Tripod head (and tripod) for Landscapes

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wotan1 said:
With all tripods and heads there are two main issues in addition to ease of use, stability and durability.

I am not sure any of us would be able to tell the difference in stability without running precise comparison tests. Similarly, durability requires testing over time.

I prefer to stick with the known quality brands when it comes to tripods. I prefer Gitzo, Really Right Stuff and Kirk.
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Thank you Wotan1 for your comment - there are a couple of things to keep in mind besides use, stability and durability. Price and availability has to be considered as well.
I am also looking at the Gitzo (which we can get here)
I can ship some items from overseas - but it becomes a very very expensive exercise - the value of our currency is an issue.
 
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Winston Churchill (Sir) said:
it looks good - high rating as well !
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Also, if I am not mistaken, the Artcise brand and the Innorel brand are owned by the same entity. I have no idea about their availability where you live, but I imagine that they're the same should be kept in mind. FWIW, I own the Innorel RT90C, (I acquired mine from Amazon.) While my needs are no where near those of most in this forum, I have found it to be more than adequate. Aside from the monopod feature, I believe the Innorel RT80C is basically the same as the Artcise mentioned above.
 
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Winston Churchill (Sir) said:
I am looking for a tripod head for landscapes - specifically fitting well into the category of good and light for travel, while being of proper decent. Not a once-off thingie that will frustrate the shyte of my derierre.

I am open to suggestions - but what I have been looking at is:

Leophoto geared head - G3? G4?
Leophoto levelling base
Leophoto carbon fibre tripod to match

We do not have all the brands you have in the USA, so shipping could be an issue if not locally available, but I am still willing to investigate suggestions either-way.

I don't like a ball head - so thats out. Dont even suggest that one. And I don't have $2500 for a tripod head either.

thank you - for whatever you can contribute.
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Elsa, I’ve had excellent results and ease of use with a Manfrotto tripod. It’s made in Italy so that’s closer to you. It’s adjustable for a wide variety of situations and not very heavy. If light weight is the major concern a carbon fiber unit may be the way to go… good luck.
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FWIW - I purchased the PD Travel tripod on a Black Friday sale for 30% off and took it with me for a 2 week trip in Europe. It is substantially lighter than my wildlife tripod...2.8 lb including the head. It is FAR more stable that I expected. I had no trouble using it with the Z8, 14-24 f2.8 and 24-70 f2.8 and even the 70-200 f2.8. It was even stable enough for landscape with the center rod extended.

The small length and light weight made it very comfortable to carry when walking around cities for hours. I used it for this blue hour shot in Prague near the Charles Bridge
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Larry S. said:
Elsa, I’ve had excellent results and ease of use with a Manfrotto tripod. It’s made in Italy so that’s closer to you. It’s adjustable for a wide variety of situations and not very heavy. If light weight is the major concern a carbon fiber unit may be the way to go… good luck.
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That is the set up I currently have. It's heavy (4.5kg) and far too big to hike with. It's really impossible. At home this is what I use though
 
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Butlerkid said:
FWIW - I purchased the PD Travel tripod on a Black Friday sale for 30% off and took it with me for a 2 week trip in Europe. It is substantially lighter than my wildlife tripod...2.8 lb including the head. It is FAR more stable that I expected. I had no trouble using it with the Z8, 14-24 f2.8 and 24-70 f2.8 and even the 70-200 f2.8. It was even stable enough for landscape with the center rod extended.

The small length and light weight made it very comfortable to carry when walking around cities for hours. I used it for this blue hour shot in Prague near the Charles Bridge
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Thank you Karen - another friend told me the same thing today - I am lusting after that thing 😂
 
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So finally the transaction was concluded - it involved a lot of pain - and I walked out with a Peak Design Carbon Fiber.

I have used it once so far- and really enjoyed it but also realised I shouldn't compare it with my Gimbal set up for wildlife.

it's size and weight is incredible - I am very happy to carry it around. Quick and simple means it will get used.
 
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Elsa, The PD unit does look smaller. But does it securely hold the camera? I think you said earlier that you had a Manfrotto tripod. I have their ball head w/mounting plate which has a locking lever that prevents disengagement from the foot. I mostly use it w/monopod and macro. The PD may be a better travel choice because of weight but thought you might want a look-see…….
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Larry S. said:
Elsa, The PD unit does look smaller. But does it securely hold the camera? I think you said earlier that you had a Manfrotto tripod. I have their ball head w/mounting plate which has a locking lever that prevents disengagement from the foot. I mostly use it w/monopod and macro. The PD may be a better travel choice because of weight but thought you might want a look-see…….
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thanks Larry - Thank you for commenting!

