There are tripod heads and then there are tripod heads. I was living in the dark. Oblivious, some would say. Eating fast food when the gourmet was just around the corner. I’m slow. I overpack. I have things I don’t need. But occasionally, I have a need, an itch that needs to be scratched. Last week, I found myself in a great situation with less-than-great gear. (Great gear but wrong for the job.) What I ended up with was unusable footage.
Why do so many YouTubers love slow motion? Because you can be so sloppy with it, and you can handhold, but that only gets us so far.
Last week, I ended up trying to film an elk herd with a thousand-pound lens on a one-pound tripod. Not surprisingly, it didn’t work. The wind moved the camera. My adjusting controls moved the camera. The weight of the camera and lens moved the camera. That was the breaking point. Time to upgrade. Benro to the rescue, and a gimbal head no less, my first ever. Until today, I had only used a gimbal head once, and that was only because I encountered a real birder who had TWO gimbal heads. One for his 400mm 2.8, and another for his 600mm 4.0. He let me manhandle his rig. That sounds bad, but you know what I mean.
Lock on my 180-600mm and this baby is ROCK solid. Undo the tilt and pan knobs, and it’s a silky smooth unlimited range of motion. And it’s carbon fiber because I’m a douchebag and tell myself I NEED it. The sticks are old, really old. My wife had them and now can’t stop telling me how lucky I am that she had them and how she is really responsible for all that is right with my life. She is mostly correct.
You might think by the look of this setup that it would weigh a ton. Wrong.
It weighs less than my old tripod and pistol grip head, which is way smaller and way less useful. I thought that the only setup that would work would be my long lens, but the Z8 and XH bodies fit easily with room to spare, meaning I can also use this for my short lens needs. I’m not sure why I thought it would only work with my long lens? Cause I’m stupid? Don’t answer that.
As you know, I’ve got an upcoming workshop scouting trip to Patagonia. When I asked my contact about kit, she said, “Bring the largest tripod you have.” “The wind is formidable.” I recently purchased another Benro, the CyanBird, which I was hoping would work for everything, but it’s just too small. It works for all my Blurb duties where I’m doing interviews and using all the short lenses, but Patagonia is going to be a long lens party.
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Dream tripod (which will probably always remain a dream):
The newly announced Peak Design Pro tripod. And yup… that’s Jimmy promoting the tripod.
https://www.peakdesign.com/products/pro-tripod?Type=Pro&Color=Black
https://youtu.be/xcBovwfnU8k (worth watching; an amusing Peak Design “birth of a new tripod ” – the new ball head in the video is awesome too)
…
But, now back to reality, the only tripod and head I ever had and budget-wise will most likely ever need:
Bogen 3411 professional tripod (pre-internet; best pics I could find):
https://bluemooncamera.com/shop/product/MGW0625%7C27193/
Manfrotto 322RC2 “pistol grip” head (amazingly still sold on BH):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/303591-REG/Manfrotto_322RC2_322RC2_Grip_Action_Ballhead.html/?c3api=4680%2C%2CPhotography-Manfrotto%2Cb&msclkid=1fc6452a8b6b1bab88a12c0dae101ee8
I’ve been in downpours, middle of streams, snow and ice, so on and so forth with this rig. Never failed and never gave me a problem. At a total of 5lbs 3oz including the head,
most of the time left in the car but if I need rock solid support I have it.
Also unintentionally once served as a weapon. A friend snuck up behind me as a joke while I had the tripod over my shoulder. Startled, I swung around and nearly took his head off with the tripod. An apology and several bandaids later he was fine. But he never snuck up behind me again.
Author
That new peak is too small. It’s great for short lenses, but you put a Z8 and 180-600 on that thing and it’s gonna be an issue. The gimbal head option is incredible. It’s SO stable. And, by the way, it balances in about ten seconds. I got lucky. Got a deal on the head and already had the legs, so it cost less than you can imagine.
Nice setup. Wimberley Photo makes a nice gimbal setup too though not carbon fiber. The gimbals definitely are great once you have balanced your rig. Used it a lot when photographing great grey owls with a 500mm f4. Ok no more geeking.
Think your rig will hold up nicely for Patagonia.
Author
I was amazed at how quickly I balanced it. Put it on, slid the mount a few cm’s. Done. And yes to Patagonia.
My dream tripod (which will likely remain a dream) is the new Peak Design Pro Tripod with the new ball head. Not sure if its available yet but the promo videos look really good.
Back to reality the I have are an ancient Bogen 3411 tripod and a Manfrotto 322RC2 “pistol grip”. Amazingly, the 322RC2 is still sold through BH.
I’ve been in downpours, middle of streams, snow and ice, so on and so forth with this rig. Never failed and never gave me a problem. At a total of 5lbs 3oz most of the time left in the car but if I need rock solid support I have it.
Also once unintentionally served as a weapon. A friend snuck up behind me as a joke while I had the tripod over my shoulder. Startled, I swung around and nearly took his head off with the tripod. An apology and several bandaids later he was fine. But he never snuck up behind me again.
Author
Roger that.