Are large tripods even necessary anymore?

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sh1209 said:
With the move to mirrorless we've had substantial weight and size reduction in our gear. Having said that, in the past I used my larger tripod far more often than I do now due to a heavier kit. I have four tripods now and for the last 3-4 years, I hardly ever take my TC34L RRS tripod out. I also have a series 2 Gitzo with center column which is a must for macro photography. I have a couple mini tripods I use occasionally but use the Gitzo far more than all of them. The small series 2 handles my 600f/4 and gimbal with ease, even carrying it attached. Most of the time when using larger lenses I remove the center column for added stability. Just wondering if others are finding they're using their large tripods less after transitioning to mirrorless?
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In many cases tripods i feel are needed a little less often today.

That said, regardless of camera and lens i use a lightweight mono pod or lightweight tripod when ever i shoot, circumstances permitting, i find it always helps or adds that stop or two.
As to heavy Gitzo's etc i have 2 used ones i baught cheap used around $300 and $400 AUD, plus a Carbon Fiber Benro heavy duty tripod on a 50% off sale costing me $400 AUD.

If i am on a set or covering a event in a fixed position all day defiantly i use a solid old tripod with a Gitzo head or Wemberly Gimbel.
 
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The IBIS performance on new cameras is ramping up across the industry, in Nikon the ZF Z6 III no doubt Z7III all three are reaching 8 stops of ibis, the Z8 Z9 is only 5 stops., i feel the benefit is maybe more so for video, i could be wrong, but its handy for stills.

Better IBIS = slower shutter speed, lower iso, tolerates higher resolution sensors, = better outcomes.

Fuji X100 VI is now 40mp with ibis to 6 stops, that's amazing for such a small sensor and camera..............

Do you need tripods as much, no not as much, can you do photography without tripods not completely.

Only an opinion
 
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I read an article once, that IBIS has a certain upper limit in stops before the coreolis effect kicks in. As I understood it, from a certain point onwards, IBIS will try to compensate for the effect earth rotation has in the sensor, resulting in blurry images. The study put that somewhere between 5.5 and 6 stops. I am no expert, but the logic and research made sense. Way more sense than marketing claims around IBIS.

That being said, I got better results handholding a 300mm Ai-s, with or without 2x TC, on a D700 with grip than I got so far with a Z6 and IBIS. I guess I was used to the heavy body and lack of camera shake caused by the shutter. Also, 12mp helped I guess.
 
I'm curious what folks think is the cost in shutter speed between hand held, monopod, crappy tripod, and quality tripod? Let's say for examples of mammals or birds with long telephoto on the one hand and landscape on another.
 
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sh1209 said:
With the move to mirrorless we've had substantial weight and size reduction in our gear. Having said that, in the past I used my larger tripod far more often than I do now due to a heavier kit. I have four tripods now and for the last 3-4 years, I hardly ever take my TC34L RRS tripod out. I also have a series 2 Gitzo with center column which is a must for macro photography. I have a couple mini tripods I use occasionally but use the Gitzo far more than all of them. The small series 2 handles my 600f/4 and gimbal with ease, even carrying it attached. Most of the time when using larger lenses I remove the center column for added stability. Just wondering if others are finding they're using their large tripods less after transitioning to mirrorless?
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Personally most time I don't use tripod with my Z8 and 180-600mm for pictures. But one absolute need is for video, you just can't get high quality video with hand held. Not only a good tripod but also a good fluid head if you want to shoot high quality bird video. Also all people I saw with 600 F4 lens use tripod all the time, I think tripod is important for them.
 
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hef19898 said:
I read an article once, that IBIS has a certain upper limit in stops before the coreolis effect kicks in. As I understood it, from a certain point onwards, IBIS will try to compensate for the effect earth rotation has in the sensor, resulting in blurry images. The study put that somewhere between 5.5 and 6 stops. I am no expert, but the logic and research made sense. Way more sense than marketing claims around IBIS.
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I haven't heard of this before. After a Google search, I found this article about the effect of the earth's rotation on IBIS. Is that the one you read?

Having an older camera (D7200), I find a tripod useful in low lighting. A tripod also helps with composition of landscapes and macros, focusing and focus stacking of macros, etc.
 
