jonathan_bourla1

<p>Hi Q.G.!<br> Thanks for your response, but suggesting I open the leg(s) and fix them isn't that helpful, since the whole point is I don't know what else to do. I have bought and installed replacement Gitzo bushes; thoroughly cleaned the tripod legs etc.; and had the tripod looked at by two Gitzo dealers. I'm thrilled I have a solution of sorts in fully extending the smallest diameter leg sections before adjusting the other leg sections. As you say this isn't an ideal solution, but it is a solution after much frustration. I'm certainly not going to buy more Gitzo bushes when the last lot were ineffective. I have read posts online from other Gitzo users who have had similar experiences and resorted to temporary fixes like sticking tape on the bushes. As I said, i just don't know what else I can do to return this tripod to the state of functioning it was in when I bought it. I have written to Gitzo but with no response. A response from Gitzo would be nice and certainly help improve my feeling about their product. Thanks, though, for your input and I'm just pleased your experience with older Gitzo tripods hasn't mirrored my own. </p>

<p>The following is about my experience with my now relatively elderly Gitzo tripod (originally posted on my blog www.jonathanbourla.com/blog ). I am interested if others have had similar experiences with Gitzo. I wrote to Gitzo for their comment, and although they acknowledged my communication, have not replied.</p> <p>For those photographers who use a tripod with their camera, that tripod is an essential part of their photographic kit. For my fine art photography and large format view camera, keeping the camera absolutely still on a tripod is vital. I do recognise that not all photographic persuits suit the use of a tripod. For my own photography, my main camera is a tripod-only piece of equipment, so there’s no option of hand-holding the thing. But in general, with the long exposures I tend to use and the contemplative style of photography, this necessitates the use of a tripod, and I think a tripod is essential to achieving the best results the camera and lenses are capable of.<br> When I started with my big camera, I bought a large and heavy Manfrotto model tripod. It was certainly stable but was really so big and heavy that I didn’t want to carry it very far. My wife and I were planning a trip to Australia, and so I investigated getting a lighter, smaller tripod. One thing I was keen on was a tripod without a centre column. I had read opinion saying these tripods were the most stable. Apart from some wooden tripods made by the American firm of Ries, the French company of Gitzo seemed to offer what I wanted in their Systematic line-up. Gitzo had the reputation as one of the best, if not the very best, of tripods available. I soon became the proud owner of a series three G345 aluminium Gitzo tripod (the move towards carbon fibre as a tripod material hadn’t really taken hold at that stage).<br> For the first few years, the tripod behaved itself and I was pleased. This was, after all, an expensive, high quality piece of mechanical equipment that I expected to last indefinitely. But then it started misbehaving. It may have been around this time that I took a photograph of a water fountain in Devonport by removing my shoes, and climbing into the water and setting up my tripod with the lower leg sections in the water. Well, when I was home I washed, cleaned and dried the tripod. I had seen photographs in magazines of photographers with Gitzo tripod set up deep in water, so I didn’t expect any issues. But I found some time later that, with the camera set up on the tripod, one of the tripod’s lowest leg sections would collapse. Fortunately this collapse was a relatively slow process that I was able to grab camera and tripod, stopping the whole lot tumbling to the ground. As I found on subsequent photographic trips, I would have to be vigilant and not turn my back from the camera and tripod for more that a moment so I could catch the camera and tripod in those moments of collapse.<br> I wrote to Gitzo, and received a reply recommending I replace the “leg bushes”, and put me in touch with the dealer stocking Gitzo products in my home city. I bought a bag of different size bushes, and installed the appropriate ones in my tripod. Feeling confident, I went on a photographic shoot, only to find the tripod misbehaved as before. Over time I sought out the advice of others via the internet, finding that others had had the same experience I had with my Gitzo tripod. Over time I tried different things I read about on the ineternet, such as sticking pieces of thin sticking tape to the bushes, but the results weren’t long lasting or effective.<br> Then, when visiting a different city, I asked the advice of a Gitzo dealer there. The helpful young man swapped the plastic collars on the lowest leg sections, and then proceeded to demonstrate how strong the legs now were. What I didn’t realise until a minute or two later was that he had tightened the leg collars with almost superhuman force. It took a huge effort on my part to loosen these collars. I couldn’t believe it was necessary to apply so much force in tightening the tripod’s leg collars.<br> Using the tripod revealed, with the collars tightened as much as I could, that the problem remained.<br> I was really disillusioned. I was contemplating buying a new tripod, as I clearly couldn’t trust my Gitzo. Investigating the different tripods available, I found only two makes that filled the bill. One, not surprisingly, was Gitzo itself with their carbon fibre Systematic tripods. What became clear was that Gitzo had changed the design on their tripods. Did they change their tripod design due to deficiencies in the earlier models?<br> The alternative was a tripod from American firm Really Right Stuff, which seem to be based on Gitzo’s designs with improvements. The model I would want was listed as not in stock.<br> In terms of getting another Gitzo, I felt quite resentful, thinking my original Gitzo tripod shouldn’t have gone wrong. Despite not trusting my tripod, I kept putting off buying a replacement.<br> Then I had a brainwave. I had always been under the impression that since the lowest leg sections, with their smaller diameter tubes, were only to be used once the larger diameter tube sections had been fully extended. So I would usually have the lowest sections only partially extended. But what if I did things the other way around? Fully extending the lowest leg sections, I found the tripod was finally stable and secure. After all these years.<br> For the moment, I will stick with my old Gitzo tripod. Largely out of mistrust of the brand, I baulk at spending a lot of money on a new Gitzo replacement.</p>

