[LargeFormat] Tripods
Jim Brick
largeformat@f32.net
Thu Mar 7 18:23:43 2002
I've been in the professional photography business for the better part of
fifty years. I started making money from photography at age 12 (1950) and
bought a Rolleicord ($149.50) with my photography money. This was my first
real camera.
I went to Brooks Institute of Photography 1959-1961. I used a Majestic
steel tripod and a Graphic View II for 90% of my Brooks Institute work. I
worked as a commercial and illustrative photographer for many years after
Brooks. 8x10 Deardorf, 4x5 Graphic View II, Hasselblad, Leica cameras.
Majestic, Davis & Sanford, Tiltall tripods.
Over the years I learned by experience, how to keep a camera quiet during
exposures. There is more to this than the average photographer realizes.
Over the past twenty years, I carried my 8 pound Gitzo 1346 four section
Inter Pro tripod and head everywhere. Along with LF and/or MF gear, the
total weight is significant.
Then carbon fiber tripods appeared. They received a lot of flack. "They
could not possibly be better than the Biggee Cranes that we all pack around."
Then some of the big names in photography started testing them. And the
fine art folks that all had woodies (wooden tripods) started testing them.
And the film/video tripod manufacturers started testing carbon fiber as a
viable material.
And Carbon Fiber won out in all tests for being the best material
discovered so far, for tripods, stating that it dampened vibrations quicker
than wood or metal thus killing any ringing effect. I sought this
information back when the CF tripods were introduced and unfortunately have
neither the time nor energy to research this again. But it is out there.
Actually, I found one of my references. OConnor film/video tripod
manufacturer http://www.ocon.com/brochure/b-08.jpg at the bottom of the
page discusses carbon fiber. Their home is http://www.ocon.com/oconnor.htm .
As a result, I sold my Gitzo 1346 and iron Rational 3 head and bought a CF
Gitzo 1349 and a Gitzo 1371M (magnesium) head and have never looked back.
My back and arms are happier and my photographs certainly have not suffered.
It is my opinion, from all that I have researched, and the fact that I have
been using CF tripods since early on, thus having a track record using the
things, and using all formats on my CF tripods including focal plane
shuttered Hasselblads, that the Carbon Fiber tripods that I own are the
best tripods I have ever owned. And believe me, I've owned/used everything.
So folks can believe what they wish, but the physics of CF as a tripod
material is being proven, from both research and practical use, to be the
best tripod material so far.
FWIW,
Jim