premium and had reason to take particular care of. I knew that the tripod was already made, photos suggested that construction was sound, and all Ries had to do was ship it. I'm happy with the tripod, less happy with the explanation that I was given for a delay in shipping, but the delay was minor. I would not have ordered a tripod from scratch.

[Svein]

I have ordered a tripod head from Ries. It was paid mid December. I have heard nothing from them, except an autoreply confirming the payment. No delivering confirmation. I have tried to contact them via their home page, mail and by phone without getting in touch with them. Have you similar experience with their service level? - or any idea on how to get in touch with them
br
Svein

[bmikiten]

There are several threads addressing quality issues, a newer production facility and generally poor service over the last year. I suggest you continue to call them.

[Drew Wiley]

Everything slows down in December all kinds of places due to holidays and the shipping crunch. As formerly a buyer for an active company, I refused to order or ship anything past the first week of December due to all the seasonal temporary parcel service workers and temp truck drivers with all their chaos and theft. And Ries might actually need to make what you ordered; they don't necessarily have a surplus of that item on the shelf already. But if you sent your payment by mail, it is important to double check that it reached them. I never send payments by mail after the middle of December either - too much risk of loss in the Holiday crunch.

[r.e.]

But if you sent your payment by mail, it is important to double check that it reached them. I never send payments by mail after the middle of December either - too much risk of loss in the Holiday crunch.

Read Svein's post. Ries confirmed receipt of payment a month ago, has been silent ever since, has not shipped the head that he's paid for and is ignoring his attempts to communicate.

[Drew Wiley]

Certainly not the Ries I once dealt with. But again, who knows what the season and its significant weather there this year has brought to them in terms of even office slowdown or backlog? It's a pretty small company. Keep us updated, however. For example, the local company here I worked for here, for 40 years, shuts down three weeks straight at holiday season. That was sure a nice added benefit to we workers; and the time off was paid. It's a common practice in lots of machine shops too, since getting supplies in, and sending things out, can be difficult mid-winter, even here on the West Coast. Then its cold and flu season too. ... Not making excuses, but just factoring some common sense variables which might or might not apply in this case.

[r.e.]

Not making excuses,

That's precisely what you're doing. Your excuse three posts up, being countermanded by the basic facts, now you've concocted new excuses. These aren't even the first times that you've invented excuses in this thread. And I mean invented. They aren't based on facts. You just make them up out of whole cloth.

It illustrates what I said in post #106 to another customer who complained about Ries:


Your experience is not unique. I'm aware of discussions via personal message and e-mail, involving credible people, about delays, communication and construction. People are reluctant to say anything in posts. Some of the posts in this thread show why.

How many complaints do there have to be before you stop manufacturing excuses?

[r.e.]

This just came to my attention. On October 10th, Ries (Spencer) acknowledged that there are problems and said that it's fixed them. See the quoted e-mail in the post below. None of Ries's e-mail explains the experience that Svein describes in post #107.


Received the following e-mail from Spencer today!

Very exciting to hear this!

“Dave,

After your last email showing the issues with those screws I had a coming to Jesus moment. Ries Tripod Needed Leadership.

1. Fired our contractors that we were using to make the brass nuts and screws.
2. Bought another CNC Machine.
3. Brought in 2 Master Machinists to train my folks how to properly machine all of the hardware.
4. I also brought in a Sigma 6 expert to show how to recognize issues and improve our products.

You were not the only customer that had some issues with our products. We are contacting all of these customers and making it right.

We will always stand behind our customer service. We have stumbled recently after we had a flood but we faced our issues and will continue to improve.

I am sorry that these issues took this long to fix, but I believe we are there.

I am sending you, today, 2 new complete screws USPS Priority mail.

The new screws come with a newly designed brass nut and are made by us in house. The screw has been improved by eliminating the press on collar and replacing it with a tapped collar that can accomodate custom thread lengths. Again, made in house by us.

Please, if you know of any other issues, please let me know. Ries Products come with a full lifetime warranty. We will always be here for you.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Drew Wiley]

First of all, r.e., I spent decades dealing directly with many manufacturing companies, all the way from CEO's to technicians, from some of the biggest manufacturers to small machine shops. Every one of them encounters delivery problems in the long run. Right now it's particularly hard due to both the recent covid shock wave as well as poorly thought out blanket tariffs. Even auto makers are way behind due to shortfalls in their own supply chain. So I have a little more sympathy for small shops possibly trying their best on a limited budget when even big manufacturers and serious start-ups are held back by chronic shortages in qualified labor.

Finding subcontractors for nonferrous castings is far more difficult than it was two or three decades ago. Much of that has all gone down the drain into cheap import junk alloys. Few people want to work in shops anymore, even though the pay in many of them can be high (but perhaps not in such an esoteric niche as wooden tripods, where labor turnover might be a problem).

