Tripod questions

DanielB

approve my choices. the head and legs i've both seen and approved on my behalf of what i'm looking for. now give me your opinions.:thumb

legs

head

thanks,
Daniel

wxwax

Sticks look good.

I can only say that I far, far prefer a ballhead to pan/tilt head. Too darn fiddly.

cmason

No experience whatsoever with this model, but it strikes me as pretty heavy. You can save well over a pound with the 3001PRO model, but I am not sure what is important to you.

Back on weight again: the Acratech head is getting really good reviews

USAIR

I have the same tripod but with wingnut leg locks.
Nice legs to shoot from but heavy and your hands will freeze in the winter.
I like the rapid leg locks sets up quick and very stable.

I have no experience with that head ...I like the ball head too
I think the legs are a good choice for the money

Fred

I Simonius

DanielB wrote:

approve my choices. the head and legs i've both seen and approved on my behalf of what i'm looking for. now give me your opinions.

legs

head

thanks,
Daniel

I can only say that recently got the RRS BH-40 after a LOT of research and reckon it is a fantastic piece of kit

wxwax

Simon King wrote:

I can only say that recently got the RRS BH-40 after a LOT of research and reckon it is a fantastic piece of kit

I lust after the BH-55 LR, but I don't really need it.

USAIR

Well I have a little update not much really but...

Went to the local camera store today and got to play around with this head
It is a very nice head it has two knobs one is the gear movement and the other knob releases the gears to act kinda like a ball head.

The knobs are set like your stereo on your car center knob volume (gears) and outer treb/bass (gear release)...if this makes sense

Daniel I would go find one to look at first and see how you like it
I love my BH-40 LR

Fred

I Simonius

wxwax wrote:

I lust after the BH-55 LR, but I don't really need it.

whyfore lusteth thou?
getteth it and lusteth no longereth

I Simonius

wxwax wrote:

Sticks look good.

I can only say that I far, far prefer a ballhead to pan/tilt head. Too darn fiddly.

My previous head was a scarecrow - no - I jest_

SEeeeeriously though I used to have a Gitzo pan and tilt and Maaan are they complicadoth compared to a ball head! AND they take up more room

The RRS http://www.reallyrightstuff.com ball heads are truly whizzo (technical term)

They are what ball heads SHOULD be and I hadn't bought one before because this is how they needed to be but hadn't got there yet, then.

Scott_Quier

wxwax wrote:

Sticks look good.

I can only say that I far, far prefer a ballhead to pan/tilt head. Too darn fiddly.

with sid in everything he's said. I have had the leg you linked to for more than a year not and I love them. I can now set up the legs in the dark, with my eyes closed, and (most importantly) without making much noise. Very easy to use and stable enough for my needs (I had the D20 and the Sigma BigMa mounted - rock solid).

I used to have a pan head and found that it took me FOREVER to get it set right. Ball heads are the way to go if speed is something you like and don't like to fiddle to get it set right. I've had the Acratch V1 ball head for more than two years (if memory serves). It never collects dust. It's always a solid platform. I've dealt with manufacturer directly a couple of times on the phone because I mis-ordered something and had to send it back. They cross shipped the replacement. Very cool.

For a recommendation, if I were getting a new head, I would seriously look at the Acratech V2 (here). Nikolai just bought one and has some initial good things to say about it here and here.

DanielB

USAIR wrote:

Daniel I would go find one to look at first and see how you like it
I love my BH-40 LR

Fred

thanks fred. i had time to fiddle with it at the store, this would be for landscape and studio type stuff. so i'm not worried about the speed aspect of it.

thanks again

Art Scott

Those legs are realy good.....I had the earlier model but i switched to the Giottos MT9180 and the bogen 322RC2 these have worked great for me and the Giottos is a touch heaver but it is much easier for me to back pack as it is a touch more compact.

DanielB

ordered both. i'll write up a little review for everyone about the head and legs. should be here by friday*ish*

I Simonius

Gitzo 1257 +RSS BH-40 LR

DanielB wrote:

ordered both. i'll write up a little review for everyone about the head and legs. should be here by friday*ish*

In the meantime I hope no one will object if I post a mini review of my tripod/head?

This review is for the Gitzo 1257 CF 6x tripod and the ReallyRightStuff BH-40LR head.