From my experience so far, i was very impressed with how sturdy the PD is, and how easy to manage. The Z9 is heavy, plus add an L bracket and lens and yet it is exceptionally sturdy.
I have a Manfrotto ball head, and I used a Surui ball head - not in the same league. Being able to use the Arca Swiss plate - was another non negotiable.
I don't have much experience with the PD yet, but this will come and can always be re-evaluated. Of course I havent tried it with the long lens - but that's not what it was meant for. Horses for courses I suppose.
I hope it's not like my camping chairs - which I keep changing every year 😂
 
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I took a quick look at the PD tripod in a video and got some of my questions answered.

It looks like an interesting product. However it does not help with the longer lenses that I typically use.

For me if I am going somewhere I am going to want my long lenses and gimbal so I am already committed to my Gitzo 3 and at least a mini gimbal head.

This could work well on a landscape photo shoot with a lighter weight lens.
 
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wotan1 said:
I took a quick look at the PD tripod in a video and got some of my questions answered.

It looks like an interesting product. However it does not help with the longer lenses that I typically use.

For me if I am going somewhere I am going to want my long lenses and gimbal so I am already committed to my Gitzo 3 and at least a mini gimbal head.

This could work well on a landscape photo shoot with a lighter weight lens.
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My need was for landscapes - and I typically shoot my telephotos hand held.
When the time comes what I cant shoot hand held anymore - I probably would be able to hike anymore either 😂

Interesting product indeed - I believe the SmallRig is something of a knock off of the PD if you wanted to peek at it
 
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I use a Gitzo Traveler Series 2 with a RRS BH-30 ball head. Very sturdy for a travel tripod set up but light and easy to travel or hike with. I've always gone with the buy quality and buy once when it comes to tripods. I can't see every having to replace this unless something crazy happens to it.
 
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When asking about a tripod and head, people will (almost) always pitch what they own. This is a good way to see what others use, but may not be the proper for your use.
Plan in the money, but cheap and get junk.. I prefer Wimberley II head, and will accept nothing else. Spend good money on the tripod, few hundred dollars. I'm not a Gitzo guy as I dislike their concern for the tripod once it's sold..
 
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I realize I'm a bit late in this, but Thom Hogan has an analysis/review of tripod options (he's one of the few that seems to investigate un-trendy products like tripods). He's also the originator of what might be called 'Hogan's Law of Tripod Purchases', which postulates that you can spend $1000 or $2000 for a good tripod. If you start trying to cheap it out, you'll end up spending $2000, but if you purchase a good solution right away you can spend $1000. You'll end up in the same place.

Tripods Today | Cameras and Photography Explained | Thom Hogan

Eight carbon fiber tripods you might want to consider
www.bythom.com www.bythom.com
 
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Charles Loy said:
When asking about a tripod and head, people will (almost) always pitch what they own. This is a good way to see what others use, but may not be the proper for your use.
Plan in the money, but cheap and get junk.. I prefer Wimberley II head, and will accept nothing else. Spend good money on the tripod, few hundred dollars. I'm not a Gitzo guy as I dislike their concern for the tripod once it's sold..
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just to be clear - I also have a tripod with a Gimbal head - it's big and bulky and weighs At 4.5kg - it is simply impossible to use as a travel set up.

and yes I really enjoyed the thread - so much great info
 
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Do you own an L-bracket for your camera? They can be useful for creating stitched landscapes using a series of portrait oriented shots. You end up with a higher resolution landscape photo in case you want to make a very detailed print of it.
 
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Thanks to all who commented on this thread. I also need a lightweight travel tripod for landscape and learned a lot. I've also been eyeing the PD carbon. I'm hoping it will work for short tripod work close to the ground for closeups of flowers, but I may need to look at something additional for that.
Elsa, please let us know how you like the PD after you have used it for a while, also the head. I have to admit the tripod folds up smaller than anything else I've seen.
 
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Whiskeyman said:
Sir Winston, for landscapes, of which I've not been doing lately, I use a Fanotec Nodal Ninja head. It allows me to set it up for nodal point optimization with many lenses and easily pan with the camera mounted in either landscape or portrait orientation. I nearly always shoot landscapes in the portrait orientation and make several overlapped exposures to stitch together on the computer. It's not always pefect, but I do enjoy the image detail and resolution I can get using stitching techniques.

(Still typing while sitting at attention!)
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I also use Nodal Nija. Rock solid, well engineered and Nick is a great guy to deal with for any help.
 
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