Hi, first post, from the states. If you’re not a lightweight hiker/backpacker, I would strongly consider a
wood Ries Tripod. Seems like many of the people here are from the UK and Europe, so I don’t know how easy it is to obtain.
They’ve been in biz since 1936, and Ansel Adams (the famous photographer) was a huge fan. They’re used extensively in the large format photography and electronic testing market, as I guess nothing reduces vibration more than a maple wood tripod.
Anyway, the key thing that sets them apart is that one can
lock each leg at any angle. If you need to pick it up and move it a foot or two, the legs won’t awkwardly fold in once the weight comes off (unless you unlock the legs, of course).
This feature, plus the wood material, make this tripod the most rigid, easy to use, and vibration reducing of all tripods I’m aware of. (All tripods with a folding/locking triangle spreader brace halfway down or at the leg bottom completely stink, in my opinion. Using a chain to limit spreading is even worse).
I believe some Berlebach Uni tripods (not Report) have a friction lock on the leg spreading joint. I haven’t seen one in person, but besides the Uni line being heavier than the Ries, I would find it hard to believe a simple friction lock would be equivalent to the tri-lock brace mechanism of the Ries.
You can get a Ries down to about 7lbs. Certainly not super lightweight. But hanging swinging weights from that ultralight CF tripod isn’t real stable in the wind, you know?
I have a 12.5lbs Ries H-100-2 of the older, heavier style with a cast aluminum platform and bronze knobs. The thing is a rock of Gibraltar, believe me, but it is a “car-to-the-place-within-100yds” sort of tripod.
Anyway, Ries has a rather confusing site. I can try to answer any questions you might have (I don’t work for them!). If on your phone, do make sure you view their “desktop” site via a link on bottom of their mobile pages. Their mobile site is positively
atrocious.
The only CF tripod that I’m aware of with a leg spread lock (not a spreader-brace thing!) are two from Field Optics Research, the PRO32-MIL and PRO39-MIL (
video link explaining the lock and rather unique “head”). This community might be turned off by them, as they have a shooting focus, but Swaro is heavily involved in the shooting sports, no?