---

The RRS BH_40 LR head arrived from RRS very quickly after ordering and their customer support in helping me decide which one to go for was very good. I was struck my how it looked more 'modern' tan all the other ballheads out there. The ball and main lever is a lighter colour to the surround and looks cool.

The knobs are 'captive' (i.e. they don't fall off if you unscrew them too much) and big enough without being obtrusive. The base is calibrated ( for panos etc). The exceptional feature of this piece of kit is the ability to reposition the locking lever. This lever locks rock solidly witha small movement i.e. no endless screwing in required too lock and unlock, and its start position can be adjusted on the fly just by pulling it out and turning it. BRILLIANT! Once locked it is rock solid with no creep. It has two gaps (most BHs have only one) to lower the camera into portrait mode, but they (RRS) also make a camera specific baseplate which allows portrait angle without shifting the centre of gravity. It is lighter than other BHs for its size as part of the ball has been hollowed out to save wheight, also its size is 'just right' in that it is not so small as to be fiddly nor too large as to be cumbersome.

The Lever Release is a must as far as Im concerned, why fiddle with screws? It works just as it says on the box. Perfect.

I checked and double checked all the reviews on ball heads before buying and can say I am glad I went with RRS, I am very pleased with it

Check their site for further specifications.

Re: the Gitzo 1257 CF 6x tripod.

The tripod unfortunately didn't arrive as promptly as the head and it was several months before I could try out my new head! Apparently Gitzo is no longer distributed by Hassleblad and there was a wait while the chanmgeover to the new distributor happened, or so I was told. Hopefully Gitzo have now got their UK distribution sorted.

First impressions: I used to have the equivalent tripod in aluminium and obviously the first thing I noticed was the wheight difference! Smells of plastic when you extend legs. Very stiff angle change (not extension). Feet caps loose (tighten before you go out or you migt lose them)

When I first got it I wasn't sure about the wheight, i.e. although it was much lighter than my old Aluminium version this was over 20 years later and my back and shoulders can't take much at all nowadays. I was concerned that I would only be able to manage even a lighter tripod. So took it out walkies the other day - carried it either over my shoulder or by one leg ( an adavantage of it being so stiff - the legs don't open if you carry it by one of them) and I didnt get tired at all and it didn't make any muscles ache after 4 hours of using and carrying it. VERY impressed by that.

However I wasn't carrying it long at any one stint as I kept stopping to set it up. Nonetheless it is great for someone with a back like mine -round shouldered and wrecked by a couple of car crashes, a climbing fall, too much stretching (Yoga/Martial arts:uhoh /Marital arts ) and RSI from spending days at a time for years at a computer, oh .. and age creeping up (54yrs) :-)

I found that the leg angle adjusters (or whatever they're called) at the very top of the legs, needed to be pulled all the way out most of the time otherwise its difficult to get the tripod even close to level on rough terrain, without adjusting each one everytime. In a studio you might wanyt them in one set position but for rough terrain they are better left all the way out IMO

Good and stable. The legs are thick enough to provide very good stability and I expect would do so even in a stiff breeze with a wheight added (e.g. camera bag) to the purpose built hook that is on the end of the centre column. Center column is also thick enough and short enough to be sturdy and usable.

Height:I am 6' tall - I found that with the RRS-BH-40 attached, the camera (5D) VF came nicely to my natural eye height for viewing landscapes. With the centre column raised fully, the camera VF comes to the same height as when I'm on tip-toe. i.e. I can't get my eye higher than the camera VF when everythings fully extended. If you were standing on a box you could use it as a monopod and get an extra 8 inches approx of height.

You can reverse the centre column and use it for macro work but if I was going to do much of that I would go for the explorer range instead. i.e. it is workable but not ideal for macro work if that is your main thing, although it will allow the legs to open fully and you can remove the centre column so you can get close to the ground that way as well ( but you will need another way to attach the head if you remove the centre column, stiil should be cheaper than a new tripod for macro alone)

Some people dislike the leg locking of the Gitzos. I MUCH prefer this twist method than the lever snap method - you get much less damaged cold fingers in cold weather. Once you get the hang of it ( it's not hard) it is at least as quick and sure as any other leg locking methods, and IMO faster.

It matches the BH-40 perfectly for equipment wheighting, size and balance and looks right too!

This tripod fits my every purpose and need and I am very happy with it.

BTW if you register your purchase online you get 5 years added to the current 2 year warrenty (no longer lifetime then!)