Lightweight 8x10 tripod help (bare with me...)

[Chris C]

Hey guys.

After a 14-or-so month wait, I'm now not to far away from having my Argentum Excursor l. h. 8x10 finished and delivered - hopefully next month. Which brings me to the issue of tripods and heads.

I've done some searching and reading through old posts looking for suggestions but I'm having trouble deciding which direction to go in as this is a semi-unique thing. Basically, I'm after the minimum I can get away with but I'm not entirely sure what that can or should be.
A bit of background on my set up with this camera too. The camera itself will come in around a positively anorexic 1.9kgs, and the lens I'll be pairing with it is an equally light (from my understanding - it's currently in transit) Fujinon 250mm f6.7. So I'm estimating/hoping that with film holder in place (the ground glass is removed when holder is in place, making shutter firing weight reduced a little more) this setup will come in under 4kgs, or we can say 5kgs to be on the safe side.

Such an extremely light set up seems like it'll give me some good options with tripods and heads, but having only shot 4x5 before I'm a little curious as to how non-gravity forces will effect things. Obviously it's going to be more of a sail perched atop 3 sticks than a 4x5 will which will require some extra beefing up, but I'm just not sure how much.

What sort of direction would you go with here? This camera will be a travel camera as often as possible too so that's another thing to take into consideration. I've been looking at some options from 3 Legged Thing, but reviews on them are just as scarce as reviews on this camera! My main concern here is undercooking things.

Help!
Thanks!

[Alan Gales]

I shoot a Wehman 8x10 which weighs 8.7 lbs or 3.9 kgs. I also use a Fujinon 250mm f6.7 lens a lot in the field. Bruce Wehman (the maker of the Wehman camera) recommends a Feisol CT-3342 with center post removed. I use a Ries J100 with double tilt head myself. Your camera is even lighter than mine but maybe this info will help.

A good friend of mine visited New Zealand and told me it was a photographer's paradise. :)

[Vaughn]

Sort of depends on how tall you are, and how often you set up on downward slopes -- that determines how high the pod needs to go. And what kind of traveling?

How about a fiberglass surveyor's tripod without a head?

[mdm]

I have a Berlebach 4032 wooden tripod with ball and no centre post that I use with my 5x7 Nagaoka, it can easily handle more. I love it. Very fast to set up and because I use it without a head its actually reasonably light. After using a wooden tripod I will never go back to a normal tripod and head, they frustrated the hell out of me with all those twists that always get full of grit. I would highly recommend one with the built in ball, except maybe if i did it again i would get a 4032P which has a panning thing ontop of the ball, though I dont miss it except with a very heavy camera on there. they can be bought directly from the berlebach web site and they ship to New Zealand very reasonably and very quickly without incurring customs (in my case anyway) by DHL. The prices on the website include VAT which they will not charge. I know that local retailers are always very expensive and usually totally incompetent when it comes to anything out of the norm, so it was worth it for me. You should have seen me trying to buy an arca style quick release plate from photowarehouse, it took some work.

[Chris C]

Sort of depends on how tall you are, and how often you set up on downward slopes -- that determines how high the pod needs to go. And what kind of traveling?

How about a fiberglass surveyor's tripod without a head?

I'm pretty much around the 5'11-6' mark. With my previous 4x5 setup I was limited to the lens sitting at about 5'10 and never felt too restricted. If I could get the lens to 6' with a small amount of centre column lift for when I really needed it I'd be happy, but standing with my eyes central on the groundglass is all I've ever found myself wanting for what I shoot.
As for travel, the huge drawcard for this camera was being able to take it internationally, it's dimensions are highly manageable for that. That kind of dictates me wanting something of a more traditional photographic style tripod rather than a surveyors tripod for portabilitys sake.


I have a Berlebach 4032 wooden tripod with ball and no centre post that I use with my 5x7 Nagaoka, it can easily handle more. I love it. Very fast to set up and because I use it without a head its actually reasonably light. After using a wooden tripod I will never go back to a normal tripod and head, they frustrated the hell out of me with all those twists that always get full of grit. I would highly recommend one with the built in ball, except maybe if i did it again i would get a 4032P which has a panning thing ontop of the ball, though I dont miss it except with a very heavy camera on there. they can be bought directly from the berlebach web site and they ship to New Zealand very reasonably and very quickly without incurring customs (in my case anyway) by DHL. The prices on the website include VAT which they will not charge. I know that local retailers are always very expensive and usually totally incompetent when it comes to anything out of the norm, so it was worth it for me. You should have seen me trying to buy an arca style quick release plate from photowarehouse, it took some work.

I previously had a Berlebach (I think it was a 6008) with my Shen Hao 4x5 which I sold a while ago, and while it was a very good tripod, I just found it a little too bulky and didn't get along with the screws on the legs. I was hoping I'd be able to make this tripod slimmer and therefore easier to lug around to more remote places here, and overseas without hating it's bulk.
I absolutely agree with your sentiment on local stores though. I've virtually given up on them for everything except basic chemicals if I'm in a pinch. Even if they know anything about LF, their range won't support it. Isn't the internet wonderful?

[Ari]

Check out Induro, CF or AlMg versions.

[Alan Gales]

It sounds like you might like a Gitzo carbon fiber. A good buddy of mine owns one and uses it with his Toyo 4x5 metal folder. He loves it.

[mdm]

Thats ok, we all have our preferences. Personally, I would have no problem taking it with me to the most out of the way places, except probably not up Mt Aspiring or anything like that.

[gary mulder]

For my Canham lightweight 8 x 10 most of the time I use a gitzo GT3541XLS with a GH5380SQR head. (2642 gram) A good all round tripod. Besides this tripod I have a G1257LVL which I use without a head. You will have to do it with the movement from the leveling from the LVL . (1584 gram) And it's modified to let the column rotate. That's a very reasonable lighter alternative. With some movement constrains. As third a GT1540T with G1177M head. (1174 gram). It's better than nothing. It folds up into a small package. Not a all round solution.