The great tripod & head thread!

[Smoothjazz]

During the time off I did some testing and experimenting, and found that with longer lenses (150mm + 2x Tele in particular) on the Phase XF, my Gitzo leveling base was causing some subtle unsharpness or blurriness. This was seen with mirror up and using Electronic Shutter, and taking all the precautions possible.
I use the 5 series Gitzo tripod and the Arca cube, and found this was happening consistently; I attribute it to some micro-vibrations transferred through the leveling base. Have you tested the RRS for this at all?
I have since taken the leveling base out of my tripod set-up, and this seems to help.

Well after following this thread for ages I have finally "leveled" up my tripod situation to the heaviest I will ever need. I'll admit that my choice of Cube and RRS Series 4 legs are a few years behind the times and if I truly want to stay current I clearly need to add some Novoflex parts to the kit, but all in all I'm loving it! I previously was using a Gitzo 2 series with a bunch of ball heads and an Arca L60 leveller. I love the L60 (it looks hilarious at the apex of the 4 series!) and with the RRS leveling bowl it is enough for most shots, but not if I need to point the camera right at the ground. The Cube's "90 degree mode" is outstanding for that!

View attachment 149171

 

[dave.gt]

I come to this thread on a regular basis just to look at Ken Doo's garage floor. :thumbup:

Joe

Haha! Ken is so cool!:thumbs:

 

[MGrayson]

Haha! Ken is so cool!:thumbs:

See, Ken? It’s not just me!

 

[Shashin]

The tripod chat is great, I feel completely inadequate as I bought a gitzo 12 years ago and even though one leg slides all the way out if I let it, it has lasted like a champ and gets used most days. I will replace it soon, may be too difficult from your side of the pond Matt but let me know when you have a plan for your Novoflex kit, would definitely be interested.

Cheers

Mat

Mat, this is always a good place to start: https://thecentercolumn.com/

If you are thinking about using this with your M10 and want to travel/fly/hike with it too, I might suggest the Gitzo Traveler 1545. I picked one up for my X Pro2 and it is just about perfect. I did not use the Gitzo head and have the weight down to a little over 1kg.

 

[jng]

I don't need a tripod. So, of course, I have the Peak Design, a Feisol, RRS TFC-14, Novoflex Triobal, Triopod, Pro-75 (7 lbs!), and a half dozen sets of interchangeable legs, and the aforementioned Gitzo 3-series. Don't ask about tripod heads. Why so many? Because I like them. Just like I used to like cameras before I started taking pictures with them in earnest.

Matt (pictures to come)

Matt: didn't you just pick up an Arca D4 here? :loco: Or perhaps I'm confusing you with another one of Dante's helpless (hapless?) victims. :ROTFL:

During the time off I did some testing and experimenting, and found that with longer lenses (150mm + 2x Tele in particular) on the Phase XF, my Gitzo leveling base was causing some subtle unsharpness or blurriness. This was seen with mirror up and using Electronic Shutter, and taking all the precautions possible.
I use the 5 series Gitzo tripod and the Arca cube, and found this was happening consistently; I attribute it to some micro-vibrations transferred through the leveling base. Have you tested the RRS for this at all?
I have since taken the leveling base out of my tripod set-up, and this seems to help.

I use a Cube with the RRS leveling base on a TVC-33 tripod, and it seems pretty solid to me. Here's an image taken with a Zeiss 250mm Superachromat adapted to my Cambo WRS1250 + IQ3100; +/-10mm shifted, two-image stitch, electronic shutter @ 15 sec. It was a very calm night as I recall, although I've also shot >1 sec exposures in somewhat windy conditions without any problem.

https://jngai58.prodibi.com/a/dw5kz...=ppnPPTMojanWCejxuVQQWZtODLMdEbJGH66RoF6qEXE=

I'm not familiar with the Gitzo leveling base, but the nice thing about the RRS 3-series leveling base is its low profile. I've seen serious issues with vibration with a D4 head on the 2-series leveling base, which together resulted in a pretty tall stack height that vibrated like a tuning fork. I also wonder whether the 2x teleconverter might be exacerbating whatever small amount of instability there is in your support system. When I shoot with the 1.4x teleconverter I generally use a long lens support rail.

Hope this helps.

John

 

[Hausen]

Can anyone help me with service contacts for Arca Swiss L60? My L60 seems to have slipped a gear in one direction. I can find the German site but not the actual company.

 

[tcdeveau]

Can anyone help me with service contacts for Arca Swiss L60? My L60 seems to have slipped a gear in one direction. I can find the German site but not the actual company.

