Great book, focused on getting maximum sharpness from your pictures.
Potential for flex due to springs? Nonsense. Are you confusing that with what shims do? P67 lenses have a precisely machined bayonet attachment. It's quite solid. But I've only been shooting that system half a century; so what would I know?
You get a supplementary lens mount collar when you arrive at 300 EDIF focal length. I like to unitize both the lens collar attachment and the camera body thread itself together onto machined bar, which I laminated out of phenolic and epoxy-impregnated maple hardwood; and then in turn, mount that bar DIRECTLY to the platform top of my big Ries wooden tripod, or else a particularly solid CF equivalent. But that has nothing to do with any alleged "springiness" in between the lens itself and the camera body, but is simply to stablize the cumulative torque vector of that big long lens in relation to any potential support system flex. I've very thoroughly tested every aspect of this issue, and get very consistent results unless I've just done a sloppy job focussing itself (which sometimes does inevitably occur during the rush of bad weather or low-light shooting).
Shutter vibration? My older brother once sold Rollei and Linhof gear. He'd demonstrate the Rollei SL66 shutter by setting the camera on a table, and then a dime on end atop the camera, and tripping the cable release - the dime din't even tip over. If you tried that with a Pentax 6X7, the dime would land somewhere in the next county, and the Richter shock wave would topple brick chimneys in a six block radius. But that's due to the mirror slap, not the shutter itself. The mirror lockup features solves that. From about 1/60 and faster speeds, the shutter does its thing before the mirror hits anyway; so it's non issue.
And one more thing to set straight : I often shoot a 300EDIF at lower speeds. I have successfully hand shot it at high speeds, resting on a jacket atop a fence post or car roof sniper-rifle style. But a monopod? - absurd. These aren't like DLSR or even 6X6 teles. They bigger and heavier, and deserve solid support. And of course, the 300EDIF and 400EDIF were popular with astro photographers, who had their own serious definition of support.
I cut my teeth printing very precise big Cibachrome prints, so I think I know the meaning of sharpness. And although I prefer printing large format shots, I certainly do know how to make the most out of MF too, and especially the P67 system. And for that reason, which includes decades of experience, I simply can't subscribe to the claims posted by Light Capture. Making comparisons with Leica issues, or the well-known problem of the Nikon F-series with uber-long ultra-teles simply doesn't factor. Here we're dealing with an especially solid 6X7 SLR system with plenty of mass; but that in turn mandates a tripod support system with sufficient mass and rigidity.
It depends on the ballhead. I have used a Cambo Legend 4x5 on a RRS BH55 with no problem. It depends on the ballhead and what you're used to doing.I use a Manfrotto X-PRO 3 way head for my Cambo SC 4x5 monorail camera which weighs about 10 pounds all assembled, and when I had a Mamiya RB67 I used the same head.
As far as I know it's the cheapest pan tilt head that's capable of supporting such weights, and it doesn't even break a sweat.
There are cheaper options capable of similar performance if you look into ball heads, but I find it difficult to maneuver a 2 foot long 10 pound box on a ball head so I never looked into it and can't give any suggestions as to what will work.
The late Barry Thornton published this test in his book, Edge of Darkness. It was done with a 35mm SLR and normal lens. Just imagine with a monster like the Pentax67 and a long lens.
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I like the Induro carbon fiber tripods. It is important to select a tripod that is "rated" for more than the weight equipment that you plan to use on it. I use a factor of two heavier. When I use a lower rated weight I have had shaking and wind vibration problems.
I'm kind of late to this thread, but I've used what I'd call a medium-duty Induro carbon fiber tripod with a RRS BH-55 ballhead for my P67 with lenses up to 200mm and I've never noticed any image degradation from shutter shake. That said, I doubt even a used BH-55 would fall within the OP's budget so it's kind of a moot point. I would, however, ditch any center column or look for a set of legs whereby the head is mounted directly on top.
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