rod_sainty2

Garrett, thanks for your advice. Can you describe your test results

with handholding the 300mm through the 1/30 to 1/2 sec range? Were

you using the G1325? Do you see a reduction in vibration between the

carbon fibre and a metal unit of similar size? I visited the local

Gitzo distributor and was impressed with the quality, but haven't run

any test with film yet.

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Regards, Rod.

Thanks, Steve, for your reply. Unfortunately the new 300mm is not an

option for me. The local distributor quoted me $A 4400 ($US 2200),

that's why I went ahead with the old model. (I did not think to go

shopping internationally via the www, an oversight, but I didn't

think even the best deal could discount it sufficiently to make it

affordable for me).

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You wrote: "There is no tripod that I know of that can handle this

lens at eye level in the bad shutter speed ranges. But it seems that

most tripods do well with this lens when the legs are not extended."

Well, what I have discovered is that not even the big wooden Ries

A100 with no leg extension could eliminate the shutter vibration (at

least by itself, without trying a telephoto support bracket as well)

at the 1/30-1/2 sec range. My two-shot trial of holding the camera

while pressing the cable release didn't make the shots sharp either.

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The dealer had run out of Manfrotto 055 (=Bogen 3021) legs to test. I

will do so ASAP. The question I now have is whether it would do as

well as the 075 (=3036), saving me some weight. Has anyone used that

tripod, perhaps with a telephoto support, successfully??

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For years I have admired Yoshikazu Shirakawa's sharp double-spread

shots of Mt Everest and other mountains in his 1971 book "Himalayas",

which is 12"x17" closed. He lists the 300mm in his arsenal, and the

opening double-spread shot of Everest at sunset from Gokyo would have

needed it for the field of view shown. The caption dates it as sunset

on New Year's Day 1969 - that means he used the early P67 model

without MLU (He acknowledges support from Asahi management, he must

have obtained the gear in 1968). His portrait in the back shows him

standing behind a P67 with 55mm f3.5 on a not-too-big tripod with a

geared centre column with what looks like a Gitzo lock on it. Of

course, for many of the shots he could have been resting the camera

and lens on rocks!

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I appreciate that the gear will have limitations - but others have

worked around them very successfully - my task now is to learn how.

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Regards, Rod.

Just to add, my main interest at the moment is building up a

portfolio of landscape and portraits for possible stock and print

sales. I am aware that it's possible to handhold the 300mm at fast

shutter speeds -in fact it was Marc Muench's full-page shot at 1/250

sec, hand-held, in Pop Photo, Nov 1999, that finally sold me on the

lens, that, and needing more reach than my 165 f2.8.

Hi Steve and friends,

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I am in protracted decision mode re finding a stable but not excessively heavy tripod for my 300mm lens (not the new ED 300)and would welcome any advice from those with experience who have gone down this path before me!

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To date, I have shot four rolls of E100VS film trying to find a tripod / head combination that will squelch the P67's shutter vibration at 1/30-1/2 sec speeds when using the 300mm, MLU, and long cable release. My target was a shopsign across the street from the photo dealer, which included a finely detailed filigree rose pattern. I was on a hard tiled surface, out of the wind. I used the Bogen hex plate with the flat base, and the dealer properly mounted each head using the screws where appropriate.

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These are the leg / head combinations I tested: Manfrotto 075/029 (=Bogen 3036/3047)using 1 leg section extension, same combo using no leg extension, Ries A100 (wood)legs with no extension / M 029(= B 3047)head, Manfrotto 075/229 (= Bogen 3036/3039 (no extension), and lastly, the Manfrotto 075/410 (=Bogen 3036/3275) jnr geared head (no extension).

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I have to report that all the shots between 1/30 and at least 1/2 sec were soft when examined at 10X. This was particularly disappointing with the wooden Ries A100, which Ries state as 16 pound in weight and designed for 8x10 cameras, with a 6 inch diam cast plate on top. It felt dead when I was looking through the 300mm and tapping the legs, noticably more so than the 075/029 (3036/3047). Yet the sharpness with the Ries was no better than with the Manfrotto. The result at 1/2 sec with the Ries was slightly better than the Manfrottto, but still soft. In practice, I would still have to avoid that speed.

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Some further information: With the 1 leg extension test on the Manfrotto, the shot at 1/60 sec was also soft. The test with the 229(=3039) 3D Pro head was done only at 1/60 and 1/30 sec and was slightly worse than the less expensive 029 (=3047)result at 1/30. This must be due to the main support brace being at the front of the 029 (=3047) rather than at the rear as on the 229(=3039). The jnr geared head is a great design with a nice plate, but gave results significantly softer than the 029 (=3047).

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At least I now know that I don't have to heft the A100 around the trails! But I'm not really sold on the 075, either. It's nice and tall (I'm 6ft, 3inches) but I don't like the centre column and the bracing frippery. I like the Manfrotto 055 (=Bogen 3021) but think it's probably too light. (Is it any worse in actual shooting?) Gitzo is not represented well in the shops here in Australia (actually you hardly ever see them), so I don't have any real idea of their line, except for the 525 I played with recently.

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I'm more or less resigned to the 075/029 (=3036/3047)and avoiding the 1/30 to 1/2 sec range, perhaps trying the manfrotto telephoto lens support bracket 293. Now I know why the three 300mm shots in Kathleen Norris Cook's portfolio in Pop Photo, Aug 98, were 10 sec at f45, 1 sec at f32, and 3 sec at f45!

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Does anyone have further thoughts??