Best Practices when using a Tripod

[wiltw]

My recommendations when people see me using my tripod and ask about buying one for their own work:

(1) Buy a good wide comfortable strap for carrying the tripod. I like the OP/TECH USA strap.

(2) Buy the heaviest carbon fiber tripod (a) that you can carry comfortably with the strap, (b) that has no center column - if it has a center column you will eventually extend it and vibration will ensue - and (c) that is tall enough to look at the ground glass or through the viewfinder while standing straight up - your back will thank you as you get on in years.

I am 5'11" tall, about to begin my ninth decade, and use my Gitzo GT2542LS with a GH2750 offset ball head for everything from a Leica IIIc to a Hasselblad 500C/M with a 180mm f/4 lens.

Since you are beginning your ninth decade, you have the privelege of seniority regarding your Point 2.
But another cardinal rule of tripod use is that often the BEST location for the camera may NOT be at your eye level, but somewhere below that point; and by examining the various elevations by eye you can then set up your tripod to its initial position close to that ideal elevation. A younger person should not simply set his/her camera at eye level automatically.

 

[JerseyDoug]

Since you are beginning your ninth decade, you have the privelege of seniority regarding your Point 2.
But another cardinal rule of tripod use is that often the BEST location for the camera may NOT be at your eye level, but somewhere below that point; and by examining the various elevations by eye you can then set up your tripod to its initial position close to that ideal elevation. A younger person should not simply set his/her camera at eye level automatically.

You make an important point. I don't always work with the camera at eye level but it is a comfort to have that capability available when it does work.

One example of a photograph that does not work well with the camera at eye level is a full length photograph of one person or a group. Unless taken with a very long lens it elongates the upper body and makes the head out of scale with the feet. These days I am more likely to take these photos with the Leica/Visoflex/Vertica Viewfinder than with the Hasselblad but, in either case, I have the camera at about the height of the tallest person's belt buckle and look down into the viewfinder. Much easier than contorting myself to look through the eyepiece of an SLR or RF with the camera at that level.

(Looking at fashion photography these days it appears that many photographers are taking the above even further with a very low camera position to elongate the model's legs and reduce the size of their head. I'd be interested in seeing the setup.)

 

[Kilgallb]

Snow shoes for your tripod are required in deep snow. i have a set for my Manfrotto And they work for all my tripods.

 

[Helge]

- Quick release plates have their place. But are not always necessary, and can get in the way, more than they save time.

It’s very much down to temperament and precise situation when to chose direct or QRP.

For landscape I find a QRP a pain in the arse.

- My most used tripod is an extremely simple one like this one.

I use it for folders and small 135. For that it is quite adequate.
On grass or earth I can spread out the legs to get it low and stabile very quickly.
There is no stupid locks or catches that impede the use. Either leg swings freely.

For indoor use I can use it with a hand near it at all times, should a person or pet get near.

- A small table tripod is also extremely useful. They come in many types and sizes. Some fit a pocket, others fit a bag.
You can hold them against a wall, or lift and plump them down wherever, whenever.
They can also be used on your body to get far more stabile at low speeds than what you’d be able to get by handholding.
Rest it on your chest and/or clavicles and you can shot at 1/15th comfortably.

- Tripods can also be used as an arm extender (or selfie stick).

 

[wiltw]

Snow shoes for your tripod are required in deep snow. i have a set for my Manfrotto And they work for all my tripods.

Very inexpensive snow shoes can be made for tripod feet with spikes...the plastic lids that come with many foods (e.g. jello salad) simply need a hole (crossed slits) poked in the center and then impaled on the spikes.

 

[MattKing]

The bulbs from toilet plungers are very effective as snow/mud shoes and in any location where there are a lot of big holes in the surface, like some metal bridges.
I still haven't figured out a good way though to explain why my car trunk hold three of them.
On the subject of viewpoint and models, in general leggy professional models are the only human beings who look better from a low camera angle. Most everyone else looks better from eye level - thus the preference for prism finders on wedding cameras.

 

[Vaughn]

Lots of good rules, lots of exceptions to most of them. All I know is that I would have destroyed several CF pods by now and been more restricted in my mobility if I did not use a good-quality wood tripod. I would say that my use is not average. But I am considering a CF for use with the bicycle and 8x10 (and possibly 11x14).

