Some Experiences With Tripods

I must have had a tripod with my Topcon RE-2 already, but don't remember the details. Around 1983, I was looking for a tripod for my Nikon F3 - and followed a personal recommendation, as I had no idea what to select. It was one of these "This models works perfectly for me, why don't you just take that?" recommendations - I should have made some comparisons myself! The tripod was an early Slik model (the Slik 500G, if I'm not mistaken), aluminium, with a 2-way panorama head; it had one big advantage: it was very light - but that's about the only feature that I liked about it. The head was a bit clumsy to use, though just stable enough for my equipment, the screw-type telescope leg and center column fastening mechanism was a permanent nuisance (one would typically not fasten or unfasten the intended leg segment), stability and stiffness overall was very marginal. In 2006, when I already had a Nikon D200, one of the legs simply broke off.

My next tripod was a Manfrotto 725B that I purchased in 2006 for the Nikon D200 with a 18 - 210 mm superzoom lens. I bought that in a local store and explicitly asked whether it would be strong enough for that type of camera and lens. I was not disappointed in that respect: the tripod was at least twice as heavy (1530 g) as the previous one (also aluminium, but much more rugged), bigger as well, reasonably short for transporting (49 cm, with a carrying bag) — and it was very stable (for my purpose), the leg fastening mechanism was a joy to use. It was maybe a bit short (133.5 cm without using the center column) — I typically had to use the center column (extending its maximum height to 166 cm) to get the camera to the desired height, hence giving up some of the rigidity. The aluminium ball head featured a one-lever lock, making it fast and easy to use, and the quick release plate turned out to be very handy. The Nikon D200 with the given lens was just about the right (maximum) size camera for this tripod — however, I did not anticipate the evolution of my equipment! With the Nikon D300 and new lenses a few years later, the ball head turned out to be clearly too small, insufficient to hold heavier "pro" type lenses — and with the Manfrotto 725B, the head was built in / non-exchangeable — so in the end (January 2011) I sold it again for 30% of its initial price, after 5 years of occasional (mostly indoor) use.

I now have a new tripod, the Cullmann Magnesit 525C — and I'm happy with it! The tripod offers more flexibility than any tripod that I had before: the legs can be stretched out individually and at various angles (even beyond horizontal!), it is very rugged, and it does not come with a built-in head: I selected the Cullmann Magnesit MB8.5 ball head: this supports gear up to 6 kg. I have two quick release plates: the regular one that I keep on the camera when the tripod is likely to be used, and a second, longer one that can stay attached to my 70 - 210 mm telezoom. OK, that's 2.5 kg just for the tripod (even though the tripod itself is carbon, the head alone is 900 g), and the thing is not exactly tiny (61 cm when packed with the head) - but I won't be running around with it. The smaller and lighter MB6.5 ball head would have been more than sufficient for my needs — but that wasn't available earlier this year.

I have used the Cullmann indoors (for taking pictures of stuff that I sell at auctions), and I did a first outdoor test at a recent military airshow in Dübendorf near Zurich (a few km from my place). This was a test for me in several ways - for one, I had never been at an air show with a DSLR, and then, I wasn't sure whether using a tripod at an airshow with its rapidly moving objects would make sense at all. It did make sense for me in the end, as it helped staying "organized" with the sometimes rapid action at this event, and the ball head was fast enough in use, and even helpful as flexible support, i.e., without fixing the camera position. (there were some other aspects that I had to learn that day, but that's something for a separate blog entry).

I can't resist posting a set of two shots that I made back in 1983, during our vacation in Finland. Lea and I were staying on my friend's cottage (Mökki) at the east end of a little island named Miehinkisaari on a lake called Yli-Kitka, some 30 km north-west of Kuusamo (a real nice area!). I placed my Nikon F3 on the tripod, at the lake, pointing towards the landing place for the rowing boat. The idea was that I would take a picture of Lea and myself, sitting on the landing place, like this:

July 1983, Miehinkisaari, on lake Kitka, near Kuusamo, SF
Nikon F3, color slide, scanned using Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED,  4000 dpi

this was the first attempt — it worked out as intended - but as I wasn't quite sure whether a) the timer worked properly at all, and b) whether I made it to the photo position in time, as I had to run around to the left, and onto the landing place, all within the limit of the timer, and when I was finally sitting, I did not hear the shutter. So, I gave it another try, just to be sure: back to the camera, forward the film, make sure the timer is selected, press the button, and run out to the place next to Lea ...

July 1983, Miehinkisaari, on lake Kitka, near Kuusamo, SF
Nikon F3, color slide, scanned using Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED,  4000 dpi

... and I almost made it, though I certainly did not hear the shutter this time! Only after returning home we saw that the timer caught me in mid-air (well, my right foot may still be on the wooden planks?), shortly before a hard, maybe painful landing ...