Help me pick tripod for 8x10 plaubel

[ViktorK]

hey guys, i am picking tripod for my new plaubel 8x10 camera.
I am more or less going to buy berlebach tripod, however i am not sure if i should get the leveling column version. Has anyone used the leveling column and sees it as a really good thing to have? I am going for the 1_2S or 2_2s version with geared column and extra long (90cm). could i eliminate regular head by using the leveling column with the panorama plate? has anyone done it this way?
As for head i have one i want to buy manfrotto 468MGRC4 / i have good offer on that one/ i know 3 way head would be better but i dont have cash right now for manfrotto 405 geared head which i would like to buy in future.
If anyone can give me any other tips on what tripod/head for 8x10 monorail that would be under 3kg i would be grateful.
thanks

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

Find a sturdy Gitzo aluminium tripod on Fleabay, but not too heavy and a Majestic geared head to go with it. I have used this combo with an 8x10 and quite like it.

[Bob Salomon]

hey guys, i am picking tripod for my new plaubel 8x10 camera.
I am more or less going to buy berlebach tripod, however i am not sure if i should get the leveling column version. Has anyone used the leveling column and sees it as a really good thing to have? I am going for the 1_2S or 2_2s version with geared column and extra long (90cm). could i eliminate regular head by using the leveling column with the panorama plate? has anyone done it this way?
As for head i have one i want to buy manfrotto 468MGRC4 / i have good offer on that one/ i know 3 way head would be better but i dont have cash right now for manfrotto 405 geared head which i would like to buy in future.
If anyone can give me any other tips on what tripod/head for 8x10 monorail that would be under 3kg i would be grateful.
thanks

Which Berlebach? A Report or a Uni? The latter will support anything!

[ViktorK]

report uni seems too heavy to take outdoors

[Bob Salomon]

report uni seems too heavy to take outdoors

The current Report series have interchangeable center accessories so you can switch from leveling to non-leveling to geared to flat plate at any time. Similar to the Uni series. Are you looking at a new Report? How heavy is your camera? A 810 monorail is pushing it.

[Jac@stafford.net]

One good thing about a Berlebach, is that their open channel legs are good in sand and mud, even seawater because they are so easy to purge under a garden hose. Same for even inexpensive survey legs, which I also have. Regarding leveling devices, they are good unless at the top of an extended centre column. My prejudice. I do not trust center columns to be steady.

[ViktorK]

yes i am looking at the new report. My camera with 300mm sironar is 10kg. The one i am looking at are max load from 12-18kg so i hope that is enough for 10kg camera. Uni would be great - used it at studio but 7.5kg tripod to carry around is too much for me right now.
I was thinking about this https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=275&sprache=english with geared column (90cm 40cm longer than the usual) which i found really handy with the UNI tripod at studio. or this one https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=302&sprache=english with geared and longer column.
The main question for me is if use of leveling column + panorama plate would be alternative to tripod head. As i am not sure if i trust the ball head at the top of the tripod.

[Jac@stafford.net]

yes i am looking at the new report. My camera with 300mm sironar is 10kg. The one i am looking at are max load from 12-18kg so i hope that is enough for 10kg camera. Uni would be great - used it at studio but 7.5kg tripod to carry around is too much for me right now.
I was thinking about this https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=275&sprache=english with geared column (90cm 40cm longer than the usual) which i found really handy with the UNI tripod at studio. or this one https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=302&sprache=english with geared and longer column.
The main question for me is if use of leveling column + panorama plate would be alternative to tripod head. As i am not sure if i trust the ball head at the top of the tripod.

I will drop out of this thread only after offering my two-bits, with respect. For reasons of stability I do not like centre columns, nor geared heads or rises, and certainly not ball heads. Frankly, my imagination cannot find a rationale for any of them for LF. Sorry about that. I post this to encourage alternate opinions. I'm not stuck yet!

[Bob Salomon]

yes i am looking at the new report. My camera with 300mm sironar is 10kg. The one i am looking at are max load from 12-18kg so i hope that is enough for 10kg camera. Uni would be great - used it at studio but 7.5kg tripod to carry around is too much for me right now.
I was thinking about this https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=275&sprache=english with geared column (90cm 40cm longer than the usual) which i found really handy with the UNI tripod at studio. or this one https://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=details&id=302&sprache=english with geared and longer column.
The main question for me is if use of leveling column + panorama plate would be alternative to tripod head. As i am not sure if i trust the ball head at the top of the tripod.
Yes, that should work. But your camera’s weight is not including the weight of your lens, any lens or camera accessories, like filters and hoods or compendiums and film holder plus you have to consider vibration dampening as you handle and insert holders, adjusting movements, adjusting the lens, etc.. I think that the Report would just minimally properly handle your camera!