Yeah, I'd be annoyed too at the lack of communication, and would hound them if necessary. But all kinds of specialty things take quite a bit of time to deliver. Apparently Ries has been unable to build up a surplus of inventory ready to ship out right away, and has to respond to orders one at a time. But everyone outright condemning them without inside knowledge is likely to end with yet another extinction of what has been exceptionally useful to photographers for decades. Do you want to be stuck with only carbon fiber and aluminum options? It reminds me of those who bad mouth Kodak or Ilford over film manufacture blips, when there really aren't all that many options left.

So I'm not giving excuses, just a dose of cold water reality. All kinds of parameters have changed for all kind of businesses. Lower demand, increased overhead, and a much poorer labor pool to choose from, less capital available, and maybe an impending heart attack for the supervisor in charge (literally). It ain't just Ries.

What would I do if I didn't already have my own Ries tripods and was in a hurry? Well, I happen to have a decent shop, and would just make my own. But not everyone can do that.

[WBYonder]

I ordered an A-100 tripod and an A-250 head from Ries at the end of July. They said that it wouldn’t be ready for about a month or so, but it took a while longer than that, delivered in early November. Along the way, I called them several times and didn’t have a problem reaching them, and was told about the issues delaying my build/delivery. While I didn’t like the delay, they were alweays straight-forward with me, and I was very happy with the tripod and head once I received them. I admit, I was a bit nervous with all the talk on this thread about the quality of the tripods they are currently making compared to “the way they used to be”. I haven’t used an older Ries tripod, but I don’t feel like I got an inferior product in any way. Overall, I’m glad they took the time to make it right and I like the product I got.

[Drew Wiley]

There are all kinds of issues right now in the availability of properly cured hardwoods too. The whole industry is in a slow recovery after the pandemic, and portions of it will probably never recover. You can't use just any stick of maple. I once did make a replacement Ries leg of my own. But gosh, if I couldn't do it myself, the company I worked for had all kinds of industrial woodworking machinery, and I could get almost anything done for free. But now even they have staffing issues. All of us who once held down the fort have either passed away or retired, and along with us, most of our knowledge and experience left too.

The big hardwood competitor on the other side of town has even given up its hardwood distributor name, and now is just calling itself a woodworking center. It's either that or back to ransacking highly endangered rain forests, and illegally importing. There's no shortage in domestic maple or walnut, but finding the right cut and cure at the right time in manufacturing volume can be a serious issue. And it takes serious capital to stockpile it, when furniture and cabinet makers can fetch a far higher profit on their end product, and while tech gazoolianaires can buy up a huge percent of it for sake of their of their ostentatious homes and yachts.

[r.e.]

I have ordered a tripod head from Ries. It was paid mid December. I have heard nothing from them, except an autoreply confirming the payment. No delivering confirmation. I have tried to contact them via their home page, mail and by phone without getting in touch with them. Have you similar experience with their service level? - or any idea on how to get in touch with them
br
Svein

Further to the post four above, Ries has acknowledged that there's a problem and says that it has taken steps to rectify it. It basically says that it wants to start on a new foot. That being the case, it should welcome being made aware of this discussion and then take steps to resolve the issue.

Re your question "Have you ... any idea how to get in touch with them"...

I've dealt with Ries both via e-mail and phone. The e-mail address, which is what you used when you tried to contact Ries via its website, is info@riestripod.com. You also have the phone number. If I recall, it's possible to leave a message.

[John Layton]

So amazing back in early 2004...finally getting my L-45A camera to become a reality...the magic of watching the computer screen to see the tracings of how the four and five axis CNC machines would sculpt the 6061 and 7075 aluminum - and then actually watching the first block as it was being cut...the shapes over which I'd toiled for so many months appearing before my eyes. And the engineers aiding in this process...all so bright and young, and eager.

But a few months later, at the eleventh hour when everything was coming together and it came time to see if this thing would actually work, when I'd been basically living at the facility, smelling of machine oil, spending hours and days and nights in an assembly room fitting parts together - I found myself making a number of trips to the machine shop...a large, dark room smelling of oil...a room where, instead of fancy automatic machines guided by computers - there were a number of huge old Bridgeport milling machines and Hardinge lathes...drifts and hydraulic presses...and on the old crusty worktables an assortment of metal rulers, machinist's squares and loupes, bits of emery cloth and leaky cans of cutting oil.

I'd been needing to make those visits because, at the end of the day, I'd been finding that despite the amazing technological capabilities abundant in the CNC environment, there were some very crucial "fit and finish" aspects of my camera which no amount of technological wizardry could seem to address...so I needed to find this magic elsewhere, which brought me to the shop with all of those (relatively) ancient, and decisively old school machinery, with all of it...every single milling machine, lathe, press...operated by equally ancient men, all of them well past retirement age.

