Indeed I did. And yes, LF cameras are not the fastest way to work. But if you’re
slow- or your equipment is-you can lose shots, especially under volatile light conditions. From my previous life as a large format photographer, I learned that leveling is one of the potential biggest time sinks. Even with the LF camera, sometimes that extra minute can cause you the shot. After I saw the video linked below, I realized that a leveling base can be a big time saver and the slight weight tradeoff is worth it.
I used to have the Zone VI wooden tripod. Every leveling operation was three leveling operations, repeat go around again maybe repeat as needed, as many times as it takes.I am ditching my Bogan 3047 head which weighs nearly 4 pounds and replacing it with two pieces of gear that combined probably weigh half that. It will still be a light setup. While your points about complexity are valid, I’m going to try it with and without the leveling base. If I don’t like it, eBay here I come.
Here’s a link to a video I discovered, which has the best explanation of how to pick a tripod that I have ever seen. It explains a lot of stuff that didn’t exist in my first life as a large format photographer. The relevant part starts at exactly 15:00 in.
I started photography before the internet & spent more than a decade w 5x7" & 8x10".... sorry, i lost interest in even viewing the video when i saw "flat bed scanning"
The tripod tutorial was the good part
From my previous life as a large format photographer, I learned that leveling is one of the potential biggest time sinks.
Just bought the following:
Leofoto LM-324CL X Version Tripod with 75mm Bowl+Platform
2024 New Release Reach for the top with the Leofoto LM-324CLX Summit Series Carbon Fiber Tripod. The brand-new design highlights upgraded angle stops meticulously crafted for enhanced ergonomic performance. The new angle stop design allows for one handed operation for convenience while ensuring...leofotousa.com
Also LB-75 leveling base w/handle which fits 75mm bowl furnished with tripod
Also a late version, Bogen/Manfrotto head 3047 head which weighs almost 4 pounds, making it suitable for use with an 8 x 10, something I have practically no likelihood of ever doing. I didn’t realize the late versions were that much heavier than the one I had way back when I got my first zone six field camera so I’m looking for a pan/tilt head compatible with the above. I don’t need to turn the camera on its side like I might with a DSLR so I think a two way will work with the leveling base.
Payload is an Intrepid 4x5 and my heaviest lens is probably a 120 Fujinon.
Requesting recommendations. Pre-owned fine. TIA
I use and love Arca-Swiss heads, in particular the P0 Classic (which I reviewed here: https://www.vieribottazzini.com/2016/08/arca-swiss-p0-monoball-review.html) and, since moving to Large Format, I am now loving the P0 Hybrid even more -
Vieri
I'm about to get deep into the weeds here, but I guess that's what this forum is for
I bought an Arca-Swiss P0 about 8-10 months ago and have been using it since. It's a great head; I like it a lot; and it does solve several issues that can be drawbacks to traditional ball heads.
Before I bought the Arca-Swiss, I spent a year or two experimenting with a leveling base + 2-way pan/tilt head, which is a system that also offers real benefits if keeping your camera level to the horizon is important to you. This system has become something of a trend among landscape photographers lately, as if it's a new discovery, but as I mentioned above, the filmmaking industry has been doing it for decades. Maintaining a level horizon (i.e. not creating any roll movement) while the camera moves in other axes is critical to them.
As much as I like the P0, the leveling base+2-way head does still have one useful advantage over it: you can stay level to the horizon when you are both panning and tilting the camera. So if you're pointed down a hill, or down at a mountain stream, you can pan left and right to adjust your composition without losing your level horizon.
With the P0, you can pan while maintaining a level horizon, but only if there is no tilt in the head. If the camera is tilted down or up, and you start panning, you'll quickly lose your level horizon. I have some workarounds for this, and the P0 has its own advantages over my leveling base+2-way head, so I'm happier with it for the moment. But I do miss the freedom to pan and tilt at will without worrying about inducing rotation in the roll axis and thus tilting the horizon.
The P0 Hybrid does eliminate this problem and gives the best of both worlds. I just haven't been willing to shell out the $1,000 for it.
I have and highly recommend the Arca Swiss D4 head. It's light-weight; yet, it will support any 4x5 camera. Given its design, it can operate both as an excellent geared head, and as a reasonable ball head as well. The downside, they go for about $1000 new on EBay. (Well worth it to me.)
HOWEVER: Leofoto offers, what looks to be, a D4 copy that they call a G4 for much less cost.
Leofoto G4 Geared Head Camera Tripod Ball Head w Plate Arca Swiss Compatible | eBay
Leofoto G4. Leofoto G4 Geared Ball Head with Plate Arca Swiss Compatible. QR Plate: NP-60. Height: 108mm.www.ebay.com
One especially nice feature of this head, it has both a 360 degree base, and a 360 degree top, so that once that top has been geared to be level, it can operate as a panoramic head.
Please note that, I have no association with the seller in the above link.
