Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> Actually, ... the tripod was only ever out of the car once.
Those who have good tripods, serious heads, acra-swiss style fitted
mounting plates, etc. AND who actually use them most of the time, need
read no further.
I'm much closer to Chuck's style; several weeks around the country and
used the tripod only once. It's not like I don't have the equipment. The
big Manfrotto and head you could probably beat a lion to death with. The
feared center column is solid as a rock. The big, hexagonal QR plates
are rock solid too, easily suporting camera and 150-500/5.6 lens. But
when was the last time they were out of the house? Hmmm.
The Hakuba CF with Manfrotto 410 geared head is a sweet combo. The light
Velbon was carefully selected at the lightest tripod that actually
helped. But ... the tripod left in the car might as well be home.
Sooo... I was at a local photo shop a few months ago. And they had this
odd combo hiking stick/monopod/pseudo tripod set up. I'd seen them
before when someone posted links on the list. I looked and played - and
finally decided that with a bit of careful downward hand pressure on the
camera, this thing was potentially better than a simple monopod, and
certainly better than nothing.
I kept on the lookout for a deal, found one and bought a TrekPod GO.
<http://www.trek-tech.com/products/trekpods.html>
After many months, I'm glad I've had it. It's biggest advantage is that
I do, in fact, quite often take it out of the car and along with me. And
as anticipated, it does add some useful stability, both to the camera
and sometimes to the photographer on rough ground.
Since I'm still using it, I though it was time to say something about it.
The GO model breaks down shorter and comes with a nice carrying case
that fits easily into my roling duffel suitcase. The donw side it that
it almost assures that TSA will open the bag. Those tubes must look
suspicious on the x-rays.
The great weakness isn't the 'pod itself, but the head and camera
attachment stuff, the MagMount™ AR/i. the magnetic mount seems pretty
secure, and undoubtedly is for light cameras. It also has a locking
collar thingie for greater security. But really, it's not up to the job.
I had determined that the magnet mount would indeed hold 5D and 28-300
lens at 90 deg. from upright, at least as ong as it wasn't bumped.
Then the ball head lock slipped while in upright position, fell to the
side, and dropped the camera. Fortunately, it feel on rug with pad, and
suffered no damage. Still that was the end of that piece of gear. So on
to the next one.
-----------------------
Walt turned me on to the Cullmann small, light QR system, and I've used
it a lot. More recently, and before the TrekPod, I saw the small Velbon
QR system in a shop.
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=velbon+qra-3&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2Fproductlist.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=submit>
It has some clear advantages over the Cullmanns:
- The attachment mechanism has a little pop-up stud, ala Manfrotto, that
holds the locking lever open when the plate is removed and releases it
when a plate is inserted. Thus it has quicker, easier operation. One
handed use is pretty easy and safe with the Velbon and impossible with
the Cullmann.
- The rectangular plate is shallower front to back, so it doesn't
protrude from the back of the camera.
- The metal parts seem to have less flex, although the Cullmann isn't at
all bad.
- The QR recceiver adapter for other heads is MUCH smaller than the
Cullmann.
- They sell heads with built-in QR plate receivers, which saves bulk and
weight.
The one disadvantage I notice is that they don't have an anti rotation
model QR plate.
The result of buying and trying one QRA-3, is that I now have two silver
and one black one floating around on various tripods.
------------------------------
And for the TrekPod GO, the QHD-41Q ball head with QR receiver is the
perfect match for me.
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=velbon+qhd-41q&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2Fworkaround.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=submit>
The ball head is quite solid enough for my needs and the QR plate has
never,ever come close to dropping my cameras. It's really what they
should be selling with their pod, not the overly clever and
underachieving thing of their own design.
Moose
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