The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

The great tripod & head thread!

nameBrandon

Well-known member
Hey all, what is the thought on Induro legs? I was curious as to how the GIT304 Grand CF stacks up against something like the RRS TVC 24? They seem pretty similar to me, and the Induro is a fair bit cheaper.. of course I know nothing about nothing, so thought I'd ask you all. :) This would be paired with the geared D4 as discussed a few posts prior.
 

med

Active member
Hey all, what is the thought on Induro legs? I was curious as to how the GIT304 Grand CF stacks up against something like the RRS TVC 24? They seem pretty similar to me, and the Induro is a fair bit cheaper.. of course I know nothing about nothing, so thought I'd ask you all. :) This would be paired with the geared D4 as discussed a few posts prior.
I was tempted by Induro legs a few times over the years as they do seem quite good for the money, but never did pull the trigger. I recently upgraded my old Gitzo 2-series to an RRS 4-series. There is a local pro shop here (Vistek) that has been pushing Induro legs over Gitzo and the like for years now and have done demos at trade shows with people standing on the apex to show the strength of the legs.

I would have no doubts as to the outright strength of the legs themselves and would put them on par with Gitzo in most respects. I do think RRS has the edge for damping and torsional rigidity due to the quality of their spider and apex design, but I have not done any objective testing to back this up; it is just a feeling based on physical handling of both.
 

nameBrandon

Well-known member
I was tempted by Induro legs a few times over the years as they do seem quite good for the money, but never did pull the trigger. I recently upgraded my old Gitzo 2-series to an RRS 4-series. There is a local pro shop here (Vistek) that has been pushing Induro legs over Gitzo and the like for years now and have done demos at trade shows with people standing on the apex to show the strength of the legs.

I would have no doubts as to the outright strength of the legs themselves and would put them on par with Gitzo in most respects. I do think RRS has the edge for damping and torsional rigidity due to the quality of their spider and apex design, but I have not done any objective testing to back this up; it is just a feeling based on physical handling of both.
Thank you! I'm trying to decide on just how much damping and rigidity is important to me, and I'm not quite sure I know. I plan on mounting a Cambo ACtus + X1D + V series lenses on a D4 on top of the tripod (and while outdoors).. so perhaps this is somewhat equivalent to a long telephoto / DSLR combination where both would be very important.

It looks like from the rankings posted above, if those are of large concern then it sounds like the Gitzo GT4533LS might be a better fit than the RRS TVC 23/24 with twice the rigidity "score". Will have to do some more research.. thank you!!
 

Geoff

Well-known member
Once did some moon shots with a 300mm lens on MFDB, and found vibration was a factor at long shutter speeds over 10 seconds. It wasn't the tripod (Gitzo series, carbon fiber) but there was no wind either. The Linhof 3D Micro settled everything down. Not quite as flexible as the Cube, but sure is a stable piece.
 

nameBrandon

Well-known member
Once did some moon shots with a 300mm lens on MFDB, and found vibration was a factor at long shutter speeds over 10 seconds. It wasn't the tripod (Gitzo series, carbon fiber) but there was no wind either. The Linhof 3D Micro settled everything down. Not quite as flexible as the Cube, but sure is a stable piece.
What was the 3D micro replacing, a ball-head?
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...Cambo ACtus + X1D + V series lenses...
First time I'd looked at that setup ... looks interesting!

I have the Arca Swiss P0h. For my use with Hasselblad 500CM, 907x, Leica CL and SLR cameras, it's proven quite stable fitted to Manfrotto 190CXpro3 legs with the shorter lenses and Feisol CT3442 legs with the longer lenses/bellows unit. I haven't found much difficulty with droop ... and one of the things I like about this head is that if I do have to use it off the upright angle and a little droop occurs during my sloppiness in locking the ball, it's easy to correct precisely with the goniometers. I rotate the rectangular format cameras through 90° (from H to V) using L-brackets.

My gut feeling is that something like the Cambo Actus, however, presents more sail area and a bellows camera with front and rear standards is always less stable unless it is really well designed (or/and weighs a ton and a half). Vibration damping and overall rigidity become more significant, and probably a little different from the long-lens telephoto on 35mm format type of additional weight due to the distribution of masses and sail area. A larger set of legs and a heavier duty head seems necessary for that setup to maintain equal usability.

I haven't played with a bellows camera with swings, shifts, and tilts in many years. The Cambo setup using my CFVII 50c back and V system lenses might present an opportunity in that regard. But I suspect not this year... I'm still just learning how to visualize and solve problems and get what I want with the 907x. :D

G
 

nameBrandon

Well-known member
First time I'd looked at that setup ... looks interesting!

I have the Arca Swiss P0h. For my use with Hasselblad 500CM, 907x, Leica CL and SLR cameras, it's proven quite stable fitted to Manfrotto 190CXpro3 legs with the shorter lenses and Feisol CT3442 legs with the longer lenses/bellows unit. I haven't found much difficulty with droop ... and one of the things I like about this head is that if I do have to use it off the upright angle and a little droop occurs during my sloppiness in locking the ball, it's easy to correct precisely with the goniometers. I rotate the rectangular format cameras through 90° (from H to V) using L-brackets.

My gut feeling is that something like the Cambo Actus, however, presents more sail area and a bellows camera with front and rear standards is always less stable unless it is really well designed (or/and weighs a ton and a half). Vibration damping and overall rigidity become more significant, and probably a little different from the long-lens telephoto on 35mm format type of additional weight due to the distribution of masses and sail area. A larger set of legs and a heavier duty head seems necessary for that setup to maintain equal usability.

I haven't played with a bellows camera with swings, shifts, and tilts in many years. The Cambo setup using my CFVII 50c back and V system lenses might present an opportunity in that regard. But I suspect not this year... I'm still just learning how to visualize and solve problems and get what I want with the 907x. :D

G
Thanks! Am tempted by the 907x / CFVII backs as well.. So far I've been able to resist.. I love the XCD kit in general.


Thanks to everyone for their help! I ended up getting the TVC-24L and the Cube C1 with classic knob (and the cool looking Hasselblad X1D shutter release cable). Should be here next week. I imagine this will be a big step up from my 055XPROB and 498RC2 ball-head I'm currently using.
 

JAB

Member
It seems that the great tripod & head thread has been neglected for a bit, so...

After a lot of reading through the many variations of heads and tripods that others have tried and used, I finally settled on getting the Arca Swiss D4 GP. It arrived yesterday and wow, what a piece of hardware! Prior to mounting on my now pathetic Gitzo Explorer tripod (to be upgraded), I worked the knobs to get a feel for the movements. What I noticed was the Tilt Y teardrop knob was 90 degrees relative to the illustration in the included documentation. This results in the Tilt Y teardrop contacting the Tilt X gear movement knob when trying to rotate about the X axis. This prevents the full range of motion in the X axis, only allowing 30 deg of motion as opposed to 40 deg. I have been told that the real intent of the head is to move the head in the forward direction which goes to 90 degrees as opposed to the aft direction which is supposed to go to 40 degrees (mine appears to be limited to 30 degrees due to the knob interference). If I apply a significant amount of torque to the Tilt Y teardrop to the point that I tighten it a further 90 degrees, then there is no interference with the Tilt X gear movement knob, but now the Tilt Y teardrop makes contact with the base. I have included a couple of quick pictures of the knob interference and the limit of the tilt. If the Tilt Y knob were positioned 180 degrees from where mine is, then no issues would occur. I have been offered to send the D4 to the AS repair facility to reposition the knob. Am I missing something?

BTW, I am an engineer. :facesmack:

D4_knob_interference.jpgD4_angle_limit.jpg
 

JAB

Member
It seems that the great tripod & head thread has been neglected for a bit, so...

After a lot of reading through the many variations of heads and tripods that others have tried and used, I finally settled on getting the Arca Swiss D4 GP. It arrived the other day and wow, what a piece of hardware! Prior to mounting on my now pathetic Gitzo Explorer tripod (to be upgraded), I worked the knobs to get a feel for the movements. What I noticed was the Tilt Y teardrop knob was 90 degrees relative to the illustration in the included documentation. This results in the Tilt Y teardrop contacting the Tilt X gear movement knob when trying to rotate about the X axis. This prevents the full range of motion in the X axis, only allowing 30 deg of motion as opposed to 40 deg. I have been told that the real intent of the head is to move the head in the forward direction which goes to 90 degrees as opposed to the aft direction which is supposed to go to 40 degrees (mine appears to be limited to 30 degrees due to the knob interference). If I apply a significant amount of torque to the Tilt Y teardrop to the point that I tighten it a further 90 degrees, then there is no interference with the Tilt X gear movement knob, but now the Tilt Y teardrop makes contact with the base. If the Tilt Y knob were positioned 180 degrees from where mine is, then no issues would occur. Has anyone else had this issue? Am I missing something?

One other item of note, I have tried to post this issue a couple of times with pictures and nothing shows on the forum. So, there are no pictures which might help further communicate my issue. I have emailed twice in the last couple of days about this problem in the “Contact Us” area of the page and have received no response. Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks!

Jeff
 

nameBrandon

Well-known member
One other item of note, I have tried to post this issue a couple of times with pictures and nothing shows on the forum. So, there are no pictures which might help further communicate my issue. I have emailed twice in the last couple of days about this problem in the “Contact Us” area of the page and have received no response. Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks!

Jeff
While it's certainly kind of the form admins to allow us to host photos here using their storage / bandwidth, the user interface for doing this is not necessarily the most friendly. I would suggest you just get a Flickr account and upload your images there. Flickr will generate the code necessary to share the image on the forum, and you just copy and paste it.

Assuming your photo is on Flickr, go that particular photo's page, and you'll see an arrow pointing to the right (located below the lower right corner of your image). Click on that arrow, then choose "BBCode" and a size option, then just copy and paste the code here.
 

TimoK

Active member
While it's certainly kind of the form admins to allow us to host photos here using their storage / bandwidth, the user interface for doing this is not necessarily the most friendly. I would suggest you just get a Flickr account and upload your images there. Flickr will generate the code necessary to share the image on the forum, and you just copy and paste it.

Assuming your photo is on Flickr, go that particular photo's page, and you'll see an arrow pointing to the right (located below the lower right corner of your image). Click on that arrow, then choose "BBCode" and a size option, then just copy and paste the code here.
That's one possibility but the main reason is that Jeff is a new member and the moderators want to manually check new members' posts. I also found the same problem with my first posts with photos. It took a day or two before they appeared in forum. Later no problems.
So, Jeff don't worry, be patient and everything starts working.
 

fjablo

Active member
After my frustrating experience this morning (see image thread) I was looking for tripod heads and stumbled across this very interesting Rollei tripod:
https://www.rollei.com/tripod-urban-traveler-22748-en-eur

It's not really made for MF except for maybe the X1D / GFX50R with one of the lighter lenses. But it has a very interesting head - at least I've never seen an integrated leveling base in a tripod this small & light. Seems perfect for hiking:


I ordered one even though it was not exactly what I was looking for originally :grin:
 

anyone

Well-known member
Does anyone have a recommendation for a 3 way head that can keep a Chamonix view camera and Hasselblad V system stable but is not too heavy?

I own already a Linhof 3D Micro which is on the heavy side, otherwise great and a Manfrotto 410 which is too heavy. I use usually ball heads, but for the view camera I need to be able to fix each axis separately. Particularly for hiking weight and bulk is a major concern.

Thank you!
 

MartinN

Well-known member
Does anyone have a recommendation for a 3 way head that can keep a Chamonix view camera and Hasselblad V system stable but is not too heavy?

I own already a Linhof 3D Micro which is on the heavy side, otherwise great and a Manfrotto 410 which is too heavy. I use usually ball heads, but for the view camera I need to be able to fix each axis separately. Particularly for hiking weight and bulk is a major concern.

Thank you!
Stable with weight capacity usually means HEAVY. When I need that I use my 410. Then I have the Manfrotto x-pro geared head that is very light, but not as secure. I choose between them.
 
I've been working on a long term project and my Arca D4 was getting banged up climbing ladders thru decks. Found a good solution to protect tripod head, Think Tank Lens Changer 50. Works pretty darn good.IMG_9459.jpgIMG_9268.jpg
 

TimoK

Active member
Does anyone have a recommendation for a 3 way head that can keep a Chamonix view camera and Hasselblad V system stable but is not too heavy?

I own already a Linhof 3D Micro which is on the heavy side, otherwise great and a Manfrotto 410 which is too heavy. I use usually ball heads, but for the view camera I need to be able to fix each axis separately. Particularly for hiking weight and bulk is a major concern.

Thank you!
I also have Linhof 3d head. In most cases it's not too heavy, but now I purchased Sirui FD-01 head for hiking. It's weight is 200 g less than Linhof's and price is 1/6. It has same movements but much more tilt in both sides. Max load 10 kg. Unfortunately it's not geared. Look at their site Sirui FD-01
Mine is not yet arrived. I can tell more after seeing it.
 
Last edited:

FloatingLens

Well-known member
Does anyone have a recommendation for a 3 way head that can keep a Chamonix view camera and Hasselblad V system stable but is not too heavy?
Perhaps one of the Arca Swiss Core Levelers? I own their Core Leveler 75 and I am very happy with it. Not sure about the load capacity rating, though.
 
Top