tripod advice (1 Viewer)

Hi if i'am posting in the wrong place i am sorry,
My question is i have a canon 10d plus a selection of lens just recently i have become the owner of a 600 f4 which as you all are aware is big and heavy,i have taken some really good bird shots with it on a bean bag from a hide,my big problem is mounting it for ease of use.
can anyone recommend a suitable tripod/ head setup which gives a secure mount to the lens, i want to be able to carry the setup on my shoulder without any chance of it coming apart,i want a lightish but solid setup ,what is the general opinion on carbon fibre pods?are they as solid ,i know this is a never ending story but the more input i recieve will give me a much wider knowledge on the subject thanks paul

Hi Paul I also use a Canon 600 but use a heavy-ish tripod (Benbo with a manifroto fluid head). Carbon fibre is good but the big drawback is they are so light they are very top heavy. Have had mine blow over twice now with a telescope mounted fortunately no damage, others I have heard not so lucky.

You ever thought of a sturdy monopod I have a cracker made by manifroto which gives a steady platform and has returned some cracking shots using the 600?. An aquaintance freelance sports photographer who uses 500 + 600 tele's swears by his.

Just a thought.

Stewart

:bounce:

thanks for that advice do you know the model number of this monopod ,not knowing a lot about monopods do you use a head and quick release plates ?the lens as you know has a big foot with 3 screw mounts what sort of mount do you use paul

Paul,

A monopod is well worth a try. I have been using one for the past 3 months and it has transformed the speed I can set up and take pictures.
You can move about much easier to. The one I use is a Gitzo 1564L a solid piece of kit which will outlast me and its so light.
If I need to use a head I take the one off my Cullmann hide clamp.
Use Gitzo or Manfrotto and you cannot go wrong. Hope this is of use .

Chris.

Hi Paul

I don`t own the 600 f4 but have a 400mm with a 1.4xtc & get sharp shots using a Manfrotto 501 video head & either a 290b or a Swarovski birder 1(made by Manfrotto for Swarovski).Hope this helps.

Cheers Steve.

Tradeoffs

paul_j_c2000 said:

Hi if i'am posting in the wrong place i am sorry,
My question is i have a canon 10d plus a selection of lens just recently i have become the owner of a 600 f4 which as you all are aware is big and heavy,i have taken some really good bird shots with it on a bean bag from a hide,my big problem is mounting it for ease of use.
can anyone recommend a suitable tripod/ head setup which gives a secure mount to the lens, i want to be able to carry the setup on my shoulder without any chance of it coming apart,i want a lightish but solid setup ,what is the general opinion on carbon fibre pods?are they as solid ,i know this is a never ending story but the more input i recieve will give me a much wider knowledge on the subject thanks paul

Click to expand...

I have a Fiesol CF tripod and monopod. I am quite happy with both, especially considering the price. I use the monopod with a Sigma 120-300 2.8 zoom and a 1.4TC. I have shot 420mm at 1/15 second with fairly good results. I also use a Acratec ballhead and a Wimberely Sidekick.

I also have a 600mm. I use a Gitzo 1410 with a RRS ballhead and a Wimberely Sidekick. No question about it the Gitzo and the RRS ballhead are better. Part of this is due to the weight (over 4 kilos), while the CF and the Acratec come in at less than 2 kilos.

Now comes the physics 101. Motion is a direct function of force and an inverse function of weight. The force in this problem can be considered constant (you dont press the shutter with more force depending on the tripod you use). But the heavier the tripod and ballhead (and gimbaled mount) is the less they will move if force is held constant. This is good when you are taking pix, but bad when you are carrying.

To some extent this explains why there is such a debate. You are always trading off the ease of carrying your support system against the quality of the image from that system. And not everyone has the same scale for rating ease of carrying or quality of image.

In addation the location of the weight is important. It is much easier to tip over a light CF tripod with a heavy RRS ballhead at the top than to tip over a heavy 1410 with a light Acratech ballhead at the top.

As for your support system comming apart, this is more a function of the ballhead than any other part. The Acratec ballhead is rated to 25lbs, and the RRS 80lbs. I have never had any slipage with them. But dont forget I am using a gimbal type mount. The implication of this is that the weight is well ballanced. Thru experience I can place the plate in the mount by eye and the ballance is nearly perfect. This places much less stress on the possible failure points.

If you go to the RRS web site you will notice there are several different plates for different big lens. And the same is true for the Wimberely site. While these plates are not cheap they do provide better ballance. And I will point out that the plates they recomend may not be the best one for you to use. I had to return the first one I got for a different size.

The upside is once you get the setup tuned up the way it is suppose to be it is a joy to use.

Hi Paul Mono-pod details - Manfrotto Pro model 134, collapsed length 25.5" (sticking with imperial here) max extended length 64", 3 section with usual Manfrottoe locking clamps, upper tube dia 1.375" with rubber sleeve taking it to 1.75" so its a decent diameter for grip. Aluminium so very light.

I occasionally use a head but always use a quick release plate my thoughts being its better the threaded hole in the plate is damaged/worn or whatever than a very expensive lense foot thread insert repair.

With such a good extended length it is good for a straight thro telescope as Bill Oddie demonstrated on one of his birding in Scotland progs.

Hope of some help


Stewart

:bounce: