In an ideal world, you'd have a tripod which
would have the three desirable qualities for a tripod legset:
rigid, lightweight, and inexpensive. In the real world, it seems,
you get to choose two of three. As a result, I've owned a variety
of legsets, of varying quality, weight, cost, and rigidity. I currently
own three: a Bogen 3221, a Ries J-600, and a Gitzo 1348.
[update: the Ries J-600 was getting so little use, I sold it]
Bogen 3221
The Bogen 3221 was purchased for use as a
tripod for 35mm use. It's reasonably well constructed, with the
leg sections made from telescoping aluminum tubing. Although you
can buy the same legset with the legs in their natural aluminum
finish, the legset I own is anodized black, and thus cost very
slightly more. Aluminum is a good choice for a material to make
tripod legsets from, but suffers from the unfortunate problem
that if you pick up an aluminum tripod on a cold day (or cold
morning) it will suck the life force out of your body through
your hand faster than you can imagine. To offset this, the legs
of my 3221 are wrapped in bicycle handlebar tape (of the cork
variety) in a sort of dark grey/black color. The tape also makes
the legs slightly soft so it's a little nicer on your shoulder if
you put the tripod on your shoulder to carry it.
The leg locks on the 3221 are of the lever
variety. They're extremely easy to lock and unlock, even with
gloved hands or hands that are stiff with cold, but they
eventually need to be adjusted. Adjusting them is tedious but not
difficult.
The 3221 is more than rigid enough for the 35mm
work I purchased for. Alas, it's not quite rigid enough for 4x5
work. Yes, I know that some folks feel the 3221 is plenty rigid
enough for large format work. Opinions vary.
Ries J-600 Backpacker
I also own a Ries J-600 Backpacker. The Ries is
a wooden tripod, and thus does not suffer from the 'life force
suck' problem that the Bogen does. On the other hand, the wooden
legs of the Ries have accumulated what Fred Picker quaintly calls
'Noble Scars'. I call them ugly scratches, and minimize their
appearance by maintaining the legs with regular woodworkers paste
wax, which also keeps the tripod looking nice and new. The J-600
has telescoping legs like the rest of the Ries tripods, with the
difference being that the lower leg section is actually two
pieces of wood that screw together. On mine, the screw joints
flex slightly and compromise the rigidity of the tripod just a
bit. Also, a certain degree of care needs to be taken to make
sure that the two sections are screwed firmly together, since
they tend to unscrew themselves and become even less rigid.
Despite these minor problems, the Ries is a
great legset, and I like it very much. It has several features
that I think are great. First, the legs can be locked firmly at
virtually any angle, which makes it very easy to erect the tripod
and level it on very uneven ground. Second, the lower leg
sections have spikes on one end, and rubber tips on the other
end, so that you can choose which sort of foot you want just by
reversing the leg sections.
The big disadvantage of the Ries is the weight
- the thing is not light. It also does not fold down into a very
small package.
Gitzo 1348 Carbon Fiber
Finally, I own a Gitzo 1348 carbon fiber legset. I find that this is the tripod that tends to get selected
when I head out the door, regardless of whether I'm using large
format or 35mm. Unlike aluminum, the carbon fiber legs don't
freeze your hands on a cold day. However, I've heard that if the
legs get nicked the helically wound carbon fiber legs will
unravel in a heartbeat, so I've taken the precaution of covering
the upper leg section in cork handlebar tape, this time in a
bright, jaunty blue.
The 1348 legs have four sections, which means
three locks to fiddle with on each leg. In practice, I find that
often I don't need to extend the legs fully, and I leave the last
(narrowest) section unextended, which also improves the rigidity
a bit. People taller than I am (I'm about 5' 7", or 1.7 meters ) might find that they need that
last leg section extended.
When I bought it, long ago, the 1348 came with both a center column and a
flat plate. For large format work, I mount the tripod head
directly on the flat plate. I've used the center column for 35mm
work, but generally find that the legs will extend enough that I
don't need to raise the center column. Of late I find that I've
been ignoring the column and leaving the flat plate in place for
all uses.
Gitzi 2228 Carbon Fiber Explorer
