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miken
Mar 10, 2006, 3:05 PM
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Registered: Aug 27, 2005
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Does anyone take a tripod while climbing? This is obviously a broad and open-ended question. I will take a tripod on hikes when one of my goals is to get certain shots. However, I have debated taking one on alpine routes, multi-day trips, ice climbing, etc. Some scenarios make the decision to take one really hard... such as trying to pare down weight on a big mountain. Problem is there are certain shots that you just cannot get without a tripod, ie low light or nighttime shots, water movement, etc. I have a Rebel XT and a light Carbon Fiber tripod with ballhead. As light as the setup might be, it still adds 7 or 8 lbs, which is not insignificant. I find that I end up taking shots that lack something. I'm usually out there just snapping quick shots of people/scenes without much thought. I guess the goal in those cases is to climb and not take pics. What are other people's thoughts?
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rock_fencer
Mar 10, 2006, 4:33 PM
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ya i have the same dilema when i go backpacking. I usually wind up passing on it and foregoing the special shots or proping up on a rock or tree branch. Its not just weight you have to think about, its about how much is your journey a photography expedition or a climbing journey. If your specifically going out to shoot then you might want to drag it along, if you find yourself just snapping shots on the go, then leave it at home and improvise.
my 2 cents.
When i do take my camera its a telescope lens, standard lens, and a macro plus tripod so it adds 10 lbs easy.
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organic
Mar 10, 2006, 4:47 PM
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Registered: Jul 16, 2003
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In reply to: Does anyone take a tripod while climbing? This is obviously a broad and open-ended question. I will take a tripod on hikes when one of my goals is to get certain shots. However, I have debated taking one on alpine routes, multi-day trips, ice climbing, etc. Some scenarios make the decision to take one really hard... such as trying to pare down weight on a big mountain. Problem is there are certain shots that you just cannot get without a tripod, ie low light or nighttime shots, water movement, etc. I have a Rebel XT and a light Carbon Fiber tripod with ballhead. As light as the setup might be, it still adds 7 or 8 lbs, which is not insignificant. I find that I end up taking shots that lack something. I'm usually out there just snapping quick shots of people/scenes without much thought. I guess the goal in those cases is to climb and not take pics. What are other people's thoughts?
Most of the weight is in the camera, so the question should be "should I take my camera"...
My tripod weighs 1lb if that
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outsane
Mar 11, 2006, 6:02 AM
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Registered: Feb 1, 2006
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i bought one of those for a buddy...
great little tripod.. even has strap to slig it to a tree!
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brent_e
Mar 11, 2006, 6:26 AM
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Registered: Dec 15, 2004
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In reply to: In reply to: Does anyone take a tripod while climbing? This is obviously a broad and open-ended question. I will take a tripod on hikes when one of my goals is to get certain shots. However, I have debated taking one on alpine routes, multi-day trips, ice climbing, etc. Some scenarios make the decision to take one really hard... such as trying to pare down weight on a big mountain. Problem is there are certain shots that you just cannot get without a tripod, ie low light or nighttime shots, water movement, etc. I have a Rebel XT and a light Carbon Fiber tripod with ballhead. As light as the setup might be, it still adds 7 or 8 lbs, which is not insignificant. I find that I end up taking shots that lack something. I'm usually out there just snapping quick shots of people/scenes without much thought. I guess the goal in those cases is to climb and not take pics. What are other people's thoughts? Most of the weight is in the camera, so the question should be "should I take my camera"... My tripod weighs 1lb if that
Organic,
Your tripod may weight this much, but if you use a large camera (you aren't, i presume?) you really need more support(with big lenses). I think the "rule" is that your support should weight at least twice that your camera does, or something to that tune. I guess the difference is no one really takes HUGE lenses to an alpine climb.
2 cents
Brent
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anykineclimb
Mar 11, 2006, 8:00 AM
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Registered: Mar 30, 2003
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those little mini tripods rock!
they're nice and light and like isaacct mentioned you can strap it to a tree or a picket or an axe. You can even hand it off the wall with a sling as lonf at its not totally vertical
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deepplaymedia
Mar 13, 2006, 8:03 AM
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"should weight at least twice that your camera does,"
shit i hope not!! my F4s with a 300mm on it...thats errr... i dont know how much but im sure as hell not carrying THAT tripod!!
in answer to the original question- yes, absolutely. more so when shooting walls or mountains, because thats when the bigger lenses come out more often and so it's pretty much a necessity to ensure sharp images.
having said that though, i dont take anything more than a happysnap P&S digi (about 250 grams!! superheavy man) when im climbing- if im taking my 'real' rig it means im going exclusively to shoot...
if you want to get great photos and concentrate on climbing well at the same time, i don't know... but good luck with that!!
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brent_e
Mar 13, 2006, 3:49 PM
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In reply to: "should weight at least twice that your camera does," s--- i hope not!! my F4s with a 300mm on it...thats errr... i dont know how much but im sure as hell not carrying THAT tripod!! in answer to the original question- yes, absolutely. more so when shooting walls or mountains, because thats when the bigger lenses come out more often and so it's pretty much a necessity to ensure sharp images. having said that though, i dont take anything more than a happysnap P&S digi (about 250 grams!! superheavy man) when im climbing- if im taking my 'real' rig it means im going exclusively to shoot... if you want to get great photos and concentrate on climbing well at the same time, i don't know... but good luck with that!!
