Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Tripods
If you aren't planning to use a medium format camera, a super-tele, or a 4x5, you
might want to investigate smaller ballheads. Even if you can afford the
aforementioned heads, you won't enjoy carrying the weight. The FOBA mini super
ball ($200) looks great, but I've never owned one and Sinar Bron's attitude is
discouraging. I've tried the really cheap Bogen 3262QR ($40) and it works OK but
the lack of tension means that you risk "dumping" the camera/lens combination.
Plus, the unit seems to depend on grease for smoothness and your hands get kind of
filthy if you aren't careful about where you touch your gear. I wasn't sorry when it
was stolen.
Quick Release
All I know is that I have to have a quick release. I have to
be able to mate and unmate my camera quickly or the
whole tripod is too much of a hassle to use and carry.
The gold standard in quick release is the "ARCA Swissstyle".
Bryan Geyer, the owner of Really Right Stuff
(http://www.reallyrightstuff.com; P.O. Box 6531, Los
Osos, CA 93412, (805) 528-6321), makes the biggest
selection of plates (137 in June 1995) in this style so I
asked him to articulate his devotion to it. "The problem
with the Sachtler, Bogen, and Linhof releases is that they
have a fixed cavity size. You should be able to use a big
plate for a big item like a 600/4 lens and a small plate for a small item like a body.
Our plates range in size from 1.4 inches to 7.3 inches long.
from twisting.
Another thing that is wrong with the Sachtler,
Bogen, and Linhof approach is that their
plates are all flat-topped and therefore free to
twist or pivot on whatever equipment they are
attached to. Even if your lens lets you rotate
the body without tilting the tripod head, you
still might want to shoulder the tripod and not
have the plate twist. Each of our plates has a
flange of channel that keeps the lens or body
"A final consideration is that it is really ugly to have a big plate poking out from
under your camera. ARCA Swiss-style plates conform to the size and shape of the
equipment."
http://www.photo.net/equipment/tripods/philg (5 of 53)7/3/2005 2:21:12 AM