I used a 2.5 pound 4x5 on a 2.5 pound tripod -- I felt like a bull in a china shop. Tug on the darkcloth wrong and everything moves.

 

[Vaughn]

When one goes off-trail all the time in very rough country, taking occasional falls with a 45 pound pack on and a tripod in-hand, using one's pod to lower oneself off of 6 foot drops in ravines, and that sort of thing, a CF pod would be toast. I have AL pods (Gitzo) that have legs that no longer retract due to dented legs.

My tripods are also climbing assist tools.

Wood bends and deforms slightly and returns to its original shape. Below: me and my Ries

 

[KerrKid]

I've learned so much from this thread. I had no idea there was so much to know about tripods. I've somehow gotten shakier as I've gotten older and a tripod - even a small one - would be of great help.

Thanks for this thread!

 

[DREW WILEY]

Ball heads are the root of all evil when it comes to anything heavy up there, like long lenses or a view camera, and potential vibrations. Maybe you can get away with that kind of thing and a Hassie with 180; but MF-wise, I often shoot a P67 with its 300, and the only realistic solution is no head at all - bolt the whole nine yards to the top of the tripod platform itself, and a really serious tripod to begin with, in this case, the same ones I use for an 8x10 camera, like the wooden Ries Vaughn is holding in a recent post. But some of these new "half-ball" devices seem logical, which firmly set into a scooped out area of the platform rather than bobbling above it via a stem.

 

[Vaughn]

That's why a ballhead worked so well when traveling with the 4x5 Gowland for months -- nuthin heavy up there! Would have worked even better with some type of friction control that some have. It was a Gitzo Ball No.2 on a set of simple Gitzo Studex legs. Pod and head weighed 3x the camera/lens/holder (7.5 lbs vs 2.5 lbs). Tall enough and a solid platform to work with standing straight up (I was 6'4" back then).

The camera/head combination I used on my first LF travels was a 4x5 Deardorff Special copy (India) on a video camera head. It actually worked well as the video head took care of pan and pointing up/down, and the camera's rotating back replaced tilt and allowed me to straighten horizons, trees, etc. But was glad to eventually move to a better pod/head.

I reversed the centerpost and used the Gowland upside down...Death Valley...up a side canyon, just keeping out of the sun for awhile. A scan of the only contact I've made.

 

[Sirius Glass]

That's why a ballhead worked so well when traveling with the 4x5 Gowland for months -- nuthin heavy up there! Would have worked even better with some type of friction control that some have. It was a Gitzo Ball No.2 on a set of simple Gitzo Studex legs. Pod and head weighed 3x the camera/lens/holder (7.5 lbs vs 2.5 lbs). Tall enough and a solid platform to work with standing straight up (I was 6'4" back then).

The camera/head combination I used on my first LF travels was a 4x5 Deardorff Special copy (India) on a video camera head. It actually worked well as the video head took care of pan and pointing up/down, and the camera's rotating back replaced tilt and allowed me to straighten horizons, trees, etc. But was glad to eventually move to a better pod/head.

I reversed the centerpost and used the Gowland upside down...Death Valley...up a side canyon, just keeping out of the sun for awhile. A scan of the only contact I've made.

My concern with a ball head is that sometimes if the camera is heavy, it can flop around.

You said that you were 6'4", have you gotten taller? If so, please tell me how to become taller as I am still 5'6".

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Great: thanks!

My contribution about tripods is: buy the best, probably most expensive tripod you can buy the first time. Because if you go cheap, odds are you'll keep buying them until you finally buy the one you never thought you'd spend that much on.

+1!

 

[Vaughn]

My concern with a ball head is that sometimes if the camera is heavy, it can flop around.

You said that you were 6'4", have you gotten taller? If so, please tell me how to become taller as I am still 5'6".

With a camera as light as the Gowland, one has pretty good control, and that increases with use, of course. But I can also see how it could drive some folks a bit mad. I use a Gitzo G1376 Ballhead (on Al Gitzo legs) for my 5x7...has a pretty good size QL plate and I have carried the camera (5x7 Eastman View No.2) on the pod for very long distances. Not for everyone, but very usable.

And alas, if I stretch out as tall as I can, I barely hit 6'3". I had to stretch to hit 6'4" back in my basketball days.

 

[eli griggs]

This maybe camera dependent. I find the quick release plate are faster, safer and more fool proof with the Hasselblad. Yes I double check that the quick release plate is firmly in place before I do anything else.