I'm on record for advocating going headless - in other words, directly bolting the view camera bed to the platform top of the tripod (indicating a tripod with a reasonably large top). By far the most stable method, and minus redundant head weight. "Legs only" adjustment goes very quickly once one is accustomed to it. My Ries wooden tripods are my favorite leg sets; but I have lighter CF equivalents too, for sake of long haul backpacking.
I use a decent Gitzo pan/tilt head for most MF work; but gave up on heads altogether for LF applications decades ago. And I've been in many precarious places adjusting the system headless, just like early surveyors. I would have donated my big ole cast Bogen/Manfrotto 3047 head to the Coast Guard for an anchor, except I repurposed it to my copy stand, which is built to withstand the next big earthquake (I'm within walking distance of an infamous fault).
Fred Picker's recommendations weren't always ideal. I initially got suckered into one of his modified survey tripods, which wasn't all that good to begin with, and was poorly modified. And it was clumsy to adjust. I later sold surveying gear, and if you go that route to save money, you want a fiberglass clad wooden one, US made (avoid Chinese knockoff ones like the plague). Then just swap the 5/8-11 turnbolt for an ordinary photo 3/8-16 or 1/4-20 turnbolt.
Otherwise, these new half-ball devices seem to be the smartest thing to come along in quite awhile. I don't personally need one; but they must be a lot more stable than wobble-bobble ball heads.
I'm not against finely geared gadgets. I just don't want to carry them around. My biggest 8x10 color enlarger (14 ft tall) has the main focus rail control fitted into a machined forged bronze WWII Naval artillery sight mount, with precision helical gearing in three directions. That would probably cost over $10,000 to machine today; but I got it for free military surplus.
Thanks for sharing that video link, Grafmatic; it seems to be one of the more realistic ones. I happen to own a sample of the first CF tripods ever marketed - the original Gitzo CF Reporter. It's held up superbly all these decades under the most demanding outdoor usage. But a friend who bought the more recent Gitzo equivalent (which has thinner ply) snapped off two of its legs slipping on a stone while crossing a creek. I ended up whittling two whitebark pine limb prosthetic legs for it, which were duct taped onto the remaining part of each leg. At least that allowed him to keep shooting. We were a week's walk back in, far from even a trail.
But I'd have trouble endorsing any tripod which has screws or fittings capable of rusting around saltwater, like that video endorses. At the very least, I'd replace the susceptible parts themselves with stainless equivalents.
For pointing straight down, which I only seldom do, I just use strong stainless L-brackets appropriately drilled and tapped. Still more stable than any tripod head, and far lighter too. They're cheap to make too, and last forever. Of course, if one tends to shoot straight down a lot, that would be clumsy.
I have different sizes on them. For long-haul backpacking trips with my Fuji 6X9 RF, I used an L-bracket weighing less than 100g in lieu of a tripod head for vertical orientation compositions.
Grafmatic....Have you come any closer to choosing a tripod & head?......You started your tripod hunt 6 months ago....
Well not quite 6 but it feels like it… I took less time to pick out the last car I bought. I have been building the system paycheck by paycheck. I do have a full tripod set up now. Leofoto LM324CLX, Leofoto leveling base with handle, and Sunwayfoto DT-03R head. Hoping to be under the cloth on my birthday which is the 23rd.
BTW if anybody has 6 spare sheets of scrap, or waste, film, and/or some small (10 or 25 sheet) film boxes for practicing loading holders/tank and temp storage of exposed sheets, let me know. I’ll pay you something if you wish; at least postage. At today’s film prices, I don’t wanna waste good sheets if I can avoid it TIA.
Well not quite 6 but it feels like it… I took less time to pick out the last car I bought. I have been building the system paycheck by paycheck. I do have a full tripod set up now. Leofoto LM324CLX, Leofoto leveling base with handle, and Sunwayfoto DT-03R head. Hoping to be under the cloth on my birthday which is the 23rd.
BTW if anybody has 6 spare sheets of scrap, or waste, film, and/or some small (10 or 25 sheet) film boxes for practicing loading holders/tank and temp storage of exposed sheets, let me know. I’ll pay you something if you wish; at least postage. At today’s film prices, I don’t wanna waste good sheets if I can avoid it TIA.
right now it seemes the best deal in the US for cheap 4x5 film to practice with (not counting litho film which requires a lot of patience) is the FPP monster films--at least Frankenstein (Foma 200) and Mummy (Foma 400) for $30 for a box of 25 sheets:
Large Format Sheet Film
Supplied on individual sheets of acetate or polyester film base rather than rolls, sheetfilm was originally developed as an alternative to glass plates. Find 4x5 and 8x10 largeformat films from the trusted brands around the world in our large format sheet filmsection.filmphotographystore.com
I accidentally ruined about a dozen sheets of Foma 200, so I bought a box of Frankenstein to replace it.
Yes, the 4x5 monster films are indeed a good deal, which is why I am using them for practice. I accidentally ruined 10 sheets of Mummy a few days ago; it was much, much less painful than ruining, say, 10 sheets of TMAX 400, which is the film I usually shoot in smaller formats. But I'm sure I'll get around to ruining some expensive film at some point.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?