Hi All
This is my first post. I really enjoy the Get DPI forum!
I used a Gitzo Recorder for many years, since 1983, along with an Arca Swiss ballhead, and Linhof IV. This was the only camera and tripod I've used since then. This tripod never died but as I'm now entering the realm of digital MFD I decided to search for a lighter replacement. I did look seriously at a new Gitzo until Really Right Stuff announced their new Versa tripods.
I just purchased the Really Right Stuff Versa 23 after a ton of research. It is absolutely perfect from my point of view. It's light, sturdy, has the right (and adjustable) leg angle, weight hook, easy to turn locks, positive lock, and bombproof in all conditions and terrain.
I do pound the lights out of my equipment. 1979 winter ski of the John Muir Trail, 1983 climb of the West Ridge of Mount Everest to 27,500 feet without supplemental oxygen, 2008 first ascent of east face Mount Isto and first descent of the Jago River , Brooks Range of AK, etc.
Sorry for the brag, but I do need absolute equipment reliability. Fedx isn't coming out with a spare battery, or replacement tripod leg one hundred miles out in the Alaska bush. My Gitzo did sort of fail in Alaska with two legs that would not retract due to stuck leg locks. I tried to get them unstuck with a small pair of channel locks but the squeeze started to buckle the tripod legs. I stopped. The stuck legs weren't too big deal, but were a pain to fit into the inflattable, i.e.do not puncture, two person boat.
The hiking thing with a tripod has come up and I don't know how any one carries a tripod with a sling, or bag, or in their hands. In my book, any walking other than on pavement requires that you put your gear/tripod into a backpack. I never was into the specialty camera packs. That just meant another piece of gear and more weight added to my already over sized load. I always carry my gear in my backpack. At one time I didn't use a camera bag. I just swaddled the 4x5 in a sweater, changed film at night in the sleeping bag, only brought three film holders, one lens, used my jacket for a dark cloth. My pack still weighed 85 pounds with climbing gear, food and other equipment.
That all being said I strapped my tripod on the outside of the backpack. Still do, always will. I can use my hands to scramble, stop a fall, check the time, and most importantly look around more comfortably. I also need a day pack at least for food, water, spare clothes, map, headlamp..... Using a back pack also meant that the four leg, more collapsable version of tripods wasn't a consideration or necessity.
The lighter GT Recorder was never an issue with the 4x5. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the center post of the GT, ran a sling through the hole, clipped my back back to the sling and piled rocks on the pack for ballast. My camera never moved. The one time that I didn't use this method to stabilize the tripod the Linhof blew over 60 miles from nowhere, broke the ground glass and arms that held the assembly to the camera back. I used duct tape to paste the glass together and taped the fix to the camera back to make pictures for the rest of the trip. It worked.
So to the tripod question. As with all equipment decisions, decide what your end is. The what, why and where of what it is you're trying to accomplish. Then buy the means
(who cares what it costs, we're photographers) that get you to that end.
Claude Fiddler
www.wildernesslight.com
