Landscape photography: the point of using a tripod?

[kundalini]

^^ my bad.... should work now

 

[Josh66]

Looks like the same legs I have. Different head though.

 

[dxqcanada]

... Unless doing a long exposure...

You answered it right there.

Also, it does not take much to cause image bluring due to camera shake on long focal length lenses.

 

[eyeye]

What about a monopod? It will cut down on alot of shake, very very very lightweight. You can defend yourself against a mountain lion too

 

[dxqcanada]

A monopod is handy for stablization, as a walking stick, and yes ... to fend off animals.

I have a monopod for long distance treking.
I have my Manfrotto tripod for short treks.
I have a Cullman Magic tripod for when I am shooting mushrooms.

 

[usayit]

Nothing is more effective at obtaining a sharp photo than a tripod. Even at reasonable fast shutter speeds you can still see a difference between a photo handheld and a photo on a tripod.

My "normal" tripods are either a Bogen 3021 short with monopod center column and ball head or Bogen 3001 full height with 3-way pan. Both are heavy but very stable.

My alternates

Cullmann Magic 2. Not exactly sturdy but it packs very well and is pretty light.
2722 Magic 2

or

Gitzo monotrek 1560 walking stick and monopod w/ small ballhead. I often require extra help to navigate rough terrain so it doubles as a walking stick. I bring along some heavy duty rubber bands which can be used to strap the monopod to trees bushes and stuff. I can even "make" a tripod with a couple sticks strapped to the monotrek using the rubber bands.

http://www.gitzo.com/Jahia/site/git...KT1&actualPathCategoryKey=1CAT:AAA1:2CAT:BB34

There are so many options out there. You just need to find something that works. Some use small portables and others use clamps.

 

[anubis404]

The monopod or the mini tripod seem like a good idea. A monopod is definitely doable, although I'm liking the idea of a tripod more just because it slows down my pace of working. Maybe I need to get a lighter (and better) tripod. Or at least one that is better than my dad's ambico .

 

[Josh66]

Just get a strap for the one you have already (even if it doesn't have somewhere to attach it, with a little creativity - you'll figure something out).

But, if you have the money - by all means get a new one. Your old one will probably work just fine though.


Disclaimer
I'm not familiar with that tripod, so if it really does suck - ignore everything I just said.

 

[anubis404]

Well, it works. One of the arm keeps falling off, its a little heavy, its wobbly, and you can get it for about $30 online. But it works.

I'll think about getting a new one.

 

[xposurepro]

I would hope that the reason for bring a tripod is perfection .. before digital ISO 100 was even way to fast for many landscape shooters tastes.

 

[tirediron]

Both are equally important. When hiking up steep slopes for hours up a 5000 foot+ mountain, all while carrying a days worth of food, 2 liters of water (minimum), and medical supplies in California heat is not an easy task. Even though I try to exercise regularly, I am in by no means Schwarzenegger-shape. Keeping this in mind, I do not take kindly to being criticized for carrying something that is not going to make a huge difference. My glass is fast enough to handle doing hand-held landscapes. If a blade of grass or two is a little blurry, I'm not going to shoot myself.

You're confusing hiking and photography. If you're going out to photograph, then you take the gear for capturing photographs. For me, this involves at least one body, 2-6 lenses, filters, reflectors, grey-card, remote release and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS a tripod. When I'm going for landscape photographs, they are the object of the exercise, so if I need extra time to get say to the top of a ridgeline for sunrise, I'll leave earlier.

If I'm going hiking, then I'll throw my old D70 with it's equally old 18-70 in the bottom of my backpack and off I go. Then the exercise is hiking, and if I see something I want to take a picture of, then I take a picture, not a photograph.

As far as the weight issue goes, the Manfrotto 055CX and 488 ballhead together weigh less than five pounds. If you can't add that to your pack...

 

[tirediron]

I would hope that the reason for bring a tripod is perfection .. before digital ISO 100 was even way to fast for many landscape shooters tastes.

:thumbup: A moment of silence for Kodak Ektar 25!

 

[dxqcanada]

A moment of silence for Kodak Panatomic X ...

 

[sabbath999]

A moment of silence for Kodak disc film

 

[dxqcanada]

Hmm, I think that film format should have been silenced long ago.

Long live 110 !!