Ditto.

 

[eli griggs]

Ball heads are the root of all evil when it comes to anything heavy up there, like long lenses or a view camera, and potential vibrations. Maybe you can get away with that kind of thing and a Hassie with 180; but MF-wise, I often shoot a P67 with its 300, and the only realistic solution is no head at all - bolt the whole nine yards to the top of the tripod platform itself, and a really serious tripod to begin with, in this case, the same ones I use for an 8x10 camera, like the wooden Ries Vaughn is holding in a recent post. But some of these new "half-ball" devices seem logical, which firmly set into a scooped out area of the platform rather than bobbling above it via a stem.

You can always buy or make a 'U' shaped shooters monopod or a normal, metal, twist lock monopod, to steady either the long heavy lens while attached to a camera and tripod, OR mount your camera to the monopod, with the lens mounted on your tripod.

Either way, only let the monopod down into it's final position once the tripod is supporting the Lyon's share of the rig.

I my opinion.

 

[Helge]

You can always buy or make a 'U' shaped shooters monopod to steady either

?
Any pics?

 

[DREW WILEY]

What I use, made in my own shop, is a double mount to both the camera body and telephoto lens collar. Then this is directly bolted to the top of either my Ries wooden tripod or same large CF tripod as used for my 8x10. I tooled it out of a piece of 1x3 rock maple, which I laminated to black Garolite phenolic, and then treated with penetrating marine epoxy for total dimensional stability. And I added a bit of micro-rust and crud to the solution so that the device would match the vintage weathered look of my veteran maple Ries tripod, just for fun.

Heavier is obviously better, but not always practical to carry. But rigidity itself can never be compromised in such circumstances. And at any of the slower shutter speeds, I also always use the mirror lock-up feature on my 6X7.

For really big cameras of ULF classification, I've filed a patent for a helium-filled bellows, so that the bigger the camera gets, the lighter it is. It also works with hot air, which applies to the prototype. Want to see it? Just drop me 17K and you can actually own an invisible piece of digital artwork with this camera on it, floating around somewhere in cyberspace, helium or otherwise, and with the invisible logo Goodyear on it, just for sake of authenticity. But no, I don't accept crypto-currency.

 

[Pieter12]

With a longer lens on a MF camera, a cradle like this comes in handy when using a high-quality, heavy-duty ballhead with a quick-release:

Also, I usually frame the image hand-held first and then put up the tripod at the appropriate height for the shot.

 

[eli griggs]

?
Any pics?

Yes, I'll post photos of the plastic shooting stick my wife bought me a few seasons back and my monopod which will allow an aluminum or wooden 'U' attachment.

I have yet to get a Hasselblad 350 and 500, both of which I desire for my own work, especially if I'm ever able to do my cross country photograph road trip.

Some Canon lenses, like the F4 L series 300mm lens I had also had years back, have a threaded lens mount, which is how I started using the duel support method, where needed.

 

[benjiboy]

The bulbs from toilet plungers are very effective as snow/mud shoes and in any location where there are a lot of big holes in the surface, like some metal bridges.
I still haven't figured out a good way though to explain why my car trunk hold three of them.
On the subject of viewpoint and models, in general leggy professional models are the only human beings who look better from a low camera angle. Most everyone else looks better from eye level - thus the preference for prism finders on wedding cameras.

I have a set of Manfrotto snow shoes, I must have had for nearly thirty years, I have never used them, although they seemed a good idea at the time

 

[BobUK]

I keep a spare short cable release in a plastic tube, and taped to one of the legs.
It's just an emergency spare but has been very welcome a few times.

 

[benjiboy]

I bought my Manfrotto snow shoes in 1995!

They get infrequent use, but always come with me on beach or creek and river walks where the legs may require extra safeguards against submarining. They were last used in late January this year.

I have not seen them available in Australia for a long while.

Yes, mine are the same as yours

 

[MattKing]

The snow shoes will work on sand as well.

 

[Sirius Glass]

With a longer lens on a MF camera, a cradle like this comes in handy when using a high-quality, heavy-duty ballhead with a quick-release:
View attachment 308395

Also, I usually frame the image hand-held first and then put up the tripod at the appropriate height for the shot.

With the 500mm lens on the Hasselblad it use the lens's tripod mount and the camera which is much lighter hands on the end.