Old machinery
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2005 12:48 pmWent out this morning with my new tripod over my shoulder for a play on my way to today's job:
EOS 20D, 17-40mm, no PP
For quite a few years now my main tripod has been a Benbo Trekker, and I've become very familiar with setting it up and tweaking it as required for each shot. Now I'm using a Gitzo which is a whole new style. It's taking a bit of getting used to, but this morning was a positive experience.
It was really nice being able to walk around, find a composition, and then set the tripod up to match. With the Trekker I have to compromise and pick only lower viewpoints: with the G1348 I can put the camera at eye-height. Mind you, I was a lot slower working with the G1348 than I would be with a Benbo, but that should change over time.
Coming to terms with the different leg adjustment style on the Gitzo was hard enough, but at least I wasn't having to tweak the legs to get the ballhead level: the Manfrotto 438 levelling base is easy to use. It does add some more weight to the rig, but so far I'm glad I had it. It made my vertical shots easy to set up (the camera I was using this morning did not have an L-bracket attached and thus for the verticals I was using the drop slot on the B1 head) and the one pano I tried was also simple (there was also a double-bubble on the camera).
EOS 20D, 17-40mm, no PP
For quite a few years now my main tripod has been a Benbo Trekker, and I've become very familiar with setting it up and tweaking it as required for each shot. Now I'm using a Gitzo which is a whole new style. It's taking a bit of getting used to, but this morning was a positive experience.
It was really nice being able to walk around, find a composition, and then set the tripod up to match. With the Trekker I have to compromise and pick only lower viewpoints: with the G1348 I can put the camera at eye-height. Mind you, I was a lot slower working with the G1348 than I would be with a Benbo, but that should change over time.
Coming to terms with the different leg adjustment style on the Gitzo was hard enough, but at least I wasn't having to tweak the legs to get the ballhead level: the Manfrotto 438 levelling base is easy to use. It does add some more weight to the rig, but so far I'm glad I had it. It made my vertical shots easy to set up (the camera I was using this morning did not have an L-bracket attached and thus for the verticals I was using the drop slot on the B1 head) and the one pano I tried was also simple (there was also a double-bubble on the camera).