You could try reaching out to Rod Klukas, I believe he’s the Arca rep for the US and may be able to help.

Contact info from his site: http://rodklukas.com/arca-swiss/

Hope that helps or someone else more knowledgeable can chime in

 

[kdphotography]

See, Ken? It’s not just me!

I'll have to make sure that Don Libby knows!

 

[MGrayson]

Matt: didn't you just pick up an Arca D4 here? :loco: Or perhaps I'm confusing you with another one of Dante's helpless (hapless?) victims. :ROTFL:

John

Now what did I say about not asking about tripod heads? :grin:

The D4 is not yet here, but I've always wanted one. The Cube is fabulous, but it is slow to make large movements. I always liked the P0, but it just seems a bit flexible. The L60 and L75 (mini cube and midi cube) are also very nice pieces of kit, but need a leveling base. The L60 and Novy Triobal was a great combo for that reason. But the RRS leveling base and L75 on the Gitzo 3-series makes for a nice, but weighty package.

But wait! We're just getting started! I'm lately fond of the little RRS BH-30 I got to go with the RRS TFC-14. Very light, very stiff. I have the BH-40 and BH-55 gathering dust on a shelf, along with a UniqBall, and a tiny Manfrotto. Half a dozen Novoflex panning and clamping solutions (the one hand snap-in is brilliant, but heavy and off-center).

Sigh,

Matt

 

[tcdeveau]

Now what did I say about not asking about tripod heads? :grin:

The D4 is not yet here, but I've always wanted one. The Cube is fabulous, but it is slow to make large movements. I always liked the P0, but it just seems a bit flexible. The L60 and L75 (mini cube and midi cube) are also very nice pieces of kit, but need a leveling base. The L60 and Novy Triobal was a great combo for that reason. But the RRS leveling base and L75 on the Gitzo 3-series makes for a nice, but weighty package.

But wait! We're just getting started! I'm lately fond of the little RRS BH-30 I got to go with the RRS TFC-14. Very light, very stiff. I have the BH-40 and BH-55 gathering dust on a shelf, along with a UniqBall, and a tiny Manfrotto. Half a dozen Novoflex panning and clamping solutions (the one hand snap-in is brilliant, but heavy and off-center).

Sigh,

Matt

...and of course Matt I’m sure you know RRS has been teasing a new setup on social media (pushed back currently)....

 

[Godfrey]

I try to keep it simple.

I have four sets of legs ... an older Bogen 3120 (I think), a Feisol 3442 Tournament, a Manfrotto 190CXPro3, and the new Peak Design Travel Tripod. The Manfrottos get used the most.

I have Arca Swiss Monoball P0 and P0h heads, as well as Acratech Ultimate Ballhead, GP-1, and Markins Emilie. Plus the built in on the PD legs, and the adapter for use of any head with those legs. The A-S P0h gets used the most.

All but the PD Travel Tripod tend to get used mostly around the house or when I go somewhere specifically to make photographs. And I nearly always grab the Manfrotto legs with the P0h on them because they're fast, sturdy enough, and do the job for most of what I need most of the time. But I don't use any of them in the field as much as I ought to because they're too much to carry most of the time.

The Peak Design Travel Tripod is new, of course, and I'm finding that I am using it more and more. It's the only tripod I have that fits right into my bicycle pack, or drops into all four of my most commonly used bags. It never gets in the way because it is small, light, and tidy. I've found that having it with me means I actually use it, and get much better results because of it with any of my cameras, for all kinds of photography, with all kinds of weird and wonderful cameras ... or even my iPhone. I'm very glad I bought it.

I should get rid of the Bogen legs .. haven't used them in years, they're in perfect shape and are just taking up space in the closet. I should get rid of the extra heads ... I don't use them. The two A-S head are both on the A-S quick-change system so I can swap them between the Feisol and Manfrotto legs easily. I should get another of the quick-change mounts and put it on the universal head adapter for the PD tripod because I really really like the Monoball.

But I'm lazy and it'll take a good while for things to change.

G

 

[georgecleansman]

Latest Medium Format camera with latest latest easily portable tripod solution

 

[MartinN]

View attachment 149491

Latest Medium Format camera with latest latest easily portable tripod solution

Am I the only one noticing some movement or ghosting of the camera? Maybe a Cube should be mounted between the camera and the tripod.

