tripod for field trips (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I'm happily using a ashwood tripod (berlebach report) for quite a while now, rock stable and good dampening of vibrations from mirror movement etc. The only drawback is that the whole thing is a pain in the back (literally) to carry around on extended fieldtrips. What I'm after right now is a small lightweight model capable to support a 2.5 kg 300mm lens + camera you would not mind dragging some 10 km through the bush. Any suggestions?

Cheers

tyto alba said:

Hi,

I'm happily using a ashwood tripod (berlebach report) for quite a while now, rock stable and good dampening of vibrations from mirror movement etc. The only drawback is that the whole thing is a pain in the back (literally) to carry around on extended fieldtrips. What I'm after right now is a small lightweight model capable to support a 2.5 kg 300mm lens + camera you would not mind dragging some 10 km through the bush. Any suggestions?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Hi there,

Try looking in the Photographic Tripods and Heads or Scope Tripods and heads sub forums, there's plenty of suggestions there.
http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=455
http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=451
Personally I like Velbon legs, they seem better value for money than the equivalent Manfrotto items, though Velbon heads are "adequate" rather than good. A set of carbon fibre legs such as the Velbon CF630 Pro combined with a Manfrotto head - take your pick, there's dozens of them - should suit you well. You'll need a 1/4" to 3/8" adaptor to fit the two together, these cost cents.
It's worth bearing in mind that heads designed for video use don't usually have the ability to rotate the platform to give portrait format, so you'll have to have a lens with a rotating collar to turn the picture.
If you are really worried about vibration, you'll have to load up any carbon fibre legs with stones (using the stone bag usually supplied with the legs), especially if its windy, but there's no need to cart the stones with you for 10km!

Regards,

Duncan.

I ditched my Berlenbach many years ago. Yes, great tripod, but only if you don't have to schlep it.

I use a Manfrotto Carbon now, with a Manfrotto tilt-and-pan head, and it makes heck of a difference. Not cheap but then, if I remember correctly, Berlenbach are not exactly a give-away either.

Thanks for the replies, the Velbon sherpa pro series looks quite good. Now I have to find a local dealer where I can try it out.

tyto alba said:

Thanks for the replies, the Velbon sherpa pro series looks quite good. Now I have to find a local dealer where I can try it out.

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I have Velbon also and love them as I walk nearly everywhere - like the low leg angle as you can get one leg on the top of a bank and two on the ground so you can be up with the camera/scope rather than standing off behind a normal tripod.
My only reservation about carbon fibre is that despite being advertised as 'stronger than steel' it's not - I lost a set to a bird hide door.

I'm currently using a gitzo 1127 with a manfro grip head and its a nice lightweight combination. The only thing I'm not to keen on is the gitzo leg locks, its quite slow to release them.

tyto alba said:

Hi,

I'm happily using a ashwood tripod (berlebach report) for quite a while now, rock stable and good dampening of vibrations from mirror movement etc. The only drawback is that the whole thing is a pain in the back (literally) to carry around on extended fieldtrips. What I'm after right now is a small lightweight model capable to support a 2.5 kg 300mm lens + camera you would not mind dragging some 10 km through the bush. Any suggestions?

Cheers

Click to expand...

Take a look at the gitzo range of tripods & heads I now use a G1325 with a G2380 head there are so many to choose from take a look at this web page www.viewonline.com/pages/articles/gitzo.htm