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The great tripod & head thread!

nameBrandon

Well-known member
As a hand-held shooter, I haven't thought too much about height - above my head, anyway. So today I walked around taking pictures at eye level and held up high over my head using an RRS TFC-14 as a flagpole. The differences were even more than I anticipated.

Untitled by Matthew Grayson, on Flickr

Untitled by Matthew Grayson, on Flickr

Hmmmm...
What a neat change in perspective.. may have to try that! Was that with the GFX100? That would make me nervous.. may test this out with the X-Pro3 first.. :p
 

nameBrandon

Well-known member
So I held up the RRS TFC-14 over my head as in the above photos. Guess which tripod gets to exactly that height? GT5563GS on order.
Nice! I looked at that one,and decided the 2nd highest one (~78") would suffice. Sonder Creative did a review where they mentioned it's really a two person job to set the Giant up and that kind of scared me off of it. It is pretty amazing to look at though, that's for sure.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I actually bought a Giant a few years ago. Set it up in my living room. Stared at it. It stared back at me. I decided I would have no use for it, and returned it. Now I have a use for it, and have wireless tethering working ... sort-of. So I think I can give it a real world try. Of course, setting one up on a sidewalk would require traffic cones.

The very first MFDB I ever saw in the wild was a Sinar mounted on some monstrously tall (I want to say 15 foot) tripod with the legs almost closed (3 feet apart?), leaning against a building. It was across the street from the Gehry IAC building, so I guess he was an architectural photog waiting for the light - it was around sunset. He was just standing next to this precarious rig doing nothing.
 
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GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I actually bought a Giant a few years ago. Set it up in my living room. Stared at it. It stared back at me. I decided I would have no use for it, and returned it. Now I have a use for it, and have wireless tethering working ... sort-of. So I think I can give it a real world try. Of course, setting one up on a sidewalk would require traffic cones.

The very first MFDB I ever saw in the wild was a Sinar mounted on some monstrously tall (I want to say 15 foot) tripod with the legs almost closed (3 feet apart?), leaning against a building. It was across the street from the Gehry IAC building, so I guess he was an architectural photog waiting for the light - it was around sunset. He was just standing next to this precarious rig doing nothing.
My "big" tripod is the Gitzo G5564SGT & Cube that I've had for many years. I actually replaced the bottom spindly leg section with feet as I never used that amount of extension. My real use for the height is for those occasions where you need that extra-long single leg such as on an embankment etc.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
My "big" tripod is the Gitzo G5564SGT & Cube that I've had for many years. I actually replaced the bottom spindly leg section with feet as I never used that amount of extension. My real use for the height is for those occasions where you need that extra-long single leg such as on an embankment etc.
Is that a kit, or do you just get feet for the slightly larger fifth tube? I took the feet off of a 4553, but those should be the same diameter as the 6th tube of the giant.

Oh, let me guess. The long spike kit comes with its own leg ends?
 
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MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
You guys are in an exclusive level of Dante's inferno. But you're still subject to temperature checks when entering. ;)

View attachment 186730

At this stage of my life, I'm looking for ways to lighten my load, so I have a Peak Design Travel Tripod and a Novoflex with removable legs. Both support either my Fuji GFX 100S or Sony a1 when necessary. Otherwise, IBIS and OIS are my friends.

Joe
Joe,

IBIS, high ISO, and no long exposures were my defenses against tripods. Now I just want to get the sucker up high. I'm not aware of anyway to get to 8 feet or more other than a drone or the Giant. (Light stand?)

Matt
 

docholliday

Well-known member
I'm not aware of anyway to get to 8 feet or more other than a drone or the Giant. (Light stand?)

Matt
As much as I like the Giant and have used it in the past... I cheated on my last production shoot that required height. I used a 22' ladder and attached a SuperClamp to the top rung. The ultimate "Giant" was shooting out of a bucket truck with SuperClamp on the bucket, locked, with outriggers down. The fiberglass arm's "vibration absorption" was surpisingly well, but it was definitely a heavy tripod to "carry". ;)

Superclamp to support, Kupo ballhead plate to pin, AS Z1 on plate, safety cable to second superclamp. Fired camera via Pocketwizard once back on ground to prevent inducing shake or movement from being on the support.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
As much as I like the Giant and have used it in the past... I cheated on my last production shoot that required height. I used a 22' ladder and attached a SuperClamp to the top rung. The ultimate "Giant" was shooting out of a bucket truck with SuperClamp on the bucket, locked, with outriggers down. The fiberglass arm's "vibration absorption" was surpisingly well, but it was definitely a heavy tripod to "carry". ;)
That reminds me of the "Car Talk" where the space shuttle called in about a vibration problem at 15,000 MPH.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Is that a kit, or do you just get feet for the slightly larger fifth tube? I took the feet off of a 4553, but those should be the same diameter as the 6th tube of the giant.

Oh, let me guess. The long spike kit comes with its own leg ends?
It was a kit from Gitzo a long time ago.

I hated the gitzo long spikes as they'd forever come off. The RRS tripods and spikes are much better. The giant I moved to the Gitzo combination spike/rubber foot that you can adjust as needed.
 
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Shashin

Well-known member
Joe,

IBIS, high ISO, and no long exposures were my defenses against tripods. Now I just want to get the sucker up high. I'm not aware of anyway to get to 8 feet or more other than a drone or the Giant. (Light stand?)

Matt
I have used a monopod and a simple tilt head--just one movement. You can brace the leg against your torso for stability. With film cameras, I had a really long extension cable: digital is easier. The monopod is easier to handle than a tripod.
 
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