 

[med]

During the time off I did some testing and experimenting, and found that with longer lenses (150mm + 2x Tele in particular) on the Phase XF, my Gitzo leveling base was causing some subtle unsharpness or blurriness. This was seen with mirror up and using Electronic Shutter, and taking all the precautions possible.
I use the 5 series Gitzo tripod and the Arca cube, and found this was happening consistently; I attribute it to some micro-vibrations transferred through the leveling base. Have you tested the RRS for this at all?
I have since taken the leveling base out of my tripod set-up, and this seems to help.

I have not yet had any sharpness issues with my combination that weren’t caused by either me or IBIS (in the case of the GFX100), but I honestly haven’t done much (if any) longer lens testing as of yet. Most of my testing of this setup has been doing lens and camera head to heads.

As noted by John/jng above, the RRS leveling base is quite low profile. Looking at pictures of the Gitzo base is looks like the ball portion sits a bit further above the spider than the RRS one does.

So far the only fault I’ve found with the RRS leveling base is that when I loaded it up for my “maximum stress test” (Arca Swiss monolith in 4x5 mode with a 300mm lens) the base started to slip when I used the cube’s “extra 60 degrees” which really torques up the head—>spider connection! I was able to tighten it further though to eliminate the slippage so I guess this was my fault.

I was also surprised at how much visible play the Cube exhibited when exerting pressure on the Monolith during this test. I don’t think it would be prone to vibration (this was a LOT of force on it...) but I was just surprised given its reputation for rigidity.

 

[med]

Am I the only one noticing some movement or ghosting of the camera? Maybe a Cube should be mounted between the camera and the tripod.

Maybe the greatest camera name ever? (IMHO of course!)

 

[John_McMaster]

I was also surprised at how much visible play the Cube exhibited when exerting pressure on the Monolith during this test. I don’t think it would be prone to vibration (this was a LOT of force on it...) but I was just surprised given its reputation for rigidity.

I find the cube excellent with any weight mostly above it. However once you put leverage on it, usually a longer lens (Mamiya 645 300/2.8 or Leica R APO-Telyt Modular) or monorail, it flexes too much. I use those lenses on Wimberley head on a wooden tripod.

john

 

[Geoff]

Three different answers - over the past years:
RRS BH40 ball head easy to use, but small droop while tightening. Largely retired.
Linhof 3D leveling is very good, not quite as flexible as the Cube (no 90º, 10º max angle) nicely geared and very stable. Use for long shots or for max stability is needed. .
Arca D4 is the daily standard - quick and easy, works well. A bit tall and heavy. Has developed a little looseness, needs a bit of attention.

 

[Smoothjazz]

Ken,
One quick question; you have the cube mounted on a tripod on the right, and there is one additional part in between the cube and the tripod. What is the additional part-a leveler of some type?

Thanks

The gangs all here!

Arca Swiss: The Cube; The Mini-Cube; and The Baby Cube!

Interesting to note that the new Mini-Cube (Leveler 75) uses a RRS Dovetail 55 for the Welland tripod quick release system. The larger Cube uses the DVTL-40. The Mini-Cube is a much better fit for the RRS TVC 2 series legs. The Baby Cube is perfect with the Novoflex Triobalance (leveling built-in) which gives it the same amount of movements as the Leveler 75.

Ken

View attachment 147104

 

[Smoothjazz]

Which Wimberley head do you use?

I find the cube excellent with any weight mostly above it. However once you put leverage on it, usually a longer lens (Mamiya 645 300/2.8 or Leica R APO-Telyt Modular) or monorail, it flexes too much. I use those lenses on Wimberley head on a wooden tripod.

john

 

[kdphotography]

Ken,
One quick question; you have the cube mounted on a tripod on the right, and there is one additional part in between the cube and the tripod. What is the additional part-a leveler of some type?

Thanks

The "part" that you see is a RRS lever release clamp on top on both the TVC-24 and TVC-33 tripod legs. You attach a RRS "dovetail"--TH-DVTL on the bottom of any tripod head (Cube). The Dovetail-40 fits the Cube perfectly. See, https://www.reallyrightstuff.com/th-dvtl-40 This set-up is known as the Graham Welland tripod quick release system. It allows you to quickly swap tripod heads with a lever release clamp. Arca Swiss now has its own "quick links" system which does essentially the same thing.

I have since removed the Welland quick release system from my TVC-24 legs as the AS Leveler 75 aka "Mini-Cube" remains firmly affixed. Same for my Novoflex Triobalance travel tripod and AS Leveler 60 aka "Baby-Cube." I still use the Welland Quick Release system on my TVC-33 as I often swap using the Cube between this tripod and a studio camera stand.

Ken