Small tripod........

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Does anyone keep a small tabletop tripod in their Leica-m bag? I'm trying to find a decent one. The Leitz folding one seems good, but it's a lot of money for such a simple thing. But then again, so is everything from Leica.

Any other suggestions?

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), July 16, 2001

Answers

Hi Josh

I have a Minolta tabletop tripod (around same size & shape as the Leica, but head is fixed) bought this some 20 years ago, for around US$50, very solid & light weight. If this is still avaleable this is a good one

Kaj

-- Kaj Froling (saluki@mail.tele.dk), July 16, 2001.


I like the Minolta tripod, too. But I've stopped using it because to an X-ray machine it looks like a pistol in my hand luggage, requiring complete unpacking each and every time at the airport.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), July 16, 2001.

I have a whole bunch of small table top tripods

What do I carry these days ? When I go out with my Leica R, I put the Taiwan three section table top in my cargo pant pocket; if I go out with a Minox 35, I use the smallest Optrex 5 section ball head mini table top

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 16, 2001.


I use the Manfrotto tabletop tripod w. #342 ball-head. All metal and has served me well for 3-4 years.

-- Niels H. S. Nielsen (nhsn@ruc.dk), July 16, 2001.

The Leica large B&S head is by far the best small head around. I have used it to hold an R3 with 90 Summicron with no problem. For legs the Manfrotto work great and are 1/5 the price of the Leica legs.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), July 16, 2001.


I use the Leitz/Leica tabletop tripod and ball head which I purchased very reasonably used. If you want a new or mint in box ones then they are expensive. One that has been used and knocked about is not that expensive at all.

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), July 16, 2001.


The Canon table-top tripod as actually nicer than the Leitz model because the legs swing around to set stops so it opens a lot quicker. It's also a *lot* less expensive. However the ballhead is a joke, you can move it with your hand even fully locked. Luckily it unscrews and you can attach the ballhead of choice. My choice in new ballheads would be the Slik Compact which is the strongest for the money. I find the current Leica ballhead too tall on the table tripod, it doesn't fit in my pockets, and it's ridiculously overpriced, much more so than the tripod itself. In used ballheads the short KGOON or 14121 are the most useful, as they have both 1/4" and 3/8" reversible on both top and bottom. You can not use the current Leica ballhead on a Manfrotto table-top, as the ballhead has a 1/4" female thread and the Manfrotto a 3/8" stud, unless they re- thread one or the other, but that tripod is the smallest I've come across that holds a decent-sized camera. The drawback is the legs are all the same length so a camera with a longer lens tends to tip over.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), July 16, 2001.

I just wanna mention it because nobody else has. My favourite top part is the Profi Ballhead II from Linhof.

Mike

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), July 16, 2001.


I find that a small studio clamp with a light ball-head attached offers more flexibility than a tabletop tripod. (You can clamp it to a table, a post, a chair a partially rolled down car window, etc.) It is also typically much lighter, more compact and less costly.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), July 16, 2001.

I like the clamp also (I've got a Bogen Super-Clamp with an unknown ballhead permanently attached to it, which is what I use at wildlife preserves where there's a wooden boardwalk with a railing). But you can't brace one against a doorjamb or wall or treetrunk, and clamping it to my chest is a bit more masochism than I'm into, so I still advocate the table tripod, even if you have a camera clamp too.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), July 16, 2001.


And the other half of the answer is no, I do not normally keep it in my bag unless I know in advance I'm going to have a ggod chance of needing it.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), July 16, 2001.

I bought my Leitz one in 1985 and it is still fantastic .Yes it is expensive but worth every cent.You will have it for a long time.I also have a Linhof head and 2 linhof cameras but i don't like the head at all. My large leitz head holds my Linhof 23b without problems in a horizontal plane.And a Blad is easy even with a 250mm so if all you shoot is 35mm and below the 180mm f2 then you will LOVE this head.I wish they made a larger version for my Technica v

-- Tim (timphoto@ihug.com.au), July 21, 2001.

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