dmcphoto
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 Re: Does one really need a travel tripod? and some suggestions. | |
I suppose over 95% of my photography is done when traveling. If I had a less sturdy "travel tripod" it would be the one I'd use for nearly everything, including my rarest and best photo opportunities.
Because of that I've never had or even considered a travel tripod. Right now I use a RRS TVC-33 with a RRS BH-55 head for almost everything. Before that I used (and still have) the Gitzo carbon fiber equivalent of its day (a G1325 MK II) and a Kirk BH-1 ball head. Before that I had a similarly sized Gitzo aluminum tripod and a very large Foba Superball head. These have gone to every place I've ever been, domestic or foreign, over a 40+ year period.
Sure it's a bit of a hassle to travel and hike long distances with a full sized tripod and large ball head, but that's nothing compared to being someplace special and having your tripod vibrating in the wind or otherwise deficient. Each of these has gone on some long hikes, none of which has killed me yet.
I said "nearly everything" above because I've always used an enormous Gitzo 500 series tripod with a Wimberley gimbal head for supertelephoto work. It's ancient now but it's the sturdiest and most vibration free camera platform I've seen or used. It's heavy and the leg diameter is much larger than the RRS TVC-33. Like my RRS tripod there are only 3 leg sections they are longer. I'll carry this with the other necessary stuff a couple miles if I have to, but definitely not on long hikes. This has a hard case for air travel, but when traveling domestically I drive unless there's some reason not to.
The only reason I've come up with to not drive to domestic locations is that a location is more than 3 days drive away and I just don't want to do that or I don't have the extra time for the round trip.
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