Last Modified: April 9, 2002.
I got the following email from a friend:
OK, I'll bite, what's this about SEVEN tripods? I thought I had difficulty deciding what to get! Just kidding. Do you use a quick release system, and if so what kind? I was going to get Kirk but jeez, by the time I get plates for two bodies, a lens and one tripod, you've got over $200 bucks wrapped up in it.
To which I replied:
There actually are 8, but I admit, it's a little misleading. I have an antique that my grandfather owned (beautiful brass fittings, but the only thing it would be stable enough for would be a little point-and-shoot) [1]. I also have one of those tiny tripods with 4 or 5 inch legs that I thought I'd be able to use for macro work on a table [2], but it's not stable enough, and now when I've got something set up on a table to shoot, I'll put my subject close to the edge of the table and hook the camera to my heaviest tripod that's standing on the floor.And when I first got into photography, I bought a $25 tripod with built-in head [3] that works OK for small lenses. Now I use it sometimes to hold an off-camera flash.
Finally, I got my first half-way decent tripod (Bogen 2030 or something) [4], which is pretty good. But a year later, I got a big lens (600/4), and it just wasn't suitable. The best thing about a giant lens is that after you've shelled out the bucks for that, the cost of any tripod you buy is lost in the noise.
So I got the heaviest Bogen I thought I could stand [5] (2051, I think). It is very heavy, and even then, there's something about the construction that makes it a little unstable with the 600+2x.
Then a few years ago, I went on the trip of a lifetime -- a tour of the Galápagos Islands, and since the biggest lens I thought I could manage was the 300/4, I got the lightest Gitzo I thought would work [6] (Gitzo 126). Gitzos are great. Clearly, it's not as good as the monster Bogen, but with 4 leg segments, it packs into a relatively tiny space, and for the weight, it's more stable than any other tripod I could find. But with Gitzos, you're starting to talk real money. The only problem is that it's a tiny bit short and I had to stoop over a bit to use it (and I'm only 5'8" tall).
So I was so enamored of the Gitzo that I got a big Gitzo [7] (410R) for my 600, and it's far more stable than the big Bogen, it's easier to use, and it weighs less. I hooked one of those Kirk "fourth leg" things that connects the camera body to one of the tripod legs, and it helps a lot with stability, but it can be a real pain to use -- too many things to loosen and tighten, and if you forget to tighten something, some "very surprising" things can happen. And that's no fun with 20 pounds of camera, lens, flash, et cetera, hooked on.
This year, I went to Costa Rica for a month, and since I hadn't added to my tripod family for years, I got the Gitzo 226 [8]. It weighs only a tiny bit more than the 126, it's only an inch longer when packed, but since there are 4 leg sections, that makes it 4 inches taller, and it's now a perfect height for me. (Actually both the 126 and 226 have center columns, but I never use them -- they reduce the stability too much. On my big Gitzo, I don't have the center column at all -- it just has a plate with a mounting bolt on it.)
I used to use the Bogen 2030 for local work with the 300 lens because it's marginally better than the 126, but the 226 is better, so I probably ought to get rid of the 2030. I probably ought to get rid of the giant Bogen too.
I don't think this counts as a tripod, but I have one of those Bogen deals that clamps to something and holds the camera, and I use it for things like wild flowers. I generally clamp it to the leg of a tripod, very close to the ground. None of my tripods can go really low, and this is a very reasonable way to solve the problem.
OK, and since I wrote this for the first time (back in March of 2000), I've now got a new baby in the family: a Gitzo 1127 carbon-fiber tripod. It's similar to the 226, but is a lot lighter (and far more expensive, of course). But it's the one I almost always use now. It packs small, and can easily be put in the carry-on for airplanes.
I won't go through my tripod head saga, but I found what appears to be the perfect answer (for me) on the third try -- the Arca Swiss B1 monoball with the Arca quick-release system. But as you've noticed, the plates can put you in the poorhouse. The best plates are from "Really Right Stuff" -- don't mess with the Kirk versions. They cost a couple of bucks more, but they're "really right". Clearly some anal-retentives worked on the RRS plate design, and I really like that in people designing stuff for me!