M10 -what tripods do you use?

[Nordvik]

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Berlebach tripod. FLM ball head.

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[rent]

I have the RRS L-plate and grip on the M10. I carry an RRS TFA-01 Ultra + BC-18 head in my bag for any impromptu needs for support.

 

For planned shoots such as landscape or architecture, I use a Gitzo GT2542T + Arca Swiss Monoball P0.

 

The B&W night shot in the "Travel" section of the URL below are shot with the M10 and the TFA tripod.

 

Alex

Edited November 6, 2017 by rent

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[Bison]

I like my Gitzo g1126 mk2 with a small Gitzo ball head. It is a relic now that Gitzo doesn't seem to make aluminum tripods anymore, but it's not too heavy and is a nice size for an M kit. 

 

My much larger, carbon fiber Gitzo Mountaineer is fantastic, too, but is a bit overkill for the M10. It wears an Arca-Swiss Monoball Z1 up top. 

[stephan54]

I have the Gitzo small tripod some forum members showed in this thread together with a Markins M10 ballhead. Small but still not convenient to carry. Thinking about scaling down to a Leica table tripod with the long version of the Leica ballhead.

[Bison]

Thinking about scaling down to a Leica table tripod with the long version of the Leica ballhead.

 

 

Me too. I think having that little friend in the bag would be quite helpful.

[Tante Ilse]

I have two tripods in use, an older carbon Gitzo with a FLM ball head, and a Leitz Tiltall, which I recently found in mint condition. I now mostly use the Tiltall as I really love its solid but nevertheless lightweight construction. And I do not really like ballheads on long lenses, I prefer adjusting the two axis separately. Once the gear is adjusted horizontally I don't need to care about anymore.

Regarding Arca Swiss clamps...I have a RRS bottom plate fitted to my MM and so I bought some clamps and plates directly from Arca Swiss. They are nice, but when I got my first chinese clamps I noticed that their quality is absolutely comparable at 10% of the price.

[JoanP]

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I can recommend the Markin's ballhead as it is lighter weight, less expensive, and as strong as the RRS one. I've been using a Manfrotto CF CXpro tripod for quite a while. It's strong and lightweight. I like the phone of the desktop tripod and would like something small to carry like that. It looks pretty good.

[Desmoprem]

When photographing architecture or macro, I have a Manfrotto 290 Dual tripod with the Manfrotto 490 Junior Geared Head (3 axis geared tilt/pan).  I also use this when viewing the Sun with my little Coronado 40mm H-alpha solar telescope.  When shooting macro, I have a Manfrotto 454 Micrometric Positioning Sliding Plate to put on top of that for focusing.  For general uses, I have a Manfrotto BeFree.  (Why is a tripod needed when the ISO goes all of the way up to 50,000 you ask?)

Edited December 5, 2017 by Desmoprem

[Stonewall Brigade]

I use a Gitzo 0545T carbon fibre tripod:

 

20171030_231433.jpg

 

It came with an Arca-Swiss compatible ballhead and plate: 

 

20171030_231514.jpg

 

When it is folded, it is extremely light and compact. Just over 35cm (slightly more than 14 inches long!), and weighs just over 1kg. It supports 10kg of equipment, which is plenty for the M10. Yet it deploys to about 130cm and is plenty sturdy. 

 

20171030_231946.jpg

 

I could potentially save some weight by replacing the ballhead with something lighter. 

 

I have the same Gitzo tripod and head, and highly recommend it.

[jmahto]

I have M240 but my experience applies here. I use Manfrotto 055XPROB as most stable tripod for short walking distance. I carry it in the car if there are photographic opportunities. The reason I chose Manfrotto because it is very easy to disassemble and clean compared to the twist grip kind legs. I don't mind using it in harsh situations. See below:

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For travel I have Chinese made lightweight Afaith Q-666C which is good enough. I have used it in salt water and sand and have gone through disassembly and cleaning. Apart from finish quality it is good enough for travel. It may be upgraded to RRS TFC-14 if Santa is sappy with me.

