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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / February 2006Advice for Lightweight Tripod?
I do a lot of off road cycling and take my camera with me - Canon 5D plus a few lenses. I've currently got the original Kennett Benbo tripod (about 20 years old) but it weighs too much and is too bulky to carry. Can you advise what would be a good back pack and tripod combination? I'm after a ball and head mount. > I do a lot of off road cycling and take my camera with me - Canon 5D plus a > few lenses. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Can you advise what would be a good back pack and tripod combination? > I'm after a ball and head mount. For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead with both 1D Mark II and 4x5 view vameras. If you want light weight, stability, and vibration dampening, carbon fiber is great. Unfortunately, the cost is high. Roger Roger Are the CF tripods that much lighter? The models I have looked at do not appear to be much lighter than their Alloy cousins. For instance, the 055 Pro manfrotto and the same model in CF is only .4 kg difference (2 to 2.4kg). The 055 just happens to suit me perfectly for my height and style of work. I have been looking for a good CF but had hoped it would be around 1/2 the weight in saving. Not much success in finding such to date. With the model you use, how much saving is there over its alloy model? regards Don >> I do a lot of off road cycling and take my camera with me - Canon 5D plus >> a few lenses. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Roger > Roger > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > regards It is more about stability. You can use a carbon fiber with much thinner legs. I feel I can do better with a gitzo 1220 CF than I can with a Bogen 3021 aluminum tripod. Metal 3021 legs vibrate. The 3021 (8 lbs, 3.6 Kg) has an 11 pound load capacity while the gitzo 1228 weighs 3.8 lbs (1.7 Kg), and las a load capacity of 17.6 pounds. I have both, and the 1228 is much more stable at half the weight. Just an example. Roger Roger thanks I will have a look at the gitzo. regards Don >> Roger >> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Roger >> I do a lot of off road cycling and take my camera with me - Canon 5D plus >> a few lenses. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Roger Why do you say that the 5D needs a good tripod - is that due to the weight of the camera? >>For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use >>a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead >>with both 1D Mark II and 4x5 view vameras. > > Why do you say that the 5D needs a good tripod - is that due to the weight > of the camera? Well, most cameras need a good tripod ;-) ! But high end cameras, like the 5D have so much resolution, and the camera is not feather light, so a good camera is really warranted. Most camera owners have too flimsy a tripod, if they have one at all. I was no exception a dozen years ago when I started getting drum scans of my slides, and seeing blur. I analyzed what did it and it turned out to be the tripod. I upgraded to bogen 3001, then 3021, then carbon fiber. The CF was a big jump. When choosing a tripod, extend the legs, grab the head and twist. Note how much twist in each one. Put a big camera with big lens on it and tap the legs and watch and feel the vibration. Most tripods are pretty poor. The carbon fiber will be the best. Roger On 1/16/06 7:32 AM, in article 43CBA064.7090508@qwest.net, "Roger N. Clark (change username to rnclark)" <username@qwest.net> wrote: >>> For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use >>> a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Roger Like Rodger I use and heartily recommend the Gitzo 1228. This, or one of the competitive CF tripods, seems to offer the best combination of lower weight AND really solid support. This has been posted here before but deserves a look for anyone considering a tripod purchase: http://bythom.com/support.htm Thom illustrates in this piece what many (including me) have gone through in tripod expenditures when we could have actually saved money by going with a high quality tripod in the first place. Chuck I love my Cullman Magic 2. Carry a small, 12" x 12" nylon drawstring bag and fill it with rocks and then tie it to the center for extra stability when needed. The center shaft pulls out for a monopod. >>>For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use >>>a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Roger Would I be able to accommodate that tripod on a backpack in terms of weight and size? Also, is their any one brand or type of back pack that I should be looking at? I've had a look at the Lowepro stuff and seems reasonable - but I've not had any experience other than brochures for that sort of stuff. I'd guess I'd be carrying a camera, three small lenses, a 200/300mm telephoto plus tripod. I'd also want some space for a few sandwiches as I'd be gone on a day trip. >>>>For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use >>>>a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead >>>>with both 1D Mark II and 4x5 view