Tripod recommendations for Leica S 006

[Jeff S]

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40 minutes ago, Stuart Richardson said:

Another thing in favor for the Riis (at least in terms of view cameras) is that the big flat head has just so much more contact area that it keeps everything a lot more stable. I tried using the Riis legs with Arca Swiss style plates and the BH55, and while it worked and was still a solid combo, the Riis head was a lot more stable. The tripod plate and clamp style holds the camera very securely in place, but it inherently allows for more flexion in the system. The big flat tripod plate on the Riis head means that the surface to surface contact area is much larger, and of course it makes the whole system better coupled. I found dramatically less sway and movement in wooden view cameras. Obviously the S is a lot stiffer than they are, but every bit helps. Personally, I think the Riis style of leg adjustments and knobs are not too friendly on the hands and rather awkward in comparison to any aluminum or carbon fiber legs, but in terms of stability, it is way ahead of the game. I found it was even more stable than my studio stand, which is about 2m tall and at least 50kg. Despite the weight, however the t shaped designed is inherently unstable in comparison to a rock solid set of wooden tripod legs. So now when I need to do macro work (especially on 4x5) or multishot work, I will use the Riis if I can. Don't get me wrong, however, it is a fool's errand to carry it more than a few hundred meters.

Jacob Riis was a Danish-American photographer (who did use a 4x5), but the tripods are by the Ries, not Riis, brothers. 

https://www.riestripod.com/about-ries-wooden-tripods/history

But I agree with your assessment. Back in the day I used one for 4x5, and later added a Zone VI wooden tripod, which was somewhat lighter.  Wood is much nicer to the touch in the cold, in addition to providing a stable platform.  But my large format days are over, so the big wooden pods are gone.  IBIS on the SL2 has almost gotten me out of tripod use altogether.

Jeff

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[Stuart Richardson]

I teach photobook history and How the Other Half Lives as part of it, so that has probably spoiled me here. My apologies. Ries!

I have gone the other way with stabilization. While I think it is helpful for handheld work and especially for framing long lenses, I have not seen any massive gains in stability at normal speeds. I also occasionally get odd areas of unsharpness that I am suspicious might be from movement of the sensor. I suspect that with a good tripod, a sensor without stabilization is more stable, unless the stabilized sensors can truly lock themselves out from all motion. Perhaps this is me being a luddite, but I swear that I will occasionally find small sections of the image on the SL2 that are unsharp when the rest is very sharp, and it is not consistent in the way that would indicate to me that it was a lens problem, so some sort of stabilization error seems most plausible to me. It could, however, be a strange lens effect though (I say strange, because a photo will be sharp on center, sharp on the edges, but have a band in between that is slightly less sharp).

[Jeff S]

Strange, I haven’t noticed that using my SL2 with SL75, 24-90 or 90-280.  I enjoy handheld photography whenever I can do it without sacrificing print quality, and that’s probably assisted by modest print sizes and not very long exposures. I have a benign tremor in one hand, so the SL2, my first camera with stabilization, is a marvel. My M bodies are lately used handheld only, so not even my smaller tripods (RRS, Gitzo) are getting used. Heck, during Covid, none of my gear is seeing much action.

Jeff

Edited November 27, 2020 by Jeff S

[helged]

16 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

I teach photobook history and How the Other Half Lives as part of it, so that has probably spoiled me here. My apologies. Ries!

I have gone the other way with stabilization. While I think it is helpful for handheld work and especially for framing long lenses, I have not seen any massive gains in stability at normal speeds. I also occasionally get odd areas of unsharpness that I am suspicious might be from movement of the sensor. I suspect that with a good tripod, a sensor without stabilization is more stable, unless the stabilized sensors can truly lock themselves out from all motion. Perhaps this is me being a luddite, but I swear that I will occasionally find small sections of the image on the SL2 that are unsharp when the rest is very sharp, and it is not consistent in the way that would indicate to me that it was a lens problem, so some sort of stabilization error seems most plausible to me. It could, however, be a strange lens effect though (I say strange, because a photo will be sharp on center, sharp on the edges, but have a band in between that is slightly less sharp).

My experience as well. Usually things work (very) well, but sometimes some of photos show slight unsharpness. Possibly due to body/lens stabilisation. I therefore always switch off stabilisation when using tripod. 

[Jeff S]

2 hours ago, helged said:

My experience as well. Usually things work (very) well, but sometimes some of photos show slight unsharpness. Possibly due to body/lens stabilisation. I therefore always switch off stabilisation when using tripod. 

I thought Stuart was referring to unsharpness handheld, not on tripod.

Jeff

[Stuart Richardson]

I was thinking of both, but it is more noticeable on a tripod, because everything should be nice a solid. On the positive side, I think I have also noticed times, like in heavy winds, where the stabilization helps even with a tripod.

[lx1713]

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On 11/27/2020 at 6:57 AM, Stuart Richardson said:

Another thing in favor for the Riis (at least in terms of view cameras) is that the big flat head has just so much more contact area that it keeps everything a lot more stable. I tried using the Riis legs with Arca Swiss style plates and the BH55, and while it worked and was still a solid combo, the Riis head was a lot more stable. The tripod plate and clamp style holds the camera very securely in place, but it inherently allows for more flexion in the system. The big flat tripod plate on the Riis head means that the surface to surface contact area is much larger, and of course it makes the whole system better coupled. I found dramatically less sway and movement in wooden view cameras. Obviously the S is a lot stiffer than they are, but every bit helps. Personally, I think the Riis style of leg adjustments and knobs are not too friendly on the hands and rather awkward in comparison to any aluminum or carbon fiber legs, but in terms of stability, it is way ahead of the game. I found it was even more stable than my studio stand, which is about 2m tall and at least 50kg. Despite the weight, however the t shaped designed is inherently unstable in comparison to a rock solid set of wooden tripod legs. So now when I need to do macro work (especially on 4x5) or multishot work, I will use the Riis if I can. Don't get me wrong, however, it is a fool's errand to carry it more than a few hundred meters.

I've not heard anyone use a Riis for more than a decade and only for view cameras 😀 I got 2 Berlebachs instead but my needs is more modest. I have to agree about weight being an important factor. I had to shoot on thickly carpeted concert halls moving from location to location, wooden tripods stabilise faster than the lighter weight carbons. The Berlebachs are lovely tripods. The Riis I only know from legend 😊

[Jeff S]

5 hours ago, lx1713 said:

I've not heard anyone use a Riis 

Nobody has... post #21.

Jeff

[davidmknoble]

I have been using a Gitzo series 3 with the S007 (and the three inch spikes because I'm in a lot of sand), and it is rock solid.  The carbon fiber isn't too heavy.  I have a Colorado tripod on order, but not sure when it will come in. It's a series 5, so when I get it I'll compare the weights.   I did just shoot last weekend in some rather rough wind and had I used a lighter tripod or one with smaller diameter legs, I'm sure I would not have gotten the shot.  I even tried the eight exposure in camera compost in the SL2 and it was blurry.  I know this is S, but mine is having a CLA, but the SL2 has an equally sensitive pixel size.  This was with the R APO 280mm f/2.8 and an APO 1.4x extender, at f/2.8 (f/3.5 converted). (2048 pixels, sorry was what I had exported). Click to get full rez.

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