Portable Solution to Make Overhead (90°) Photographs

[r.e.]

So I took a photo of my ground tripod with the Gitzo lateral arm rig. This is the weight that the tripod and rig were supporting:

Manfrotto 410 Geared Pan and Tilt Head: 1220g (2.7lb)
Leica digital camera: 680g (24oz)
Nikon Micro-Nikkor f/3.5 55mm: 241g (8.5oz)
Total: 2.14kg (4.7lb)

The RRS ground tripod weighs 900g (2lb). According to old catalogues, my Gitzo geared centre column (G529) posing as a lateral arm weighs 2.4kg (5.25lb). The G541 bracket holding the centre column in a lateral position is 0.86kg (1.9lb).

Attachment 229610

No counterweight required...

Note that it's possible to increase the extension on the left of the photo by omitting the Manfrotto head. This would reduce the load on the arm substantially, from 2.14kg (4.7lb) to 900g (2lb). My experience with this ground tripod is that levelling the tripod from the legs is trivial. It would be easy to rotate the centre column in its bracket so that the camera is facing straight down, or at another angle if desired. I'd have to use a reducer from the centre column disk's 3/8" male thread to the camera's 1/4" receiver, or I could get fancy and use an Arca-Swiss Quick Release clamp and plate, but these don't weigh much.

When I set up my Series 3 tripod and Arca-Swiss 4x5 camera with the Gitzo rig this week, I want to try it with and without a tripod head, just to see the difference in how the Gitzo rig and tripod behave. My 4x5 weighs about 2.7kg (6lb) without film holder and lens. My two lightest large format lenses are a 150mm Rodenstock (220g/7.8oz) and a 120mm Nikon that happens to be a macro lens (295g/10.4oz).

[Tin Can]

I would add a sandbag on top of the intersection

and watch out for Bus vibration

[Tin Can]

I forgot

I see your picture is NOW correctly posted

Good!

[r.e.]

I forgot

I see your picture is NOW correctly posted

Good!

I posted the photo and the screen capture yesterday and there has been no change since. You have now posted four times to complain about the images and to cut and paste the forum instructions on attaching images, half of which are about using a private internet server or a third party account, neither of which have anything to do with how I post images. There was either a problem with your monitor or a problem with the forum server, although as I've already told you, I have had no problem reading the screen capture text. Whatever the problem was, it had nothing to do with me. Are you now finished, or do you plan to continue hijacking this thread?

[Tin Can]

Sure

but always lurking

O, I forgot again

There are NO private threads, I stayed on topic

[r.e.]

As stated at the outset, I want to use the Gitzo rig for more than overhead shots, but to stay with that issue for a moment...

In post #33, I talked about keeping the weight of the camera as low as is practicable. When the Gitzo rig is used for overhead photography, I also want to keep the bellows length down. The shorter the bellows, the less vertical impact on centre of gravity. In the case of my 4x5, that's one of the attractions of the Nikon macro lens that I mentioned, a 120mm f/5.6 AM-ED Nikkor. Although they're heavier than the Nikon (295g), I also want to experiment a bit with a couple of wide angle Rodenstocks, a 55mm f/4.5 APO-Grandagon (400g) and a 75mm f/4.5 Grandagon-N (440g). Might as well try the 90mm Grandagon-N too (460g).

This exercise is becoming reminiscent of a high school physics experiment

[r.e.]

In order to use the Gitzo lateral arm rig without a tripod head, thereby reducing the load on the arm (see post #31), I've ordered a quick release clamp and plate. I stopped using Arca-Swiss style quick release when I stopped using a ball head several years ago, but there are times, such as this, when an Arca-Swiss style clamp and plate come in handy.

Instead of the usual suspects - Arca-Swiss itself, Really Right Stuff, etc. - I decided to try the FLM quick release clamp in the photo below. FLM North America distributor Ari, who is in Ottawa, was very helpful in an e-mail exchange. While writing this post, it's occurred to me that FLM's Ari is probably forum participant @Ari

The top plate of my Gitzo Series 3 tripod and the plates at each end of the Gitzo centre column all have a diameter of 80mm.* Ari thought that FLM's QLB 60 clamp would work, but I decided on the more generous clearance of FLM's largest clamp, the QLB 80:




By using this clamp instead of Manfrotto's 410 Geared Pan and Tilt head, I can reduce the load on the Gitzo lateral arm by 1.1kg/2.4lb. For the camera setup shown in posts #26 and #31, that's a 50% load reduction. When I receive the clamp, I'll post a photo showing the gain in lateral arm extension.

An additional attraction of the QLB 80 clamp is that it has several threaded 1/4" and 3/8" holes in addition to the hole for a tripod's 3/8" stud. I have uses for these holes unrelated to this discussion.

The photo above is from FLM's North America site, and I'm told that it accurately depicts the current version of the clamp. Photos of this clamp on B&H's site and on a U.S. FLM retailer site, which show only two 1/4" holes in addition to the hole for the 3/8" tripod stud, are apparently out of date.

FLM North America: FLM QLB 80
B&H: FLM QLB 80
U.S. FLM Retailer: FLM QLB 80



* Gitzo specs say that the Series 2/3/4 tripod plate diameter is 70mm, but that's the diameter of the underside lip that fits inside the tripod collar, not the top surface diameter.

[r.e.]

While writing this post, it's occurred to me that FLM's Ari and is probably forum participant @Ari.

I've now learned via personal message that @Ari is the North American distributor for FLM.

Another good reason to order an FLM clamp and one of their plates instead of the usual. One reason that I decided to try FLM is that a B&H staff member whose opinion I respect has a high opinion of FLM clamps.

This is a thread that Ari started in the New Products and Services sub-forum about a New FLM Ultralight Tripod for 8x10 and smaller.

[r.e.]

A word about ordering directly from FLM in Ottawa rather than from B&H, Adorama, etc…

I don't see a reason to give resellers a cut on what’s a special order anyway. The FLM price included free shipping. Also, if I ordered from B&H or Adorama, I’d pay 9% sales tax, but New York, where I am, doesn't collect sales tax on imports.

@Ari shipped the FLM QR clamp yesterday (Tuesday, August 2nd) because the first Monday in August is a holiday in most of Canada. As the screen capture below shows, Canada Post estimates next Thursday, August 11 for delivery. This builds in a substantial cushion for processing by U.S. Customs, but in my experience Customs doesn’t hold up items of this value. The package has already been processed in Montreal, which is just across the NY State border. I expect that I’ll receive it this Friday, Saturday or Monday. The US Postal Service will start tracking when it receives the package.

[Tin Can]

I ordered my FLM and 100mm ball head Direct from Arri

Some states will add tax

My accountant made me go back years to pay Use Tax

We NEED honest people to PAY TAX

no insult intended