<p>Hi Eric. I have favoured processing my 4x5 inch negatives in metal Kodak hangers and stainless steel tanks that I had fabricated by a stainless steel fabricating firm. The stainless tanks sit in a water bath heated by a fish tank heater. Now I have heard people complain about uneven processing when using such a setup, but apart from one bad batch when I can't have been concentrating as well as I should, my results have been good. Again, I haven't compared the evenness of my negatives with those produced, say, on Jobos, but I have been pleased with my results. My setup has distinct advantages, at least to my eyes. I use the Zone system, and my tank/hanger setup allows me to process different negs for different development times. In a rotary system you have to process the batch for the same time. The other advantage is I can do extreme contraction development in very dilute developer and still have a workable development time. </p>

<p>Hi Sean.<br> When I first tried to get a hold on the Zone System (from Ansel Adams' books), I found it very difficult. It all made sense when I attended a workshop run by photographer Howard Bond.<br> That aside, I have some comments:<br> 1. Life is much easier if you have a light meter which measures in EV values. Also a spot meter is what you need. I have a Pentax Digital spot meter (modified by an old firm called Zone VI). Forget the modification bit for a moment, but what was important was that it came with a zone scale. For light meters without one of these scales, you can download and print your own from files on the internet. Google "Zone scale dial" or similar.<br> 2. The important thing about the Zone System is that you expose for the shadows, and adjust the film development to place the highlights where you want them. What complicates things is that using a film development time different from Normal results in a change in effective film speed. For a reduced development time (which you'd use for an overly contrasty scene), you need to give more exposure than the base meter reading indicates. You do this by adjusting the film speed on the meter. I don't know which books are good for explaining this, but once you get the hang of it, it all makes sense.<br> 3. The Zone System was meant originally for people using View Cameras which use sheet film. Here the photographer could set the optimum exposure and development for each negative. Obviously with a roll film camera all the exposures on the roll get the same development time. Some people who use a camera like a Hasselblad which uses separate film holders have two or more holders with their camera, all to be developed at different development times. Other people may have, say, two identical camera bodies (I have this in my Mamiya 7 kit, which is my secondary camera to my view camera). I noticed you mentioned your book is for the Zone System geared to 35mm cameras. I think such cameras would be the worst for the Zone System - say you had taken a great shot, and worked out the development time you would need. What do you do for the rest of the roll? Ideally you would discard the rest of the roll, and develop the film for the one good shot. But you would end up wasting a lot of film. Getting into view cameras is another huge change from using a 35mm camera, but they are well suited to Zone System use.<br> I hope this is of some help. Good luck.<br> All the best,<br> Jonathan</p>

Thank you all for your comments.

<p>Hello. I have a Microtek 2500 scanner, which is an SCSI device. I use it with a very old G4 Apple Powermac computer. I would like to operate the scanner with my modern Mac Book Pro laptop. I've seen adapters on Ebay which go from SCSI on one end to a USB connection at the other. This seems ideal but I have read one or two comments online that these adapters aren't suitable with scanners, for some reason.</p> <p>Have any of you had any experience using one of these adapters with a scanner like mine?</p> <p>Thanks for your help.</p> <p>Jonathan</p> <p> </p>