Tripod recommendations?

[gimenosaiz]

Anyway making no calculation, just watching what the spot does we know how the thing is going, this is important for light tripods !! There are several urban legends around tripods, the spot tells the truth, for $3...

hi!
Of course you're right ... the spot for $3.
Regards
Antonio

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

I have a Gitzo from 1993 that is nice, but a bit heavy and with limited height.

Figured it was about time to find a modern tripod good for the next 25 years.

I'd like something light (e.g. carbon fiber), stable, supported (spare parts if/when needed), rugged (wind, snow, ice, salt water, etc). Load will be a Rollei 6008 MF rig, and probably a LF rig once I get that far (something appropriate for either field cameras, or a monorail that's light enough to take into the field). I'm guessing 10kg or so would probably be a good minimum load rating. As far as height, 150cm (59") minimum. I don't want a center column, just a spider on which to mount a ball head.

I've narrowed it down to either:
Gitzo Systematic line
Novoflex TrioPod/TrioPod PRO75
RSS TFC-24 Mk. 2

Hello,

it depends - given your Gitzo is a sturdy Reporter or a Studex made of Aluminium I wouldn't change anything and buy a good lens you always use to dream of. Just buy another used Gitzo Studex for 100 USD, that is a little bit higher than the old one you already got.

It seems that the lighter tripod from China are made of cheaper Carbon fiber than those made by Gitzo. Cf. http://thecentercolumn.com

It's interesting: they say that a good carbon fiber tripod outperforms every tripod made of aluminium, but it's quite obvious that only Gitzos are belonging to this class. The other lesson is that a sturdy aluminium tripod is more stabile and damage resistant than a cracky carbon fiber product. https://thecentercolumn.com/2018/06/...minum-tripods/

Novoflex tripods are good to mount a Canon Powershot. But they are overpriced objects of criminal desires.

I looked for availabiliy of replacement parts, and I saw that only Gitzo and Manfrotto have got a website where one can order such articles without hassles. I ordered a plate for my old Gitzo Reporter, to replace the old plywood plate I cutted by myself. Don't even know whether the plywood plate is that bad in damping. But the ordered metal plate came rapidly, and this kind of reliability is counting.

I looked for F****l and R****i comments in A****n, too. If there are only 2 negative comments complaining about the same aspects, I wouldn't trust the product. That's why I didn't bought it.

And there is another aspect: products from China can be produced under miserable conditions, given that e.g. about one million of Uyghurs are living in labour camps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmvyjwLxC5I http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/

If you buy a Gitzo or a Manfrotto, you get a product from a region of this earth where workers have about 20-30 vacation days (when there are children, they can have about 50), where there is social insurance, where workers work only 38 hours a week ... And don't forget: the Italians invented Manfrottos, as well as the French Gitzos, they have the knowledge, and building tripods is a lot more than putting spares together.

As a German I could recommend Berlebachs. The problem with Berlebachs is that they weight too much, compared to the height of the single tripod. Good tripods with good damping weight about 2.5 kg with a height of 125 cm. They have got two sections. When they have three sections the damping isn't better than the damping of a Velbon or a Slik. But the weight increases a lot. I owned a Berlebach Report 8023. It was good, but not very good. It was heavy. Taking such a tripod to mount a Nikon SLR is like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer.

[Bob Salomon]

Hello,

it depends - given your Gitzo is a sturdy Reporter or a Studex made of Aluminium I wouldn't change anything and buy a good lens you always use to dream of. Just buy another used Gitzo Studex for 100 USD, that is a little bit higher than the old one you already got.

It seems that the lighter tripod from China are made of cheaper Carbon fiber than those made by Gitzo. Cf. http://thecentercolumn.com

It's interesting: they say that a good carbon fiber tripod outperforms every tripod made of aluminium, but it's quite obvious that only Gitzos are belonging to this class. The other lesson is that a sturdy aluminium tripod is more stabile and damage resistant than a cracky carbon fiber product. https://thecentercolumn.com/2018/06/...minum-tripods/

Novoflex tripods are good to mount a Canon Powershot. But they are overpriced objects of criminal desires.

I looked for availabiliy of replacement parts, and I saw that only Gitzo and Manfrotto have got a website where one can order such arts without hassles. I ordered a plate for my old Gitzo Reporter, to replace the old plywood plate I cutted by myself. Don't even know whether the plywood plate is that bad in damping. But the ordered metal plate came rapidly, and this kind of reliability is counting.

