I'm thinking of getting a tripod (or asking my parents to buy me one for Christmas, since I'm a poor college student ), and would like some reccomendations. I'm considering some of the smaller Bogen models, but don't know how sturdy they are. I'll probably go with the 3047 head if I get a Bogen.

My requirements:

• Has to be able to hold up a Pacemaker Speed Graphic--- The $25 Wal*Mart clearance plastic tripod I use for my 35mm won't.
• Reasonably compact size and light weight--- I'm not going to be doing any long-distance hiking with it, but I'd like to keep it behind the seat of my pickup, and be able to carry it around without too much difficulty.
• Reasonable price--- I'd like to keep it under $200, if possible. Poor college student and all that.

So, what do y'all use?

I like my bogen 3020 with the joystick head. It will handle my Speed, my Hassy and is overkill for 35mm. It will go up to eye level (5ft +) and down to 6" if you remove the column. I beat mine up now for over 12 years and it's still reliable, and it's not much bigger than the Walmart tripods, and I think it fits all of your criteria. Repairs are cheap too.

I don't recomend the 3047 head with the Speed. The 3047 head mates well with the 3050 tripod. This thing is a brute. This is my 4x5 monorail,5x7,8x10 tripod. It's not something that you want to walk around with. If I had it to over again I'd get the geared mini head for this tripod.

This set up is overkill for a Speed Graphic. I look at my Crown as an overblown Hassy--mostly a point and shoot camera- very little movements so I can use the joystick and move every axis at once.

The mono rail 4x5 and the rest of my managerie are movement oriented cameras where I need to tweak one axis at a time and see the result.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Les on 2002-10-12 15:28 ]</font>

I use an old [1963] Tiltall. Still going strong. Plenty sturdy for the Graphic.

I can second Les's recommendation of the geared head. I've used nothing but the Bogen 410 Compact Gear Head (cat. #3275) with my Century, and it's the greatest. I'll never go back to those three-lever jobs. Pick up a copy of the Bogen-Manfrotto catalog for complete info on tripods and heads. Don't know if you can come in under $200 for a gear head and tripod combination, but it's worth a look.

What's the catalog number on the joystick head?

I've been going by the comparison charts on Calumet's website, which list all the smaller tripods and heads as suitable only for 35mm. How heavy is the typical 35mm camera these days? The only 35mm I've ever used is the Olympus OM1, which is on the small end of the spectrum, apparently.

I've decided on the 3021Pro legs, and 3055 Heavy Duty Ball Head.

Both are rated to hold 13 pounds, and my Speed Graphic weighs just a hair under 10lbs with flash and film holder. Not that I'm likely to use the Graflite much (see my post in Lenses about M-synch troubles), but it might be nice to use the Focuspot sometimes.

I had the same set up. The head weighs as much as the tripod. I finally dumped it in favor of the joystick head.

Would you like to test drive my old 3055? It's not a quick release but I've got a couple of plates for it.

Take Les up on his test drive offer before you spend your money.
I dumped a Bogen 3221 with 3055 head a while back; was fine for my Nikon F4 with big zoom but scared me with the Pacemaker 4X5 atop in the afternoon sea breeze that occurs daily here.
I now have a pair of Gitzo Studex and the taller of the two scares me also when fully extended (legs only) unless I spaead the legs to the first wide setting. It is a little more stable at all positions than the Bogen was. The entire top of the Bogen would twist when panning in some sistuations.
I.ve looked at carbon fiber in local stores but would not take one out to the coast as I might have to repell 500 feet down to the ocean to retrieve it.
I had an aluminum KMART special that dumped a Nikon FA with a large zoom one day. It hit on the head handle first, so it only scratched the top of the camera, and the weight of the lens bent the body mount ring out 1/4 inch. Got lucky. That is what moviated me to buy the Bogen.

Charles

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While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a quality photograph is worth a million.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2002-10-31 22:50 ]</font>

I just bought a Calumet Lightpro, which seems substantially heavier/sturdier than the Bogen 3021. Calumet is ending their house line of tripods, so the legs are marked down to $99 from $229. I'm not sure if their stuff is up to heavy professional use, but it seems fine for amateur use and has lots of nice features.

check on the Clearance section of their website.
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