On 4/24/2011 12:42 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
> Yes, very good, Moose. But what's the tripod (sorry for having missed that
> earlier)?
On 4/24/2011 7:05 AM, Bob Whitmire wrote:
> Excellent! Did I miss something. What is the new tripod?
Thanks for the comments on the image!
Don't do the reading, fail the pop quiz! :-D
Answer: Manfrotto 190CXPRO3
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=WishList.jsp&A=details&Q=&sku=548524&is=REG>
I wrote at some length about my choice two months ago. I'd point to the post on
the archives, but the print is sooo tiny
and hard to read comfortably. So I've reprinted it below.
After a couple of days in the field, it's pretty much living up to my
expectations. Nice build quality, light enough
to haul around for hours, yet solid enough to be really useful. I'm using a
small, light magnesium ball head. A bigger,
heavier head might change that part of the equation, as well as affect
stability in some circumstances.
Very flexible, with four leg angles, incl. full horizontal, and the center post
that goes horizontal (Only used once, so
far, and I somehow missed focus.) As I had hoped, going from 9 twist locks to
6 flip locks does make a huge difference
for me in the field.
I still have my own, personal, ongoing problem with carrying and putting down
tripods. Tripod bags and those straps that
clip at the top and wrap around the legs are hopelessly awkward and slow. I
want to carry the tripod simply, it tucks
nicely under my left arm, but what do I do with it when I need both hands to
take a hand held shot? I don't really want
to be bending down to the ground twice each time to put it down and pick it up.
Sometimes, there literally isn't a safe
place to put it down (I was clambering about on wet rocks along a stream in a
steep canyon Wed.) and other times there
is mud, dust, wet grass, etc.
So what do I keep doing, even thought I know better? I lean it against myself
of something nearby. And not every time,
but all too often, it slips and falls hard into whatever I was avoiding. A ding
from a rock in one of those falls is why
the little Velbon now has one leg that won't retract all the way.
After looking around for a solution, and finding none, I've jury rigged
something. I've taken a long, light shoulder
strap and rigged it so the ends are together, with a QR plate attached that
attaches in turn to the tripod. If the legs
are short, it hangs by my side and can be carried that way. With the legs
extended, the tripod leans away from me, but
doesn't fall, while I use both hands to operate the camera. Clipping the tripod
on and off is really quick and easy.
It's very light and simple, and seems to work around the house. I should learn
if it's practical and useful when in
Yosemite next week.
Inventive Moose
_____________________________________________________________________________
On 2/22/2011 5:41 PM, usher99@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Moose writes:
> I had only brought along my light tripod, and the setup failed me on long
> exposures. As a proximate result of this
> subject and, some long simmering dissatisfactions with the longer
> capabilities and
> ergonomics of my tripods, yet another one is on its way here.
> Ah ...
>
> If you get a chance wonder what problems came up with your current ?Velbon
> travel pod and what/why you chose to
> replace it.
I'm not sure I am entirely replacing the Velbon Max i 343E, although that may
happen in practice. Only time will tell.
For the avenue of trees shot, I took three at ISO 1600, 1.6 - 2 seconds , f11,
at slightly different focal lengths and
framing, with reasonable success, and a couple more at ISO 400. As it was
getting darker as I worked, those exposures
ended up at 8 and 13 seconds, and had serious motion blurring - completely
unusable.
I used the little Velbon. It's much better than no tripod, and with a little
wetware help, did a decent job on the
shorter exposures. Why didn't I bring the Hakuba (Velbon maker, model with
aluminum, rather than magnesium spider) CF?
Because it just takes to long to set up and take down.
If I were a solo shooter, taking all the time in the world to get the
pre-scouted shot, the Hakuba, or even the monster
Bogen 3236, would be great. I could probably just leave the shutter open on it
for an hour and get a sharp shot.
But I'm not a solo shooter most of the time. I'm usually out with Carol, and
not uncommonly with others. The folks I
travel with are pretty patient . . . but. Carol got bored and went back to sit
in the car while I finished capturing the
trees. It wouldn't have mattered which tripod I took from a transportation
standpoint. I could put all of them in the
trunk of the car. In many cases, I've been using the compact because it is
quick to use, not because it's the right
tool. So I got to analyzing.
The Hakuba has four leg sections and twist locks. That means putting it up
takes nine individual twists and taking it
down is another nine. And I have to pay attention, so the highest/largest locks
are tighter than the lower ones.
Otherwise, they interact badly, wasting more time.
The Velbon also has four section legs, but they have flip locks and everything
is relatively small. So I can release all
of them in three flips and lock them in three sort of rotary motions of my
hand, and much the same on the way back. It's
WAY, WAY quicker and surer than the Hakuba.
Then I thought, why four section legs? It makes them shorter when collapsed,
but not that much, while it compromises
rigidity and stability AND it multiplies the number of actions to set up and
down. So how about a tripod with three leg
sections, flip locks and sturdier than the Velbon compact? And, you know, 23"
fits in my luggage fine.
I won't try to detail my wanders about the web researching. It all boiled down
to a Manfrotto 190CXPRO3. I went with CF
because tripods this relatively light and rigid in metal seem to magnify,
rather than damp, vibrations. Let a bit of
wind blow and listen to the leg music. :-( I wasn't able to find the three
section version locally to look at in
person, but the four section was really impressive, even with the spindly
bottom sections. Manfrotto has really improved
their CFs since I chose a Hakuba over one a few years ago 'cause the Manny was
so wobbly.
And then, AND THEN, I tried the center column! I haven't kept up with tripods
for some time. I vaguely knew a couple of
fancy ones had a center column you could take out and stick through a hole for
horizontal use. But on this thing, you
just push on the bottom of the column as you push it up, flip it sideways,
adjust length, and tighten the same knob that
works when it is vertical.
Nothing comes apart, no loose parts, solid - Magic! I found a new, open box one
at B&H for $25 less than anywhere else
for an unopened one and now I have it here beside me.
As I expected, I can't as easily flip open all the locks at once, but I'm
learning with practice. In any case, with
three fewer locks, it's at least as fast as the compact, and WAY more solid.
Only 2.8 lbs, 1.3 kg., but really solid. No
field test yet, and it's supposed to rain, maybe even a bit of snow, the next
few days, but I'm thinking it's a winner.
I've always been happy with the Hakuba around home, in the yard and when out on
my own for a specific project, etc. It's
a good match to the Manfrotto 410 geared head, which would make the new baby
top heavy as the head weighs as much as the
tripod. So it may still get used for those purposes.
Anybody else thinking about a separate storage building for their tripods? :-)
Three Legged Moose
Moose
>> Now that's more like it! Even at 100%, it holds up amazingly well.
>> <http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MooseFoto/index.php?gallery=California/Sugarloaf_Ridge_SP&image=_MG_2819fp.jpg>
>>
>> Looks like I need to work on my technique, not look for new lenses. ;-) I
>> do think I've finally found a tripod I can
>> comfortably work with in the field - Hurray!
--
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