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Supporting the Medium, Tripods and Heads |
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Monday, 23 August 2004 |
One of the problems that every ULFer has to face is finding a support sturdy enough to balance his heavy and, let's face it, expensive
camera, and yet be portable enough to get out on the field.
Tripods are one part of the equipement were cutting corners is not an option,
since long exposure time in camera is standard in many ULF photographs and needs absolute sturdiness. Here is a short round-up of the various options
available to the user of very heavy cameras (The lightweight series of Wisner, in 11x14 and 12x20 size, weight around 10 kgs, without film holder or lens).
The "modern" tripod makers all have "heavy duty" tripods that can support up to 20 kg. Gitzo (www.gitzo.com) has one of the lightest heavy-duty tripod, the G1548, made of carbon fiber,
and weighing only 3.1 kg while supporting 15 kg. Their tripod supporting the most weight is the 1515 industrial, a metal tripod which is rather short, with a max extension on 120 cm
but it can support 20kg. 
Gitzo doesn't offer heads sturdy enough for ULF, their largest heads supporting
only 10 kgs, which is not ehough for camera-tripod-film holder. Manfrotto (www.manfrotto.com)
also has relatively heavy duty tripod, the 161Mk2, that can support up to 20
kg, and weigh 7.9 kg. They offer one tripod head made specifically with the
LF shooter in mind, the 160, which has a large quick release plate and supports
up to 10kg, good, but still not enough for ULF.
Linhof (www.linhof.com) and Sinar (www.sinarbron.com
) (through the Foba division) offer tripods and heads, but prices are rather
steep and support capacities are not much higher than the Gitzo and Manfrotto
offerings. Among LF manifacturers, Arca-Swiss manifactures heavy duty ball heads that can support weights as high as 50 kg.
The "usual" solution for ULF work are the wooden tripods from Ries (www.riestripod.com)
and Berlebach (www.berlebach.de), that have
load capacities up to 50 kg. The Ries tilt heads are among the only tripod heads that can support the
weight of a ULF camera sturdily enough. Another often cited solution for ULF work are Majestic (www.bencher.com/tripods.html)
tripods, that are solid but heavy and offer vary sturdy geared tilt heads.
And then there are alternatives, tripods that were not originally made for photography, but ULF is beyond what modern product designers consider when creating
photographic equipement. Surveyors' tripods, are one option that Deniz talks about below. One not often cited solution
are telescopes tripods, that are rather expensive, but are built to support instruments that can weigh over 50 kg, and in fact, astrophotograpy and ULF photography both share the same requirement
for reducing vibration. For example, Celestron (www.celestron.com) offers for example a heavy duty tripod that weighs less than 10 kg and is made to support 45 kg of equipement,
and for a relatively reasonable price (279 US $ at www.adorama.com). Other telescope makers, Meade, Orion, TeleVue, all offer heavy and sturdy tripods.
PJ VH
Another great and cheap tripod solution for ULF and LF photography is a "Surveyor's Tripod"
These are single extension, heavy duty tripods that surveyors with their laser levels use on the side of the road.
There are different kinds and makes out there.  If you want one to match the finish of your camera you may have to do a little refinishing.
Wood ones usually come painted in bright yellow paint(helps Surveyors be seen by cars), which can be stripped or sanded off for natural wood finish.
There is also Aluminum ones which are significantly lighter than wood tripods. 9lbs for aluminum for 13-14lbs
for the wood. they extend to 6' on one extension which makes the folded size a litte big but menagble.
You can not use a surveyor's tripod for your camera right off the box. Threads on the head are
too big for tripod mounts on cameras. But don't worry, they are easy to remove and with a 3/8 bolt
and a few washers from a hardware store, you will be able to mount your tripod head in no time.
These tripod have spiked feet for good grip on loose surfaces, which doesn't work on smooth concrete.
since there is angle stopper on the legs either, it is impossible to use them on smooth ground without some modifications.
You probable could adapt a homebrew rubber shoes for the spiked feet and make them work on smooth surface.
So how strong are these tripods actually are? Well let me tell you this much, I weigh 160lbs and I can sit on my tripod
and it doesnt creep or flex. So it is rock solid with anything from 4x5 to 12x20 or more.
You can find these tripods on ebay all the time or check your local stores like rental shops,home depot,
revy/rona etc..I bought mine brand new for C$90 from home depot, they can be found for a lot less on ebay.
good luck and start shootin..
Deniz Merdanogullari |
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