[ViktorK]

10 kg is with lens, however yes it is without any other stuff like filmholders and so on. Thanks, i will give it a moment to think about but these berlebachs seem to be better option than regular carbon fiber tripods / they should have better vibration dampening and offer geared column

[Louis Pacilla]

10 kg is with lens,.....
...........they should have better vibration dampening and offer geared column


These things don't go together well. 10kg camera + raised geared center column = shaky camera from the cantilever effect.

[Bob Salomon]

10 kg is with lens, however yes it is without any other stuff like filmholders and so on. Thanks, i will give it a moment to think about but these berlebachs seem to be better option than regular carbon fiber tripods / they should have better vibration dampening and offer geared column

Let me explain it a different way. Up till early 2015 I was the Product and Sales Manager for Berelbach in the USA. We distributed them for a decade or so.
From experience, representing Berelbach, Linhof and Giottos tripods for decades, the Report is not suitable for your camera.
One of the penalties of shooting 810 is weight. The cameras are heavier, the lenses are heavier and the tripods and heads are heavier. Look at the Uni!

[Bernice Loui]

Been there done this. Used a big GItzo with geared center column with a Sinar C or P outdoors, stability IS an issue once the center column is geared up a few inches. Beyond the center column stability problem the telescopic legs would stick and get covered with the great out doors causing a host of problems. Since then, went to a modified Dutch Hill Surveyors tripod no center column with film-cine-video leveling bowl and Sinar pan-tilt head. This is nice stable combo and the fiberglass three section legs do not stick, jam or have problems with the great out doors sticking to the legs.

IMO, surveyors tripods of the correct variety and properly modified are excellent in many ways.

What is not often appreciated camera weight is NOT the problem, stability of the camera-lens on the tripod under wind, un-even terrain and more IS the problem. Be ready for the tripod to take a beating if used out doors, this is the way it will be. Problem is not so bad with wide angle to normal_ish lenses, if longer focal length lenses are to be used that is when the real fun and struggle with camera support stability begins.

Wood holds up remarkably well under these conditions, fiber glass holds up good, aluminum can cause serious problems if dented or impaled with deep scratches, carbon fiber is not worth the cost. Both wood and fiber glass offer nice vibration damping qualities aluminum does not.

Difficulty with many folks who get into 8x10 with limited previous LF experience, they often want the lowest weight image making package without fully realizing the limitations and problems they will impose upon themselves under actual outdoor image making conditions. Beyond the camera, tripod, what about loaded film holder storage and all those required bits to make images with a LF camera?

Do a LFF search on this topic as it has been discussed more than once before.

Bernice



I will drop out of this thread only after offering my two-bits, with respect. For reasons of stability I do not like centre columns, nor geared heads or rises, and certainly not ball heads. Frankly, my imagination cannot find a rationale for any of them for LF. Sorry about that. I post this to encourage alternate opinions. I'm not stuck yet!

[Daniel Unkefer]

I use a Zone VI lightweight wooden in the field, with a Plaubel head. It will hold your 8x10 Plaubel solidly.

I know you are asking about outside, but consider the Plaubel Camera Stand for inside studio use. I bought this one for $100 US. Quite a luxury :) Both sides have Peco Profia Heads on them (along with Plaubel Makiflexes) :)

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4233/35138517615_8cc5dbf893_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Vx565B)DSC05778 (https://flic.kr/p/Vx565B) by Nokton48 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/), on Flickr

[Bob Salomon]

Been there done this. Used a big GItzo with geared center column with a Sinar C or P outdoors, stability IS an issue once the center column is geared up a few inches. Beyond the center column stability problem the telescopic legs would stick and get covered with the great out doors causing a host of problems. Since then, went to a modified Dutch Hill Surveyors tripod no center column with film-cine-video leveling bowl and Sinar pan-tilt head. This is nice stable combo and the fiberglass three section legs do not stick, jam or have problems with the great out doors sticking to the legs.

