Topic: Wooden tripods (Read 6575 times)

Saulius · « **on:** March 29, 2006, 01:49:32 am »

Hi
I am amateur landscape photographer. Recently I started to look for better tripod (tripode I used appares to be too light and unstable for my camera now). Here in a marked we recently found wooden tripods of some German company "Berlebach" (www.berlebach.de). They say, that these tripods are of very high quality free of any vibration... and they are twice expensive. I tryed one in a shop. Impression is good. Stable, light. I would think about buying one, but my worry is - I do not know anyone using it. If it is so, then why? Maybe there are some disadvantages what I do not know about?
Does anyone of you use a wooden tripod?

Any comments please

Thanks

P.S.
Sorry for my English

bob mccarthy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 29, 2006, 09:03:49 am »

I still have a wooden tripod (ZoneVI) in the equipment room that I haven't used in years. It's too heavy for the equipment I have today. It was the support I used with a view camera which is long gone.

Overkill for anything but a view camera in my opinion.

Pretty to look at, but much more fragile that the carbon fibre units that most are using today in that (expensive) price range.

Buy a Gitzo, tough, durable, solid, it's own form of beauty.

Bob

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #2 on:** March 29, 2006, 10:39:34 am »

Like Bob, I was happy with my Zone VI wooden tripod for use with view cameras for many years. But it is long gone, and I now use a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod which suits my present cameras well (mainly a Canon 10D) and is easier to carry and set up.

Eric

Lisa Nikodym · « **Reply #3 on:** March 29, 2006, 12:59:21 pm »

I don't know anything about wooden tripods specifically, but anyone who says any tripod is "free of any vibration" is either lying or doesn't know what they're talking about. Some are better than others, but no tripod is completely free from vibration. (I'm a structural engineer, so I know what I'm talking about here. )

Lisa

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #4 on:** March 29, 2006, 01:24:51 pm »

Lisa is right, of course.

I had conveniently forgotten the lessons I learned (the hard way) over many years of view camera work: Always wait for the wind to die down; always use a cable release (carefully); Wait for the shimmying to stop after pulling out the dark slide (for those of you who have never seen a view camera, that's the view camera equivalent of locking the mirror up); etc.

A good tripod still requires careful handling for good results.

Eric

BernardLanguillier · « **Reply #5 on:** March 29, 2006, 06:47:14 pm »

For what it is worth, I have been using a light Gitzo 1227/1257 tripod with a view camera without problems.

As far as tripod vibrations go, the 2 key elements are probably:

1. To what extend the tripod is prone to vibrate under the influence of the external elements (wind and camera mostly). This is complex and heavily influenced by the head as far as I can tell.

It would seem though that a cardon tripod like the Gitzo have a lot less drag compared to a larger wooden tripod and they are therefore probably influenced less by the wind. On the other hand, they are also lighter, meaning that it takes less force to set them in motion.

A large camera (a view camera with bellow fully extended for instance) can take up a lot of wind, and the light tripods tend not to add enough inertia.

2. How quickly they are damped out. This is also in favour of carbon that tends to damp out typical vibrations very quickly. Indeed, this depends on how close the resonating frequence of the tripod/head assembly is to the vibrations generated by the camera mirror/shutter. Carbon tripod being extremely rigid, it would take a very high frequency to generate long lasting vibrations.

Regards,
Bernard

Saulius · « **Reply #6 on:** March 31, 2006, 06:46:56 am »

Thanks everyone for the replay. I was searching on a local market for Gitzo tripods, but I havn`t found it. Could anyone tell me what range of price is that Carbon fiber tripod?

Thanks

BernardLanguillier · « **Reply #7 on:** March 31, 2006, 07:11:25 am »

They are expensive toys, in the 400 US$ range I think.

Regards,
Bernard

francois · « **Reply #8 on:** March 31, 2006, 10:46:44 am »

Try to browse B&H website (here). It will give you an idea of current pricing.

pathfinder · « **Reply #9 on:** April 06, 2006, 09:57:24 pm »

Quote

Thanks everyone for the replay. I was searching on a local market for Gitzo tripods, but I havn`t found it. Could anyone tell me what range of price is that Carbon fiber tripod?

Thanks
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You can find them at www.reallyrightstuff.com along with the other goodies you need to use a tripod effectively. Arca-Swiss clamps, ball heads, levels, panning clamps etc. Very nice quality.

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