Tripods & Heads

International Exhibition

Before I start this week's blog, Arnie and I are really excited to report that two of our photographs were juried into Through A Lens: Contrasting Elements, an international exhibition to be hung in the Coastal Arts League Museum in Half Moon Bay, CA in April! We were told that there were 1,800 entries from 23 countries, and only 45 were accepted into the show! You have seen both of ours before:

Fence Dance

and


Old Relic

Fence Dance and Old Relic are both in our current show at the new Rigsbee Hall Gallery in Durham, NC. Since there are limited hours, we are having a closing reception on Friday, March 13, from 5-7 p.m. If any of you are in the area and would like to come, please let us know, and we'll send you directions. The entrance is a bit hard to find!

For those who will not be able to see our exhibit, we will be putting the images on the website sometime after March 13.

Now, to our subject for this week...

We are always amazed that people will spend thousands of dollars on a high-end camera and lenses, and skimp on their tripod and head. Having a substandard system for your camera and lenses is worse than having no tripod at all. We have seen cameras fall on rocks, go into the ocean, teeter off porches, and a host of other mishaps. Fortunately for our students, the cameras were OK, BUT — and this is a BIG BUT — they were really lucky!

Seeking Your Own Vision
with an Assortment of Tripods

We get questions all the time about what to buy. The first answer we give is, "Get the best you can afford." That is obviously a simplistic answer, so we'll delve further. First, weigh your camera and your heaviest lens. Add a few pounds in case you want to buy an even heavier lens later on. Both your tripod and head should be rated to handle that weight with a margin of safety of at least another couple of pounds! We generally recommend looking for something with a load capacity of at least 14 pounds.

Tripods

Carbon-fiber tripods are lighter and they are more expensive than the standard metal ones. That said, the prices are coming down every time you turn around.

There are features we like to see in a tripod, to wit:

• Three-part legs for greater height adjustment and more compact length when collapsed;
• Adjustable and reversible center column, preferably one that can also be taken out of its vertical position and put in horizontally;
• A bubble level - not critical, but very useful for stitches (panoramas); and
  
• Ease of use — if it doesn't work for you, you won't use it, and it is a waste of money.
  

Arnie has a carbon-fiber Gitzo that has served us well. Its newest iteration is the GT2530EX. We use his tripod on assignments, as it is lighter. After all, nothing taken on an airplane gets any cheaper these days! The current version comes in three- and four-section models.

I, on the other hand, love my Bogen-Manfrotto 458B Neotec Pro Photo Tripod. I am one of those people who invariably tries to turn the leg adjustments the wrong way. Guaranteed! On top of that, Arnie calls me "Goddesszilla" because of my strong hands. As you can imagine, I end up tightening the legs still further! It drives me nuts. Him, too!

When I saw one of my students with this one (see below), I had to have it. I want to lengthen the legs? I just pull them out! No levers, no twists, not a thing! I want to collapse them? I just push a button and apply a little pressure on that leg. I've finished my shot in that location, and I want to completely collapse the tripod? It is so slick; I just press the three buttons simultaneously, and push the tripod to the ground, step, rock, whatever, and ta-daaa, it is done!

Bogen-Manfrotto 458B

OK, it does weigh more than Arnie's, but I can handle it, especially since it comes with its own, built-in carrying strap.

Hint:
If you don't buy a tripod with a built-in, carrying strap, you may want to either buy or fashion one yourself.

There are some great values in the private-labeled tripods put out by the various big camera stores, Adorama, B&H, Calumet, etc. Some come with ball heads. Again, the critical element again is load capacity. Remember those stories above of cameras and lenses meeting with near disasters?

The quality of the house brands, at least on the ones we have seen, are certainly good, but they do not ultimately match the quality of the old stand-bys, Gitzo and Bogen-Manfrotto.

Hint:
When shooting with a lens with image stabilization, check the manual to see if it needs to be turned off while mounted on a tripod. Some do; some don't. If your lens is acting funny on a tripod, check it!

Hint:
Arnie and I carry our tripods over our shoulders with the cameras still mounted. For more comfort, we put some pipe insulating foam around the legs, secured with gaffer's tape — NOT duct tape. This is much cheaper than buying fancy custom tripod "tea cozies" from $30-60. We prefer our local hardware store's prices.

Ball Heads

Even more important than the tripod is the head. If your head does not securely hold your body and lens, it is useless. In today's world, 99% of experienced photographers use a ball head for good reason. It is just plain easier to use and more accurate for fine adjustments. Too often, we have seen students frustrated by their two-lever controls. Arnie and I have been using Ball heads since the 70s.

Today, there are some great Ball-head-and-mount systems on the market, and you really do "gets what you pays for" as the old saying goes. Things you may want to consider are:

• Smoothness of movement;
• Adjustable drag;
  
• Secure clamping; and
• Quick release plates rather than having to screw the camera onto the head.
  

Some systems even come with L brackets that enable you to quickly switch from horizontal to vertical mode.

If price is no object, We recommend that you look at The Really Right Stuff ball heads and quick-release L brackets. Another excellent system is made by Kirk.

If these are more than your budget's taste, study how they are made along with their features, and then find something within your budget that comes close, again, not losing sight of the weight capacity.

Hint:
When you are shooting with a longer lens with its own mount/tripod collar, always use that instead of the camera body, and you can just rotate the lens for horizontal or vertical views without detatching it.

So shop carefully, plan for the future. You'll end up spending less in the long run if you get the right combination at the onset.

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Meanwhile, check out our Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures calendar of workshops, and if you are considering joining us, do as others have already done ... make your room reservations. You can always cancel later if necessary! We have added a Wish List section to our Calendar. Some of our alumni have expressed interested in our putting together workshops both in Spain and at Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. If we get enough interest, we will add one or both to our schedule.