Recommendation for Tripod for Mamiya 7ii rangefinder

<p>I have just recently acquired a mint Mamiya 7ii with an 80 and 43 mm lenses. I would like your suggestions on a good landscape tripod. Is the Really Right Stuff worth the cost? Any and all suggestions are welcome. Looking at a carbon fiber tripod - ball head - quick release plate etc.</p>

<p>Thanks again<br>

John </p>

When I bought a tripod years ago I got the Gitzo Mountaineer 1228 with a Bogen 3262QR head and a replacement center

column (with no lift) so it would be as small and light as possible. I've really liked it over the years. The 3262QR was small

and cheap and pretty light and I used to remove the head and then put the tripod and head in my regular checked bag.

The quick release plate was small but I liked that because it didn't look dumb on my smaller cameras (like the M2) and

still worked on the big ones (RTS III). Some people don't like the screw locks on the Gitzo but I do because the lever type

gets loose and you have to remember to bring the right hex wrench to tighten it.

With a rangefinder camera you'll want something tall that's comfortable at eye level. IMO you wouldn't go wrong with an old Marchioni Bros., or Leitz, Tiltall

(but avoid the later ones). Aluminum, but only 7 Lbs. and steady as a rock. My Manfrodo hex plate QR adaptor adds 1/2 Lb., but most are lighter. They,re cheap

used on e**y--my QP adaptor cost more than the tripod.

<p>PhotoNet has an excellent search function; top-of-the-page, right hand corner. <br /> This question has been answered many times...specifically addressing the Mamiya 7.</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/00Y2vI<br /> http://www.photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/001qgh</p>

<p>All depends on what you envisage using it for! If you are shooting within 100m from the road get the biggest and heaviest. If you are trekking through the wilderness then aim for the lightest because thats the one you will actually bother to carry. Before you buy though try out a good heavy duty monopod- It might just be what you are really looking for.</p>

<p>Gitzo are not the only competent tripods. They certainly have a following and they are certainly priced as if they're the best, but they are not the only tripod that will hold your camera steady. For me, the things that drove me away from Gitzo are the leg lock action ( I much prefer levers to twists ) and the fact that despite searches and questions on Photo.net, I was unable to find any persuasive data to indicate that Gitzo would hold the camera steadier than other tripods hundreds of pounds cheaper. So i bought a CF Manfrotto and so far have no cause to regret it.</p>

<p>Heads and plates are a different issue, though to be frank a Mamiya 7 even with its heaviest lens is still a light camera with weight well centralised which reduces the chance of the camera tilting downwards when on its side for verticals. So whilst a great head like Really Right Stuff/Markins/Kirk/Arca Swiss in combination with camera plates customised to the camera are always attractive- and indeed thats what I use with my dslr's- I'm really not sure what benefit you'll actually realise with the Mamiya 7. Just be sure that you use a QR system/camera plate that leaves access to the shutter curtain - otherwise you'll be taking the plate off every time you want to change a lens or film. </p>

<p>Finally L plates are very useful for quickly turning a camera on its side whilst still positioned over the centre of the tripod. RRS don't make a version for the Mamiya 7, though they seem to say that their multi-camera version will fit. I don't know whether anyone else makes a Mamiya 7-specific L plate. You'd need to check that it would keep the controls-including shutter curtain- accessible. L plates are great, but the downside is that it commits you to a high-end ballhead and clamp- for example Manfrotto (to their detriment) don't do L plates. You can of course combine cheaper legs (eg Manfrotto, Slik, Feisol, Benro) with premium ballheads and plates.</p>

<p>Congratulations on your purchase. I really like my Mamiya 7, especially with the 43 mm - although I don't use it as much as I should; I took it to Cuba last year and, to my shame, didn't use it at all.<br>

I have a Kirk L plate on mine. The plate is well designed and there is easy access to the shutter-curtain control. The plate fits on the lefthand side of the camera and the curtain control is on the right. There is also access to the back lever and the battery compartment. So once it is on you don't really need to take it off, which is good as the strap needs to be attached to the plate.<br>

I recently purchased a Gitzo carbon fibre Traveller tripod (GK2580TQR). I have the plate adapter to take the L plate but it is a little tight. The tripod preformed well with a Canon 1Ds Mk III and 16-35 on top on my recent trip to see the Northern Lights although it did freeze up a little at minus 30-35!</p>

<p>Marc - I know that there is a search facility on photo.net - and often use it - but every now and then it is good to catch up on the latest thoughts from other photographers.</p>

<p>The Gitzo mountaineer would be my choice, if one is interested in making a one time, or long, long, time investment in a piece of equipment thats going to last and perform. That said, practice weighting the tripod head with your camera pack and strap, or find a means to loop a strap to hang around the tripod head. This acts as a damper, and if anything good piece of mind that any possible shake issue is pretty much extinguished. I prefer the collar leg locks, verses the lever type, because in the field hiking close to bushes, and low branches, and twigs, the lever type acts as a catch, whereas the collars have no way to grab anything. I also feel that ball heads are fast, and distribute weight, low and to the center of the entire tripod assembly.</p>

<p>F=MA<br>

If carbon fiber is such a great material for reducing vibrations in tripods, then how is it also such a great material for<strong> transmitting vibration</strong> in musical instruments? </p>

<p>Famous Photographer <a href="http://www.uelsmann.net/">Jerry Uelsmann</a> uses a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/286581-REG/Manfrotto_681B_3_Section_Monopod.html">monopd with a swivel head</a> with his Mamiya 7 when shooting landscapes.</p>

If you can afford the 7II, then you can afford the best - get a Gitzo that's the right height for you.

And when selecting a tripod that's the right height, don't count the centre column's extension.<br>That thing is only there to make small adjustments. Extending it more than just a bit will turn your tripod into a monopod.

And Tom is right: carbon fiber only has two things going for it: its strength for weight ratio. And that it's fashionable.<br>Apart from that, it only has qualities that may be nice for fishing poles and perhaps musical instruments (drums), but disadvantageous for tripods.<br>There are no two ways about it: a tripod needs mass to work. Light carbon fiber may be. And surprisingly hard to break. And that's perhaps perfect for making bicycles and such (though when carbon fiber breaks the shards are seriously dangerous). Not for making tripods. So unless you need to carry a tripod up the top of Everest - in which case the compromise isn't a bad one - get a nice heavy tripod.<br>A tripod needs to be stiff, have some structural strength. Carbon fiber tripods can be that. But not as well as good old, cheap, aluminium ones. So a second and third reason why you should not get a carbon fiber tripod.<br>You can add on mass later, but though hanging a bag filled with rocks below your tripod will prevent it being blown away by a bit of wind, it will not help improve the mass - and thus functional quality - of the tripod. That, because such a bag is not part of the tripod, but just a loose appendage.<br>Structural strength also entails being able to lock the moving bits securely, without play. And that's not something that carbon fiber tripods do any better than any other either (it's something that doesn't involve carbon fibre parts anyway, so not an opportunity to do it better than non-CF tripods to begin with).

<p>I have a Mamiya 7 Mk 1 and use the Manfrotto 190 Series 3 Section Carbon Fibre Tripod and find that it fits the bill for landscape both in the coutryside and in towns. Previosuly used Slik Black Diamond which was very heavy but very steady. <br>

I paired the Manfrotto with two of their heads, first the action grip which was fine but recently with a ball grip which is I think better as it does not creep in portrait mode which was a problem with the actoin grip.<br>

I am very happy with the 190 and the Mamiya 7 and can reccomend it.</p>