Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Iga
What a nonsense ! :-)
I was a student engineering apprentice in England when the discussion of Stones/Beatles was popular around Christmas 1962. I think it came down to whether you were for the good guys (Beatles) or the bad boys (Stones). I thought that the music was good from both.
Some guys in 1962 thought that Buddy Holly would not have been popular if he had not died in 1959. Hey, my wife and I still like to dance to his music. Some music does go on forever e.g. Chuck Berry. Long live Rock and Roll!
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Drew Wiley
. . . NONE of the above. Avoid anything with a center column, or else remove that portion of it; it will be counterproductive for typical LF applications.
For heavier cameras like most 8x10s, that's good advice.
But for lightweight cameras, a center column can be useful. I've used my Feisol CF tripod with it's center-column installed for Arca Swiss 4x5, Sinar 4x5, etc. It's also good for medium format cameras and 35mm digital.
That said, I wouldn't extend it much past it's middle extension. Otherwise, it's just asking for moment arm vibrations.
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
I have a Chamonix 4x5, Gundlach Korona 5x7, and Kodak 2D 8x10. Have a Ries J250 head. Just ordered a Ries J100-2 tripod. I need something solid out here on the windy plains.
Kent in SD
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
Center column with MF, Neil? Well, I happen to use the P67 system especially for its excellent telephoto lenses. The combination with a 300EDIF is more difficult to stabilize than a typical 8x10. I use the same Ries and Feisol tripods as for my 8x10, and with two mounts - a thread on the camera, and one on a lens collar, both unified onto an especially solid maple hardwood/phenolic bar, which in turn is directly bolted to the platform top of the tripod. No tripod head, no center column. That's how to get the job done! Try shooting that atop a column and vibrations would be worse than doing the Charleston atop a dance floor made of Jello.
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
Bought a Gitzo 1325 between 12 to 15 years ago. Last year I decided I wanted a center column for it. Ordered from B&H and it fit perfect. I actually have two Gitzo's. Also a 1228. They are kinda like a Pentax Digital Spotmeter. They're so good you should just suck it up and get one. You won't regret it.
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
I left two center column in a big drawer somewhere, and have found no reason to look for them. Might as well be Pogo sticks.
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
I have 2 Miller DS10's.
I Payed $1,100 for a complete kit 10 years ago that I have used a LOT.
Recently I bought a very nice used one that was missing the fluid head handle for $125.
They are light, strong, solid, extremely versatile and very quick to set up on anything from ice to mud.
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
I love using my Technika IV on a Gitzo carbon fiber GT5543LS tripod with a Gitzo G1570M Series 5 Low Profile 3-Way tripod head, photographing with a Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 9/360 in a Compur Electronic 3 shutter. It's far more compact and sturdier than any Sinar camera I have got (P, C, F). And very transportable.
I adore using the Schneider-Kreuznach Suoer-Angulon 8/75 on a wide angle device, a recessed lensboard or on a focusing helicoid, with the same camera, too, because I have central tilt on the back and the with the recessed lensboard the 75mm fits into the closed camera. I always use the Gitzo head. Where is the problem?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Bernice Loui
Linhof Technika(s) aka metal folder with the fixed point of tripod attachment and the IMO severe limitations with wide angle lenses became THE reasons they got booted from the usable camera list.
Might not be easily apparent initially as these Linhof camera are so well made and precision.. until the camera and bellows is racked all out with a BIG (copal# 3 shutter, largest that lens board will tolerate) long focal lens hanging on the lens end of the camera.. causing more camera support system (tripod and tripod head) instability than should be tolerated. Yet, they are not the only folders like this.
Again, with the Norma, simply slide the set up on the rail clamp until it balances on the support system and it makes ALL the difference in stability and vibration tolerance.
None of this is initially apparent with a "normal_ish" focal length lens, once the camera is pushed to it's extension and lens support limits with these problems will become apparent and less tolerable.
Bernice
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Iga
What a nonsense ! :-)
As a Pink Floyd fan, I have to agree. :)
Re: Finding tripods for Large Format is kinda hard (daunting)? Favorite LF tripod?
Daniel - Bernice is correct, both in theory and in practice. Sinar monorails are way easier to balance using that rail as a fully adjustable fulcrum point, versus any flatbed or technical camera. My own brother used a Super Technika 4x5. It needed a lot more support than any of my field Sinars (F2, Norma, etc), especially when long end-heavy telephotos were in play. I routinely equip my Sinar with an 18 inch rail. I'm a long lens addict, and let a long bellow do the work with a petite lens on the end, rather than a brick of a telephoto. But I do have admiration for low-profile Gitzo pan/tilt heads. I use one of those for much of my MF shooting. But as everyone probably knows by now, I prefer zero head when shooting large format.
And the way I pack em up, I'd argue that the Sinar field system (exclusive of P,C, or X models) can be packed up quite efficiently for travel. I've carried em in backpacks well over ten thousand miles of steep mountain terrain over the decades, along with all the food, supplies, tent, and mountain gear necessary for extended trips in the very same pack! No, I'm not still doing that in my 70's. Just for day use now. A little Ebony folder substitutes for those longer trips these days. Sinars are also very easy to repair simply by switching out components if something gets broken. Almost everything is interchangeable despite which generation of camera is involved.