I looked for F****l and R****i comments in A****n, too. If there are only 2 negative comments complaining about the same aspects, I wouldn't trust the product. That's why I didn't bought it.

And there is another aspect: products from China can be produced under miserable conditions, given that e.g. about one million of Uigurians are living in labour camps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmvyjwLxC5I http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/

If you buy a Gitzo or a Manfrotto, you get a product from a region of this earth where workers have about 20-30 vacation days (when there are children, they can have about 50), where there is social insurance, where workers work only 38 hours a week ... And don't forget: the Italians invented Manfrottos, as well as the French Gitzos, they have the knowledge, and building tripods is a lot more than putting spares together.

As a German I could recommend Berlebachs. The problem with Berlebachs is that they weight too much, compared to the height of the single tripod. Good tripods with good damping weight about 2.5 kg with a height of 125 cm. They have got two sections. When they have three sections the damping isn't better than the damping of a Velbon or a Slik. But the weight increases a lot. I owned a Berlebach Report 8023. It was good, but not very good. It was heavy. Taking such a tripod to mount a Nikon SLR is like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer.

When did you actually test and try a Novovoflex triopod or Quadropod?
And, unlike the others, they are made in Bavaria! So are the parts, which are readily available in the extremely unlikely case that you need them!

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

Hello Bob,

I tested Novoflex in a local store.

The ball head performance was too low compared to its price. I found a website that confirmed my resolution, https://www.traumflieger.de/reports/...novoflex_cb3_2

The Triopod, of which I said it could take a Powershot, was too small. But this was the version with the thin legs.

They say that the Triopod Pro75 can achieve a total height of 79 in./2.0 m and that it has a maximum load capacity of 143lbs / 65kg. This is a "maximum holding capacity for maximum protection", as they say.

It would be far more than a comparable Gitzo. Novoflex says that their CB5 ball head would take only 12 kg, https://www.novoflex.de/en/products-...5-ii-2875.html - So why should they build a tripod that supports 65kg (with only 3 screws, one in each leg)?

I think, there always is a maximum load, and modern tripods have a lot of maximum load, but I learned from https://thecentercolumn.com/ that there is a safety load, too, and this is the load a tripod must hold without letting the camera tremble or swing.

In my opinion, Manfrotto or Gitzo always mention the safety load to achieve unblurred pictures, and these informations are much more conservative. I think I (100kg) would have no problem to sit on my old Manfrotto 055 tripod made of aluminium. Never tried it. But I think, mounting a camera, e.g. a Cambo SC2 with a maximum length of 40-50cm swinging around, when doing macro in our botanical garden, is another aspect.

When I saw the Novoflex Triopod Pro75 in the local store, I simply wasn't convinced. I am conservative. Perhaps I don't trust tripods that are more than 50% lighter than the camera.

Of course its grey coulour symbolizes understatement, and the shiny blue elements signal the manufacturer. I wouldn't take the tripod with me for a weekend hike in the Alps, because every pickpocket in the local railway station would know excactly what I carry around with my rucksack.

Concerning the parts: you're completely right.

Regards

PS Concerning bavarians: I come from western germany, from a region that often changed between Germany and France. We learned to mistrust promises. Our people worked in the metal working and processing industry. We know what a good tripod is, we use tripods to make barbecues. As far as the bavarians are concerned: when we were french the last time, Bavaria was a rural country, as it is today, still ;-)

[Bob Salomon]

Hello Bob,

I tested Novoflex in a local store.

The ball head performance was too low compared to its price. I found a website that confirmed my resolution, https://www.traumflieger.de/reports/...novoflex_cb3_2

The Triopod, of which I said it could take a Powershot, was too small. But this was the version with the thin legs.

They say that the Triopod Pro75 can achieve a total height of 79 in./2.0 m and that it has a maximum load capacity of 143lbs / 65kg. This is a "maximum holding capacity for maximum protection", as they say.

It would be far more than a comparable Gitzo. Novoflex says that their CB5 ball head would take only 12 kg, https://www.novoflex.de/en/products-...5-ii-2875.html - So why should they build a tripod that supports 65kg (with only 3 screws, one in each leg)?

I think, there always is a maximum load, and modern tripods have a lot of maximum load, but I learned from https://thecentercolumn.com/ that there is a safety load, too, and this is the load a tripod must hold without letting the camera tremble or swing.