 

For hiking use, I carry trailpix with home made legs. The entire thing with tiny ball head weighs 0.6lb and is good enough with wide lens. See below where I used it for slow speed to capture flowing water:

Edited December 6, 2017 by jmahto

[jkcampbell2]

I don't think the TFC-14 existed when I bought the TQC-14 years ago, or I likely would have gone with the former. No need for me to trade now, as both suffice for a small M, and the TVC-24L gives me a taller option without center column.

 

Jeff

 

FYI, you can change the TQC-14 to the TCF-14 by changing out the apex. I think it's about $70 from RRS.

 

[pgk]

I now have 7 Gitzos and 2 Millers . Actually old Gitzos make excellent easels but don't tell everyone .

[GRBrown]

I have the Gitzo small tripod some forum members showed in this thread together with a Markins M10 ballhead. Small but still not convenient to carry. Thinking about scaling down to a Leica table tripod with the long version of the Leica ballhead.

 

Stop thinking. Go buy the Leica tripod and ballhead. The combination also works great with the feet braced against one's chest.

[Paul925]

Stop thinking. Go buy the Leica tripod and ballhead. The combination also works great with the feet braced against one's chest.

 

...as well as up against any convenient vertical support, such as a tree, building, light pole, streetlamp, etc.

[250swb]

...as well as up against any convenient vertical support, such as a tree, building, light pole, streetlamp, etc.

 

If you have a tree, lamppost etc. on exactly the spot you would normally chose to take a snap from why would you need a tripod, wouldn't it be as effective to brace the camera against the tree? And then the mini tripod 'braced against one's chest' idea, so how about brace the camera against one's face? Really, you don't need a tripod if all you want to do is invalidate the function of a tripod, a bean bag is more useful. 

[pop]

... And then the mini tripod 'braced against one's chest' idea, so how about brace the camera against one's face? Really, you don't need a tripod if all you want to do is invalidate the function of a tripod, a bean bag is more useful. 

Bracing the table top tripod against your chest is more effective than bracing your camera against your face, if you do it properly. A bean bag would not be very useful for that purpose. Neither a bean bag nor a table top tripod will replace a tripod, but both can be useful to extend the range of situation where you can produce pictures with an acceptable amount of motion blur, and either is more readily portable than a heavy duty tripod.

 

Portability was the reason for one Oskar Barnack to construct a miniature camera.

[otto.f]

I have an old Gitzo Reporter which, as the name suggests clearly, I use merely at home.

I recently bought a Gitzo Systematic Series 3 (long) with a RRS ballhead. I'm not overly enthusiastic about this set. I find it a bit too long for hiking and for attaching it to my backpack. The RRS is very heavy. I decided to not cut on weight and this is a good principle; this is why I use my Reporter only at home, it is not stable and heavy enough in the field and this new set is. I would have wanted it a bit more handy for the hike though. 

[stephan54]

Stop thinking. Go buy the Leica tripod and ballhead. The combination also works great with the feet braced against one's chest.

 

The thinking stopped and the tripod has been delivered.. Tried it  out and will keep it, but when you have screwed on the head there is little friction between the ball head and the tripod base. So it comes loose quite easily thus I added a thin rubber ring that helps in fastening the head tighter.

Edited December 22, 2017 by stephan54

[M11 for me]

I have as well the Gitzo GT1545T with middle size Gitzo head (pre Arca Swiss). Generally I like the stand for its low weight. In very windy/stormy conditions it might be a bit critical and I don‘t use the middle element then even though the camera is low down unfortunately. The Berlebach would be the fine solution but I prefer lightweight.

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[ShivaYash]

I use Manfrotto BeFree Carbon with both my Leica and Nikon systems. The only modification I have done was changing the plate holder for an Area Swiss compatible one that I have found on Amazon.

How are you getting on with this tripod? I just got the Befree Al model, but it seems almost too lightweight.