Consider that again...all of those folks with the knowledge and skills I needed to actually finish my project were well past retirement age! And if you think I'm being just a tad oblique in addressing the issue raised in this thread...think again!

[Bob Kerner]

Let’s assume all the propounded excuses are real. The company, if it wants to stay in business, should acknowledge the issues and either explain it to the customer or stop taking new orders. It’s 2024 not 1907. Poor communication is the death of companies.

Also. It’s 2024. Do a search before ordering from a company with a track record of poor customer service. Not sure: call them before ordering to get a sense of their commitment to the customer.

[Drew Wiley]

John - and there I was, pleading with a start-up manufacturer of highly automated expensive metal lathes themselves, locally made (mostly), not to subcontract certain "generic" parts like chucks to the lowest bidder. He did worse, and resorted to budget readout calipers for the specs he sent to China - and that failing, next to India. Nothing fit right at either end. Just some "minor" components on an otherwise fancy machine. But he was neck deep in startup overhead, and rather cocky about all this, and had already pre-sold 8 machines. But cutting a few corners was all it took to bury him under lawsuits and go bankrupt.

[John Layton]

Ha! The irony of how much I value my super-cheap set of Chinese forstner bits - all of which are very slightly out of spec...which is so fantastic when I need to cut a hole which is just a bit smaller or larger than an accurate standard measurement...which is pretty often actually when considering the nature of the fit (loose, slip/slide, interference/press) I'm after. Now I need to find some less than accurate speed bits!

[Drew Wiley]

Well, John, having had access to the gamut of them, comparing Austrian bits to Chinese ones, and running lots of tests, there was up to a 500 times longer working life in the expensive Euro ones; then throw in some hard tropical hardwood or aluminum, and the difference was often apparent on the first hole. Yes, I did have certain advantages as a well-known dealer, like even getting full sets for free to test. But the very best Forstners in the world were US made, and they didn't give out samples to anyone. Nor did they sell through any retail outlet or woodworking store, even online. Hundreds of dollars per bit, true industrial quality. We used them in our big door shop for lock boring.

Euro cup hinge cabinet boring is another application which distinguished the men from the boys when it came to Forstners. The cheap import knockoff ones delivered only grief. If you like the idea of slightly off-sized diameters, just get a Chinese drill press with a little wobble in the spindle! My own method - get a termite inebriated and tell it to walk in a circle.

Closer to home : I make my own hardwood picture frames. The average hardware store bit will either break in usage or burn high silica woods and oily tropical ones, just like the distinction between shaping bits. It might take only a few minutes for the wrong bit to ruin they day. The best you can buy is always the cheapest. And gosh - looking a my Ebony mahogany camera - that was a serious woodworker! - and precisely making them in true ebony wood as well was even more demanding. I sold equipment to a fellow commissioned to make all the doors and windows out of solid ebony wood on a personal residence where even the detached barn had twelve guest rooms and seven bathroom on the upper level. The main house had 21 rooms, and there was an intermediate sized "guest house" too - all matched. There goes another rain forest! And the cost of the carbide alone - yikes!

[Carlos R Herrera]

Dave, did you receive your camera screws?

Curious if you did. I need to call them again about mine.

CH



Received the following e-mail from Spencer today!

Very exciting to hear this!

“Dave,

After your last email showing the issues with those screws I had a coming to Jesus moment. Ries Tripod Needed Leadership.

1. Fired our contractors that we were using to make the brass nuts and screws.
2. Bought another CNC Machine.
3. Brought in 2 Master Machinists to train my folks how to properly machine all of the hardware.
4. I also brought in a Sigma 6 expert to show how to recognize issues and improve our products.

You were not the only customer that had some issues with our products. We are contacting all of these customers and making it right.

We will always stand behind our customer service. We have stumbled recently after we had a flood but we faced our issues and will continue to improve.

I am sorry that these issues took this long to fix, but I believe we are there.

I am sending you, today, 2 new complete screws USPS Priority mail.

The new screws come with a newly designed brass nut and are made by us in house. The screw has been improved by eliminating the press on collar and replacing it with a tapped collar that can accomodate custom thread lengths. Again, made in house by us.

Please, if you know of any other issues, please let me know. Ries Products come with a full lifetime warranty. We will always be here for you.”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dhanner]

Dave, did you receive your camera screws?

Curious if you did. I need to call them again about mine.

CH

Carlos, I did receive them a couple of days after that e-mail.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[David Wild]

Last fall I had a couple shipping issues with Ries -- but when I called Spencer and spoke to him -- he made it all right.

Very happy with the products and his service.

David