In my opinion, Manfrotto or Gitzo always mention the safety load to achieve unblurred pictures, and these informations are much more conservative. I think I (100kg) would have no problem to sit on my old Manfrotto 055 tripod made of aluminium. Never tried it. But I think, mounting a camera, e.g. a Cambo SC2 with a maximum length of 40-50cm swinging around, when doing macro in our botanical garden, is another aspect.

When I saw the Novoflex Triopod Pro75 in the local store, I simply wasn't convinced. I am conservative. Perhaps I don't trust tripods that are more than 50% lighter than the camera.

Of course its grey coulour symbolizes understatement, and the shiny blue elements signal the manufacturer. I wouldn't take the tripod with me for a weekend hike in the Alps, because every pickpocket in the local railway station would know excactly what I carry around with my rucksack.

Concerning the parts: you're completely right.

Regards

PS Concerning bavarians: I come from western germany, from a region that often changed between Germany and France. We learned to mistrust promises. Our people worked in the metal working and processing industry. We know what a good tripod is, we use tripods to make barbecues. As far as the bavarians are concerned: when we were french the last time, Bavaria was a rural country, as it is today, still ;-)

The Triopod is a tripod. Those are the legs. The head is always extra.

You really have to use a Novoflex TRIOPOD or their Quadropod and then use their ball heads and experience them.

The Triopod and Quadropod offer a wide choice of both carbon and aluminum legs, they are fully user interchangeable. So pick a set of legs that satisfy you, they start as short as tabletop legs and then offer everything bigger. Some come with both tabletop and full size in a package.

[pgk]

There are only two sorts of tripod; those which hold the camera steady and those that don't. Aluminium or CF make little difference IMO, and I have both. What is important is rigidity and, dare I say it, this has something to do with weight! In 1980 I bought a used Gitzo Reporter which I still have and which I still use though it looks somewhat battered. It is basic but tough and whilst not the lightest it has held a huge variety of cameras over the years from 35mm to 5" x 4". Currently I have about 7 or 8 Gitzos and a couple of Linhof Studio Tripods, an ancient Miller and a Gandolfi. All work depending on load. The Gitzos are extraordinarily tough - you can break them by driving over them in a 4WD as a friend has done (requires spares to be ordered) but otherwise they are pretty difficult to damage. I've tried others including RRS and have never taken to the Novoflex. Friends run Manfrottos, and some current offerings from the far east, but I will stick with the Gitzos.

My Reporter is the longest owned item of photo gear I have. Its travelled, been used with its legs in the sea, tumbled down slopes, been battered around in luggage and generally had a hard time. It works fine. That should say it all.

But I do understand the desire to own something lighter and perhaps a little more subtle in operation. Maybe I'll find something like this one day. In the meantime I'll stick with my Gitzo (that said I must cull my tripods, pity they are heavy - it makes shipping expensive!).

[CreationBear]

PS Concerning bavarians: I come from western germany, from a region that often changed between Germany and France. We learned to mistrust promises. Our people worked in the metal working and processing industry. We know what a good tripod is, we use tripods to make barbecues. As far as the bavarians are concerned: when we were french the last time, Bavaria was a rural country, as it is today, still ;-)

Ha, I happened to be in Trier not long after Ratzinger became pope and was initially puzzled why there wasn't quite the same outpouring of emotion the Poles showed for John Paul...

[Robert Opheim]

Joe I have a Black monster - very very solid camera. I have been using a 400 series giant Gitzo tripod with a Gitzo PL5 head without the center column (I bought the 8 inch column for it). This tripod and head has work very well. This is a heavy rig to carry around and work with - but it doesn't move - except in a a lot of wind and then everything else is moving anyway. Usuallly it is in the car trunk and I scout the image out and go back and carry the equipment to the place I want to shoot. I have a pack with a technikardan 4x5 to carry around.

[Jac@stafford.net]

As my toy SUV fills to accommodate a sleeping pad, I'm finding little room for the tripod. Thinking of getting large PVC pipe to lash to the outside top roof rails. I used to just bag it and put it up there but wear was too much. Any of you done the PVC thing?

[joem]

Joe I have a Black monster - very very solid camera. I have been using a 400 series giant Gitzo tripod with a Gitzo PL5 head without the center column (I bought the 8 inch column for it). This tripod and head has work very well. This is a heavy rig to carry around and work with - but it doesn't move - except in a a lot of wind and then everything else is moving anyway. Usuallly it is in the car trunk and I scout the image out and go back and carry the equipment to the place I want to shoot. I have a pack with a technikardan 4x5 to carry around.

Still toying with ideas for another tripod time will tell.