Tripods - how sturdy does it need to be?

[freelanceshots]

A tripod with three sections per a leg will typically be more sturdy because of the size of the individual tubes. The downside to three legs instead of four is it will have a greater folded up height so it will be a little more cumbersome to carry around.

[Daniel Browning]

A tripod with three sections per a leg will typically be more sturdy because of the size of the individual tubes. The downside to three legs instead of four is it will have a greater folded up height so it will be a littl more cumbersome to carry around.
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Agreed. It's even possible to get legs with just 2 segments or even just 1. The latter tend to only be on the used market. Tripods from the good old days could be pretty big because photographers back then weren't a bunch of namby pambies like we are now. []

[Keith B]

because photographers back then weren't a bunch of namby pambies like we are now. [img]/emoticons/emotion-2.gif[/img]

Heard that!

[Fred Doane]

Tripods from the good old days could be pretty big because photographers back then weren't a bunch of namby pambies like we are now. [img]/emoticons/emotion-2.gif[/img]

I think photographers back then if given the option of tripods that collapsed to 1/4 of the fully extended size and less then 1/2 their weight and still supported there camera the same would have gone with the ones we use today but thats just what I think []

[IAMB]

Tripods from the good old days could be pretty big because photographers back then weren't a bunch of namby pambies like we are now. [img]/emoticons/emotion-2.gif[/img]

I think photographers back then if given the option of tripods that collapsed to 1/4 of the fully extended size and less then 1/2 their weight and still supported there camera the same would have gone with the ones we use today but thats just what I think [img]/emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img]
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Yup... and your parents would have taken the bus to school instead of walking in the snow uphill both ways.

[Bombsight]

Advantages of one over the other? ........ Ballhead Vs. 3 way pan/tilt .... sorry if we coverd this elsewhere.[A]

[Ehcalum]

Ballhead:


simple workings, good support of weight, compactish. Kind of a pain to keep perfectly level and rotate unless you have a panning base (more $$), may become unscrewed from tripod if it lacks a locking feature.


Panhead:


independent movement of axis without throwing the others off, usually cheaper, good weigh support, best for video. Big annoying leavers, not as easy to operate as a simple ball head, harder to fine tune in a position.

[Bombsight]

So the ultimate setup would be a Wimberley Gimbal for action &amp; a 3way pan/tilt for everything else ....Including panos?


.... and if so, a great addition would be a nodal slide, plate&amp; L bracket from RRSfor the pan/tilt setup?