vameras. > Would I be able to accommodate that tripod on a backpack in terms of weight > and size? Yes, depending on what you consider your weight limit. > Also, is their any one brand or type of back pack that I should be looking > at? > I've had a look at the Lowepro stuff and seems reasonable - but I've not had > any experience other than brochures for that sort of stuff. Camera baclpacks are for camera gear. I have 3: computrekker, the second largest and the largest (forget their names). They are great for carrying gear, but not a lot of other stuff. When you say backpacking, do you mean overnight with sleeping bag, cooking gear and tent? If so I would use a regular backpack and put in little bags with the camera gear. I use my lowepro large backpack for large format gear. I use the second largest pack for wildlife expeditions when I carry my 500 mm f/4, or smaller amount of large format gear. I use the computrekker for trips with digital cameras laptop and lenses up to 300 mm f/4. > I'd guess I'd be carrying a camera, three small lenses, a 200/300mm > telephoto plus tripod. > I'd also want some space for a few sandwiches as I'd be gone on a day trip. Day trips like this I would use the computrekker plus an external pack addition for coat, food and emergency gear on a day hike. Sometimes I add a large side pouch for an additional lens. For example, I might carry 1D MarkII, 300 f/4 IS, 28-135 IS, 24mm f/2.8, 180mm f/3.5 macro, 1.4 and 2x TCs and in the computer section 10D backup camera. I took that setup to Australia and New Zealand along with epson P2000 and nixview vista (instead of a computer). (Space/weight forced me to travel light.) And of course the gitzo 1228. Roger > Camera baclpacks are for camera gear. I have 3: computrekker, > the second largest and the largest (forget their names). They are great > for carrying gear, but not a lot of other stuff. When you say > backpacking, do you mean overnight with sleeping bag, cooking gear > and tent? If so I would use a regular backpack and put in little > bags with the camera gear. For day trips I like the Lowe padded waist belt, AW-40 camera pouch, and shoulder harness. The geek factor is terrible, but it sure is comfortable. >>>>>For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use >>>>>a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > > Roger I just intend to drive somewhere, get on my bike with my camera and disappear off into the countryside for the day, returning home at night. >>>For a 5D you need a very good tripod. For hiking, I use >>>a gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod and an arc-swiss B1 ballhead [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > out to be the tripod. I upgraded to bogen 3001, then > 3021, then carbon fiber. The CF was a big jump. Not only is the camera heavy, although not as heavy as a 1 series, the lenses most deem necessary for good images are heavy, too. While the heaviest, like the 70-200 f2.8L IS, have their own tripod collars, many, like the 24-70 f2.8L and 85mm f1.2L, do not. And that chunk of glass hung on the front of a camera can seriously destablize a weak tripod. I have the 3001, and find it ok, but a little short for my complete comfort. And the "elevator" could be a little more stable.  SignatureSkip Middleton http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com > Can you advise what would be a good back pack and tripod combination? > I'm after a ball and head mount. CF legset (whatever size fits). The "B1" head is a fairly heavy affair, and rather pricey at that. It's the usual recommendation, and a safe one to give. I'll be more radical and suggest: http://acratech.net/ultimate_ballhead.html It has an unusual user-interface but it is substantially lighter and less expensive. > I do a lot of off road cycling and take my camera with me - Canon 5D plus a > few lenses. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Can you advise what would be a good back pack and tripod combination? > I'm after a ball and head mount. I use a Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod. Granted, it is only half a kilo less than other models, but that is still a significant difference, especially when you consider the weight of everything else. I am not enamored of the ball and head mount, but to each his own. I like the little lightweight three knob head; there is no excess weight on this thing at all and it never slips. If you really want to save weight, consider reducing the number of lenses you carry. A super wide angle zoom and a telephoto are about all you should ever need. I will grant that mid-range zooms are popular (I own a few myself), but I find that I spend most of my time shooting at one extreme or the other. I bought the advised tripod - the Gitzo 1228 carbon fiber tripod I also got a free head mount with it worth 1/3 of the price of the tripod. I'm not sure if that tripod is now discontinued as I could not find it on the Gitzo site. The build quality is impressive. I also bought a Lowepro Mini Trekker AW backpack - which allows me to carry the tripod on my back, along with my camera. Thanks for all your advice. |
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