leitz tiltall tripod

[tom_hipple]

There seems to be quite a few leitz tiltall tripods on e-bay all the time

 

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has anyone had any experance with them ..how good are they ect....

[andy_piper2]

Tilt-alls are very sturdy and very basic tripods, a little old-

fashioned to operate, sort of like the Leica. 8^) - I've had the

compact version with a removable head for 20 years or so. Leitz bought

the Tilt-all company in the early 70's - they'd been making tripods for

years before. I have no idea whether they are still in production - I

think Leitz sold the design to an English company some time in the 80s

and quit making them (?). Leitz versions are all black - the original

Tiltalls are usually silver.

 

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They have twist-lock 3-section legs, and two twist-locks on a neck at

the top, one for rotation and one to lock/unlock the center post. The

tilt head has two twist-lock lever arms - one for side-to-side tilt and

one to point the camera up and down. You have to unlock/lock the leg

sections in a specific order top to bottom, or the section you're

trying to adjust just twists without locking/unlocking. The legs ends

have big hemispherical rubber tips to protect floors, but by twisting

the tips you can extend threaded half-inch spikes for use on slopes or

slippery ground.

 

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I got the compact version for size, but I've found the removable head

to be very useful too. Despite the name the tilts are a little clumsy

on the normal head - you can only swing the camera counterclockwise for

verticals, and the aiming levers bump into the tripod base in some

configurations - so I often replace the standard head with a ball head,

which is much more flexible.

 

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The compact tripod, fully extended, lifts a 35mm camera finder just up

to my eye level (5 1/2 feet). The full-sized tripod extends about

another foot in total.

 

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I've never felt the need for any other tripod, even though some of the

rubber parts are starting to corrode on mine. The Tilt-all is turdy

enough for medium format, and I've used mine for compact 4x5s without a

problem on occasion.

[andy_piper2]

In the last paragraph that should obviously be STURDY (eeeek!).

[jackflesher]

Andy: I thought your originally posted adjective was a closer

description of its actual performance!!! I had one a long time ago

and got rid of it as IMO, it was nowhere near as good as a Gitzo -

but probably okay for smaller medium format cameras. BTW, mine was

blue anodized, not the usual black or silver - probably worth a

fortune now as a collector item!

[wilhelm]

It is the world's greatest tripod for 4x5 Speed Graphics and 16mm

Cine-Kodaks. They last forever and will continue working after

taking abuse that would turn a Gitzo into a pretzel. There is one

error in an earlier response; on the Leitz version, the rotation of

the head and clamp for raising/lowering the center column are

controlled by two handles (interchangable with the handles that

control pitch and yaw). They weich 6 pounds. For use with a Leica

they need a good ball head instead of the very excellent head

supplied.

[jay_.]

I had one a while ago, it is the only tripod I've ever sold. Mine

was the Leitz version, black, with knobs for pan and column-lift. I

didn't like that the head on mine was fixed to the center column and

the leg angles weren't adjustable. Mostly, the center column wobbled

and I found out that there was a thin piece of either cardboard or

felt inside the column tube that was supposed to act as like a

bearing race to prevent the wobble, and it had rotted out. I tried

unsuccessfully to substitute something for it. Finally a collector-

friend bought it despite the wobble...that was before the "re-issue",

now I think he's sorry he did.

[Rob F.]

The black tiltall is to be preferred to the bare aluminum one,

because the aluminum rubs off on your hands--or at least mine had

this problem. My hands were always filthy when using this tripod.

It's the main reason I got rid of it for a Bogen. The other thing

about it is that if the tilt knob is a bit looser than you thought,

and you have a heavy rig on it--especially with a long lens--the

tiltall is more apt than, say, a Bogen, to allow the camera to flop

forward, possibly doing some damage. It's because the camera

attachment point is higher above the pivot compared to many other

heads. This puts the center of gravity up higher, making the rig

less stable. The tightening collars on the legs are also harder to

deal with than the flip-locks on a Bogen, or even, IMHO, the collars

on a Gitzo.

[tom_hipple]

Thank you to all the people who have responded to my tiltall question.

[msitaraman]

Beware the current Tiltalls. Made in Taiwan, and using the original

design, but nowhere near as well made.

[alec1]

Look for an older, silver one with a Marchoni [sic] label. Had mine

since 1964. Never failed to work properly. I don't use it for

anything larger than a Crown Graflex though.

[Robin Smith]

The older ones are a good tripod. The head takes a little getting used

to. If you get a deal on it them it is a good buy. But a new Bogen is

just as good.