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mosoaringwings said:
Personally most time I don't use tripod with my Z8 and 180-600mm for pictures. But one absolute need is for video, you just can't get high quality video with hand held. Not only a good tripod but also a good fluid head if you want to shoot high quality bird video. Also all people I saw with 600 F4 lens use tripod all the time, I think tripod is important for them.
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Yeah, I pretty much always use one for video but normally use a monopod with the 600f/4 with still images or handheld.
 
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hef19898 said:
I read an article once, that IBIS has a certain upper limit in stops before the coreolis effect kicks in. As I understood it, from a certain point onwards, IBIS will try to compensate for the effect earth rotation has in the sensor, resulting in blurry images. The study put that somewhere between 5.5 and 6 stops. I am no expert, but the logic and research made sense. Way more sense than marketing claims around IBIS.

That being said, I got better results handholding a 300mm Ai-s, with or without 2x TC, on a D700 with grip than I got so far with a Z6 and IBIS. I guess I was used to the heavy body and lack of camera shake caused by the shutter. Also, 12mp helped I guess.
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Its very interesting as to what your saying, its beyond me but i guess i can make some assumptions here, If the effected IBIS range is around 5.5-6 then going to 8 may have the latest work around technology.

Or it could be manufactures over promising IBIS........which is not a new tactic.

Could it be the Z6 resolution revealed imperfections more than the 12 mp D700, plus the Z6 had only 5 stops of IBIS like teh Z8 Z9 does.

The D700 is defiantly a excellent camera, i loved mine when i had it, and like you i rarely got a soft image it appears, maybe as you say its the 12 mp gathering more light ?

Once i picked up the D3X i just couldn't go back to 12 mp.......that said as my need for speed and low light grew it moved me into the D3S
to expand the tool kit versatility with the D3X, batterys cards chargers were all teh same, size feel weight.

The IBIS of today in the newer Z models is different to what is in the Z8 Z9.........so i have been led to understand, Canons newest models are all around the 8 stops now as well.
The Fuji X100 6 has just put in 6 stops of IBIS to deal with the higher resolution 40 mp sensor, but also it would be fair to assume as the resolution of the EVF has gone up significantly wouldnt IBIS paly a critical part in that ?????

I recall when 12 and 16 mp sensors were the main size sensors the industry was saying going forward the future resolution will increase to a industry bench sweet spot of 24mp, and that's all you ever will need, today the same thing is being said of 45-50mp.....today as the road map is being laid for the coming next generation of videographers and the sweet spot moves ever on wards.
Is Multi stacking AI image features in camera.............taken from the embryo of technology in many ways from the high tech smart phones.

Interesting times ahead, as it has been since the beginning of time in photography, it’s still fundamentally all about a using the optimal combination of time light and speed, well for now until Ai arrives fully..... LOL

Only an opinion
 
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bleirer said:
I'm curious what folks think is the cost in shutter speed between hand held, monopod, crappy tripod, and quality tripod? Let's say for examples of mammals or birds with long telephoto on the one hand and landscape on another.
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If you have a revealing sensor or lens, in my experience hands down any form of stabilization adds befits.

I can use my 24-70 F2.8 on my DF hand held at F4 it takes an awesome image, add the light mono pod and the difference is tangibly noticeable as i can shoot at reasonably lower shutter speeds, particularly in applications where finer levels of sharpness are involved. Note neither lens or camera has IBIS or VR.

Take the same scenario with the 28-300 on the DF, despite the VR on the 28-300 the mono pod still added a benefit especially at longer focal lengths.

If you take a 500mm lens turn off the VR, and using a DSLR with no IBIS then aim at a smaller subject you will see movement in cases alarmingly so, turn the VR back on and there is your difference, a mono pod and Tripod adds in many cases that kind of benefit.

As to cheap tripods or expensive ones, i come across more effected outcomes from club members coming often from the poor installation or type of mounting plate or heads used.
The actual tripods or mono pods are often less an issue.

There are overpriced high end brand products that really work well, there are many affordable tripods mono pods out there that are just generic clone units branded and labelled differently, i have 3 different Siri tripods and heads, they appear identical to the generic cloned budget units, none of these have lasted particularly the heads, i have kept the larger tripod and now have a collection of bargain priced USED quality Gitzo heads i use and that has improved things remarkably.

There are always people selling good gear used, i focus on the head and mounting assembly more importantly, i got my big Wemberly gimbal for a couple of hundred bucks here when they were nearly $700 at the time.

I use as much as possible mostly a light mono pod that also when collapsed acts as a riffle stock giving me a 3rd leg hand holding.

Only an opinion
 
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