Still hoping for that PERFECT tripod

[Swissboy]

Tripod manufacturers please listen! There is still a market for a better tripod, whereas I think there is a sufficient selection of tripod heads.

Here are my wishes (and gripes):

Light-weight and sturdy like several of the carbonfibre models that are now available.

The locks should be fast and easy. My new Velbon Sherpa has twist locks that tend to either stick or they get loose when I try to move the next one. My Manfrotto/Bogen 190 types have either a screw type lock that can't be trusted or a (newer) clamp that has hurt my fingers several times. The only truly fine locking mechanism is on my Manfrotto 055 model which has 90 degree twist handles.

The centre column should be adjustable with the main tripod legs folded together (e.g. in order to do some adjusting while looking out of a car window). In this case it is only my Velbon model that does not allow for this.

Finally, it is clear that one should be able to mount one's own preferred head. The Culmann models I know do not fit this bill.

Thus, the ideal combination is still not available. And, unlike those optics where you can't have it all in one model, here it would seem possible to come up with the desired combination.

[Bluetail]

Plus:

1. The locks shouldn't be susceptible to collecting sand (as in the twist sleeves on the Slik D3);

2. When the legs eventually start to flap around loosely there must be an easy way of tightening them again (unlike on my old Manfrotto).

[Adey Baker]

Well here's what I'd like and considering we can send men to the moon, etc., etc., it shouldn't be impossible:

I want to have my camera or 'scope mounted ready on the 'pod - (so it should have strap- lugs for me to carry it in this set-up) - but when I want to use it I want to hold the camera/scope in the position I need them in front of my eye, then press a button and the motorised/hydraulic legs will go down to the ground and stop when they hit the hard surface whether even or uneven. Then pressing another button will lock them instantly in place.

Provided you keep your toes out of the way this should all take about 2 seconds at the most.

The head will be a ball and socket type and you will move the camera/scope rather than handles - this movement will be helped by a kind of power-assistance similar to a car's power-steering but detectors built-in will note when you stop moving and hold it firmly in position.

This is a quite serious suggestion (I think!) - why should we have hi-tech equipment mounted on something more akin to an out-of-control set of bagpipes when loosened!

A 'close' button would see the pod telescope back up again in those 2 seconds again

[Bluetail]

...why should we have hi-tech equipment mounted on something more akin to an out-of-control set of bagpipes when loosened!ROFL! :D

[Swissboy]

... press a button and the motorised/hydraulic legs will go down to the ground .........Then pressing another button will lock them instantly in place.
.....kind of power-assistance similar to a car's power-steering but detectors built-in will note when you stop moving ........
A 'close' button would see the pod telescope back up again in those 2 seconds again

OK, THESE things will add considerably to the weight of such a tripod. We will then be back at the level of necessary compromises. Let's start with the easier and less weighty version, I'd already be more than happy! Particularly so, as my experience with electronic gadgets in the car is not all that positive. :C

[Adey Baker]

OK, THESE things will add considerably to the weight of such a tripod.

Very true, but at least it won't blow over in the slightest breeze. ;)

The tripod would, of course, be carbon fibre to offset some of the extra weight but whoever designs my tripod idea would need to use their ingenuity to overcome the weight/ bulk problems much as Canon had to when it decided to put a motor in every one of its autofocus lenses when other makers were putting just the one motor in the camera body.

Although tripods are an essential item, they are very boring! Hopefully, I'm trying to stimulate a bit of flair and lateral thinking into the design of such a prosaic piece of equipment.

Whenever birders are watching birds through their scopes they follow the movement of the bird without fuss, everything is done smoothly with one hand on the focus wheel, the other on the tripod handle, etc - it's only when you see a crowd of birders setting up or closing down their tripods that you realise what a palaver it is. It looks more like a game from that old TV series Jeux sans Frontiers (It's a Knockout)!

[Andy Ledger]

I can just imagine Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring commentating at a twitch!

[Geoff Brown]

Why not adapt a zimmer frame?