Best tripod for 8x10?

[Dave Moeller]

I use a Berlebach 4032 with my Calumet Green Monster. It's a rock-solid combination.

[Peter De Smidt]

I like using a surveyor's tripod with 8x10, assuming you don't have to shoot with the camera really low. Sinking those huge spiked feet into the ground really dampens the tripod. The downside is that they're bulky to carry.

On hard surfaces, I use a Gitzo tele studex. A rational series 5 head is great for 8x10 field cameras, as it has a honking big plate, and the knobs don't stick out too far. If your camera has two tripod mounting threads, you can cut out the small piece of metal at the back of the slot in the head and use two tripod screws. You can then slide them both into the slot very quickly, and it's as secure as you can get, with no possibility of the camera turning on the head. My Gitzo rational 5 head is from about 1970, and it works great.

[John O'Connell]

You have a 3050. One of the best heavyweight LF pods ever made—keep it.

[Daniel_Buck]

I've got a Ries and I like it a lot.

same here, I like mine alot as well.

[Ben Calwell]

Kudos to the 3050 -- I bought mine in 1983, and it's still going strong. I've got a 3047 head on it, which I found to be inadequate to hold an Orbit 8x10 (similar to the Calumet) that I used to own. But the leg set is great and solid.

[Maris Rusis]

The best tripod for 8x10 is the one that is not so heavy that you can't carry it. If you can carry it then it should be light enough to leave you with enough energy to photograph with after you have climbed your mountain. In other words the lightest tripod that works properly.

Here is the best combination I have come up with:

Velbon Neo Carmagne 740 carbon-fibre tripod with Manfrotto 468MGRC4 Hydrostatic Ball Head. All-up weight (on the bathroom scales) is 3Kg (alias 6lb 10oz) and the tiny hydrostatic head is rated for 16Kg (alias 35lb 3oz).

A Tachihara 8x10 triple extension camera with a big lens and a film-holder comes to less than 9Kg and does not stress this tripod+head combination.

The down-side is expense. In Australia the combo costs about AUS$1400 which is a lot if chiropractic bills don't count.

[aduncanson]

I have a Bogen 3040 and the 3047 head (IIRC). It seems a bit light for my Calumet C1 except that I have modded the C1 by attaching a 3/8" thick aluminum plate screwed and pinned to the bottom of its tripod mounting block with a Bogen hexagonal quick release plate firmly attached to the bottom of the aluminum plate. That way the Bogen setup can be used with care.

[Mark Sawyer]

I've had the opportunity to use quite a few different ones over the years, and there are a lot of very nice ones that do the job very, very well. But I've never found one that tempted me to give up my Ries...

[cyrus]

It depends. For in-studio use, or for outdoor.

The Davis & Stanford Airlift mentioned earlier is massive and heavy and stable as a rock -- and you most certainly don't want to be carrying it around outdoors.

Oh, and it is a pretty dangerous piece of equipment. People have knocked themselves out with it -- thus discovering why its called "Airlift"

[Turner Reich]

Gitzo Studex, weights as much as the camera but is like a fire truck ladder.