Thoughts on wood tripods

[Michael Graves]

I'm a big fan of wooden tripods, and have tried several. I had a brief fling with a Zone VI. It was very stable, but ergonomically did not work for me. So I sold it. Then I had a brief fling with the Ries. Once again, it was a beautifully made piece of equipment that gave me fits trying to manage it in rough terrain. Then I got a Berlebach for my 4x5 and the love affair began. I've since bought a 4000 series 'pod for my 8x10 and an itty bitty one for low to the ground use that, despite its small size easily supports my Chamonix.

[jp]

I have used a Ries for a day, but thought the head was a little complicated / unintuitive to use; I'm sure I could get used to it. It was a good tripod though. I'm inclined to try a Berlebach for my next tripod.

Department store tripods are junk, every last one of them, no matter the price, even for the task of holding a flip video cam.

Carbon Fiber is overrated I think. If I have to conserve a pound or two of weight, it ought to come off me, not the tripod. I used a manfrotto carbon fiber tripod a couple weeks ago and it, and it might have been fine for a 35mm camera, but it wasn't very solid for a speed graphic, and when I put a 5x7 camera on it, and pushed down a little to make sure the feet were firm in the grass I was on, the leg started to retract. I like my manfrotto monopod though, so I'm not against the brand. You probably have to buy from the higher end of their product line for something suited to LF.

If it's for 4x5, a tiltall may be suitable. That's mostly what I use with my speed graphics. It only $100, but way more solid than most tripods twice the price, and that is the reason it has such a cult following. I also use an aluminum surveying tripod for 8x10, and use it without a head. Aluminum is underrated in my opinion. The downside of aluminum is it's cold in sub-freezing weather (but you can wear gloves or wrap your tripod). It could transmit vibration better than wood, but that's not a concern for the nature/people stuff I'm apt to use my cameras for.

[sully75]

I'm pretty happy with my $80 Tiltall. Was carrying it around on my shoulder with a 5x7 camera for about an hour last week. Definitely could feel it but not too bad. Controls are pretty simple. Nothing exciting and I'm sure something more expensive would be nicer. But it would be more expensive.

[johnmsanderson]

I have a Ries for sale in the FS forum. Awesome, stable, tripod. Very intuitive and the unlimited tilt angle on the legs comes in handy in precarious situations. Reason I'm not keeping it is that its just a bit heavier than what I use otherwise ( I tend to carry the camera over my shoulder around the city lately, and the Ries isn't the best for this ).

[bobwysiwyg]

If I have to conserve a pound or two of weight, it ought to come off me, not the tripod.

+1

Sadly, I could probably donate more than a pound or two towards the goal.

[Brian Ellis]

Photographers have been making excellent photographs with all kinds of different tripods for years. I don't think the material makes a significant practical difference. I'd just buy whatever you like and that you think will work.

I've never owned a Ries but I sold one for a friend recently and played around with it a little. It was a beautiful tripod, so beautiful I wouldn't have wanted to take it out. I prefer ugly Gitzo carbon fiber that I bang around everywhere without worrying about it.

I use a Feisol carbon fiber tripod for smaller cameras sometimes. Mine is a very nice tripod that cost about $200. It wouldn't be suitable for a heavy LF camera but they make other models, you might check them out if you like carbon fiber but don't want to pay Gitzo prices. If there's a difference in the build quality of my Feisol and my Gitzo 1325 I haven't noticed it. The Feisol is actually easier to use.

[Peter De Smidt]

I have a Zone VI Standard wood tripod, Gitzo series 5 tripods, and a Gitzo 1227 carbon fiber tripod. Well, I have even more, but these are what I use.

I'm not sure about the vibration claims. Wooden tripods tend to weigh more than aluminum ones or carbon fiber ones, and that's the big advantage....and disadvantage.
Remember that violins are made of wood because of how well it vibrates. Some are also made of carbon fiber, but I've never heard of one made of aluminum, at least one that could be played.

Big spiked surveyor style tripod feet work wonderfully in muck and soft ground, but they don't work so well on hard surfaces, especially surfaces that you don't want to damage.

Personally, I use my Gitzo series 5 aluminum tripod the most. It's compact, lighter than my Zone VI, and works well on a variety of surfaces. It is plenty strong and vibration resistant for both my 8x10 and 4x5 cameras. If I'm just going to be out in the woods, say, and not going too far, the Zone VI it is. If I have to go light, then the Gitzo CF is the ticket, but I only use it with medium format rangefinders and smaller cameras. I did use it with a Toho superlight 4x5, and it was ok for that, but I had to weigh the legs down when taking a shot, and that was a pain.

One issue with wood is that it can warp. I had a Zone VI lightweight where this happened, and it caused operational issues. Sure, it could've been fixed, but I got rid of it and got their standard model instead, which I greatly prefer.

I've played with some Berlebach tripods, and they seem quite nice.
Reis tripods are super high quality.

One more thing: the wooden tripods I've used and seen don't work as well near the ground as a standard aluminum or carbon fiber pod.

So as has been said, all of these materials (and more) can make wonderful tripods. The type of construction and weight probably have more impact on usability and performance than the materials of which they are made.

[Jeff Dexheimer]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

Vibrations in nature that are a concern for me would be wind and water. I shoot in streams quite often and I live in a very windswept area. Plus I am in Northern Minnesota and winter lasts a long time, so cold weather performance is a must for me.

[GPS]

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

Vibrations in nature that are a concern for me would be wind and water. I shoot in streams quite often and I live in a very windswept area. Plus I am in Northern Minnesota and winter lasts a long time, so cold weather performance is a must for me.

Winds and water don't vibrate a tripod. They're external forces that can move a tripod (but then they move the tripod regardless of its material - only the weight makes a difference) but not vibrate it as winds do not vibrate in themselves, only push. Water cannot vibrate a heavy tripod either for the same reason - in nature, water doesn't vibrate. Irregular pushes can move a tripod only if they're strong enough - regardless of tripods materials.
As to the idea to use a wooden tripod in water it seems it has some disadvantages in comparison to metal/CF tripods too.

[E. von Hoegh]

An easy way to stabilise a tripod is to carry a sack and some line . Fill the sack with rocks or sand, and suspend from the center post. My old CECo wood tripod has holes in the top casting to suspend sandbags from, but you can do this with any tripod - works wonders for damping vibration.

I use a Tiltall for 4x5 and smaller and the aforesaid CECo for 8x10. The CECo weighs 16 lbs with the head and can support me, at 170 pounds. I've never had to use the sack of rocks on either tripod.