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Tripods
A followup to my earlier post about the Velbon carbon fibre / mag tripod etc: I
picked up a 630 from B&H with the magnesium pan/tilt head, and QRA 635
lightweight magnesium quick release assemblies --two tripod interfaces and three
camera / lens interfaces. When one of these is attached to the rotating collar of the
Canon 70-200 zoom, it isn't perfectly mated since the collar's tripod mount is only
1 1/2" approx in diameter. But it gives enough stability for my kind of shooting. I'm
really impressed with the part of the quick release assembly which attaches to
either lens or camera body: It has a hard rubber plate with a raised edge which
keeps the camera body from rotating. This hard rubber plate can also be reversed so
that the raised edge is out of the way. I paid under $40 for a complete assembly,
and another $24 or so for an extra camera plate. Light weight & compactness
*really* matter to me, so this rig looks about right for the next Himalayan trip,
beginning in a couple of weeks.
-- David Lewiston, March 23, 2000
I've found what I think is the BEST tripod, and I've been looking for several years.
I say, forget Gitzo, they are overpriced and slow to use. (Try simply raising the
center column...). Forget Manfrotto (Bogen), the "quick release" is slow and
awkward on any of their tripod.
I bought a SLIK 500 DX. (If you want a taller tripod, try the Slik 700 DX.) I got
mine on sale for $109 at Wolf Camera. I think the only other place you can get it is
B&H for $129. It has everything I could want in a tripod: 1) it is tall enough so you
don't have to crouch down to look through it without raising the center column
(tried not to extend the center column on any tripod if possible: it essentially turns
your tripod into a monopod), 2) it is professional quality and the tripod can be
serviced with hex wrenches, 3) the legs adjust individually so it can be used on
uneven surfaces, or low to the ground for macro work, (order an extra center
column and cut it down. It's cheaper than buying the short center column) 4) the
legs are foam covered, so if you want foam covered legs, you don't have to buy
additional leg pads, and these fit better because they are built in, not added on.
Foam is more comfortable for shooting in cold weather, or just carrying and setting
up. 5) it has quick release legs which work really well and FAST!
It comes with a decent pan-tilt head with a quick release, but I replaced it with a
Bogen 3413QR ballhead which is better than the 3262QR. These heads are a
compromise. There doesn't seem to be much inbetween ballheads that are good at
holding 4 lbs and 20 lbs. The Arca-Swiss types are nice, but too heavy for most
35mm work.
-- Reid Thaler, March 25, 2000
http://www.photo.net/equipment/tripods/philg (35 of 53)7/3/2005 2:21:13 AM