What tripod are you using now, though? something in the 13XX series or similar? I've seen some measurebators take tripods, ballheads, and lenses (like the 300 f/4 AFS) and show how poor support gives motion blur. Bjorn Rorslette and Thom Hogan, for example, have emphasized this point, Bjorn giving examples of crappy mounts causing blur (300 f/4). This is only occuring that critical shutter range, though, which is I think about 1/10th to 1/60th of a second. These are the guys that gave the rule of 1.5 times the weight of your camera + lense. It sounds crazy, but I would tend to trust what they say! :D
Best
Brent
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pico23
Mar 13, 2006, 5:12 PM
Post #10 of 15
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Registered: Mar 14, 2003
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In reply to: In reply to: In reply to: Does anyone take a tripod while climbing? This is obviously a broad and open-ended question. I will take a tripod on hikes when one of my goals is to get certain shots. However, I have debated taking one on alpine routes, multi-day trips, ice climbing, etc. Some scenarios make the decision to take one really hard... such as trying to pare down weight on a big mountain. Problem is there are certain shots that you just cannot get without a tripod, ie low light or nighttime shots, water movement, etc. I have a Rebel XT and a light Carbon Fiber tripod with ballhead. As light as the setup might be, it still adds 7 or 8 lbs, which is not insignificant. I find that I end up taking shots that lack something. I'm usually out there just snapping quick shots of people/scenes without much thought. I guess the goal in those cases is to climb and not take pics. What are other people's thoughts? Most of the weight is in the camera, so the question should be "should I take my camera"... My tripod weighs 1lb if that Organic, Your tripod may weight this much, but if you use a large camera (you aren't, i presume?) you really need more support(with big lenses). I think the "rule" is that your support should weight at least twice that your camera does, or something to that tune. I guess the difference is no one really takes HUGE lenses to an alpine climb. 2 cents Brent
Old school rule. Galen Rowell was a huge fan of the ultralight carbon pods. for fast and light trips. he also was a fan of shorter tripods when weight was an issue. again general rule with tripods is they should come to eye level WITHOUT raising the center post.
i don't have the cash for a carbon tripod but a cheapo aluminum with a hook at the bottom can do a good job for fast and light. you attach weight to the hook helping to stabilize the tripod. if I am going fast and light I typically and not using my 2.8s. I've always been a fan of having two lens systems (f4 and a faster setup)one for situations where you want and SLR without the weight and the other where optical quality and speed are the only factors that matter.
so for backcountry I take either a lightweight aluminum or a Ultrapod II pictured above. The lightweight aluminum takes better photos than no tripod at all and i use a few tricks to maxumize it's usefulness. The UP II comes with me on just about every trip I carry a camera and it is stable enough to take sunrise and sunset shots with good sharpness. it can be attached to a tree, fire tower, ice axe, hiking pole, piton, etc with the strap and take excellent shots that even a standard tripod can't take. if nothing else it's a few ounces that works well for group shots.
another thing to note is that using a self timer or cable release (or both) really helps. For scenics all my newer pentax bodies have mirror lockup in the two second timer mode. So I mount a cable release and then fire the two second timer. This gives me perfect sharpness if I do everything right (focus, DOF, wait for the breeze to stop blowing, ect)
for everything else I use my big bogen 3221W not many sturdier tripods for under $200. with the head it weights about 9lbs so you can guess it doesn't see the backcountry unless photography is the only goal or I am paddleling.
bottom line is it's better to go light with a tripod then none at all. take whatever fits the trip and try to work around the short comings using cable releases and mirror lockups or using shutter speeds that are less prone to mirror shake.
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tgreene
Mar 13, 2006, 5:30 PM
Post #11 of 15
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Registered: Oct 22, 2003
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My tripod is a heavy duty Bogen-3010, so I generally carry my Groschupp GCS-1800 telescoping monopod instead.
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esibnitsud
Apr 5, 2006, 1:34 AM
Post #12 of 15
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Registered: Apr 4, 2006
Posts: 35
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I go out on solo hikes and whatnot so i find a tripod essential if i want a human element in an image. With that said i have a bogen 30lb10oz with a pistol grip and i just strap it on. Grin and bear it. I think im gonna have to get one of those mini pods though it looks REAL nice. Would save me alot of wieght and room.
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tradmanclimbs
Apr 5, 2006, 2:38 AM
Post #13 of 15
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Registered: Apr 24, 2003
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My Tripod is a bogen w/ ball mount. probobly at least 25lbs??? Wimpy tripods and big lenses =lens shake. The new age solution is to leave the tripod at home and cary IS lenses. they actually do work!!! I belive that nikon calls them VR lenses. No experience with the nikon varrity but my canon 70-200 F2.8 w/1.4 converter is an IS and I also have a 70-300 IS lens. canon also makes 17-85IS and 28-105? IS. I am definatly hooked on the system. Even at 1,000th w/ a 300mm you can get lens shake if you hand hold. I also use a P&S for climbing unless working.
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tradmanclimbs
Apr 5, 2006, 2:46 AM
Post #14 of 15
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Registered: Apr 24, 2003
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I would like a mini pod for the P&S. that it what its intended for. Can't quite pictuer a mini pod doing much with a 1D and any kind of big glass???
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miken
Apr 5, 2006, 1:43 PM
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Registered: Aug 27, 2005
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Just got a Unipod II. It is very light and seems like it would handle a DSLR with a small lens. I think I would be a little weary of putting a heavy SLR with a big telephoto on it, however. I have a Rebel XT and Tamron 18-200. The combo is relatively light and I would trust the Unipod with this, but not much heavier.
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