IMO, surveyors tripods of the correct variety and properly modified are excellent in many ways.

What is not often appreciated camera weight is NOT the problem, stability of the camera-lens on the tripod under wind, un-even terrain and more IS the problem. Be ready for the tripod to take a beating if used out doors, this is the way it will be. Problem is not so bad with wide angle to normal_ish lenses, if longer focal length lenses are to be used that is when the real fun and struggle with camera support stability begins.

Wood holds up remarkably well under these conditions, fiber glass holds up good, aluminum can cause serious problems if dented or impaled with deep scratches, carbon fiber is not worth the cost. Both wood and fiber glass offer nice vibration damping qualities aluminum does not.

Difficulty with many folks who get into 8x10 with limited previous LF experience, they often want the lowest weight image making package without fully realizing the limitations and problems they will impose upon themselves under actual outdoor image making conditions. Beyond the camera, tripod, what about loaded film holder storage and all those required bits to make images with a LF camera?

Do a LFF search on this topic as it has been discussed more than once before.

Bernice
Back in the late 80s or early 90s I received a call from the owner of Questar telescopes in New Hope that they needed a tripod that they could sell for their 7” scope. So I put the Linhof tripods that they were interested in a drove down to their factory.
They had several different brands and types of tripods that they were interested in and invited me to watch their test.
They set up several of the 7” scopes on tripods on a concrete pad that they had outside the factory area. They also had an absolutely huge engineer who easily weighed over 300 pounds!
After the scopes were set up the owner would look through one and have that engineer jump up and down next to the tripod. The owner would then time how long it took for the vibration to settle out of the system.
We ended up winning the test and started supplying Questar with both the Linhof Heavy Duty Pro tripod and the Linhof ProfiPort tripod.
Both had less vibration transmitted to the eyepiece then the wooden tripods, the Gitzo tripods and the Manfrotto (Bogen back then) tripods that they had been testing!

Unlike most all other tripod manufacturers Linhof also made cameras, including extremely heavy 810 cameras!
They manufactured tripods from aircraft aluminum that easily controlled vibration and extreme handling!

[William Whitaker]

My favorite tripod, at least for indoor use, is the Linhof "Professional Aluminum Twin Shank" tripod, noted SRP in the '60's vintage Linhof catalog I have. It has a Kardan Pan/Tilt II head. This thing is a beast and will easily hold anything I have to put on it, including up to 12x20 and 14x17. Typically, however, it supports my 8x10 Sinar Norma. The down sides to this tripod are its weight and the fact that it is not very weather resistant. In fact, this is my "inside" tripod, serving essentially as a studio stand.

The other tripod I use for the Sinar is a Gitzo G1548, Mk II. A Sinar Pan/Tilt head fits very neatly on top of the crown and the ensemble is very effective while still relatively lightweight.

While I generally favor a Ries tripod for LF work, the Ries does not lend itself well to a monorail 8x10 camera. The Gitzo G1548 Mk II I purchased used on either this forum or APUG. I don't know its current equivalent. It handles weather reasonably well and is fairly easy to set up/strike. And it does support the Norma well, even at extensions with accessories.

FWIW, 2¢ maybe...

[Daniel Unkefer]

My FOBA C40 was designed by Sinar to be part of the 8x10 Norma system. I can't imagine anything more solid than this one. And it is affordable. Shown with one of my 8x10 Normas. Yes it is quite heavy.

Put a Plaubel Head on it, and it's a Plaubel :)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1677/23620213889_82aa873b0c_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/BZeLF4)001 (https://flic.kr/p/BZeLF4) by Nokton48 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/), on Flickr

[Daniel Unkefer]

Wow. Look at this FOBA C40. Completely restored including powder coated legs. A thing of beauty for a Norma or Plaubel user.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Classic-Foba-C-40-Tripod-Fully-restored-to-beautiful-condition/352364706627?hash=item520a92bb43:g:gRgAAOSwO9RbCL4U

[Bob Salomon]

Wow. Look at this FOBA C40. Completely restored including power coated legs. A thing of beauty for a Norma or Plaubel user.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Classic-Foba-C-40-Tripod-Fully-restored-to-beautiful-condition/352364706627?hash=item520a92bb43:g:gRgAAOSwO9RbCL4U

Standard 3/8” tripod thread. Fits most heads and cameras.