 |
Support Synergy...
Which Head & Legs are Right for You?
Selection of a support system stems from three inputs: personal bias, load, & surroundings—indoors or out, and, if afield, whether any special conditions might prevail (marsh, snow, height requirements, wind, etc).
Obviously, personal bias is variable. Some shooters opt for flyweight convenience; others opt to invest in just one head/leg setup beefy enough for their heaviest loads. We can't predict your personal bias or the environs in which you shoot, so that leaves only the load to consider.
Some Guidelines & Comments
- Make your support choices from top to bottom. The size and weight of your camera and lenses will direct your choice of ballhead (light, mid-sized, or full-sized), and the tripod you choose is influenced by which head you pick. Ideally, all components should complement each other.
- In choosing the right tripod legs for your ballhead, the rule of thumb used to be that the minimum leg mass ought to be ≈ 2½ times greater than the mass of the head (not including camera/lens). With today's high-performance carbon fiber models, you could arguably drop to ≈ 1½ times—assuming disciplined technique. But drop below this ratio, and you'll start off too top-heavy. For example, given your camera & lenses, you've chosen our BH-40 LR II ballhead. This ballhead weighs about 1.2 pounds, so at minimum you need a carbon fiber tripod that weighs 1.2 x 1.5 = 1.8 pounds. That means the lightest set of legs that you should be looking at is a GT1530 or GT1540 (these models weigh 2.5 pounds). How about a BH-55 LR ballhead on those legs? Not a good idea since the BH-55 LR requires a carbon fiber tripod that weighs at least 3 pounds.
- Favor 3 section/leg tripods—avoid 4 section/leg models for most applications. That spindly 4th leg section compromises rigidity when extended, and cinching an extra joint on each leg gets tedious.
- Consider that you really may need more than one head/leg setup if you shoot with both short lenses and “heavy artillery” (500mm-600mm), because the compromise implicit with a single setup is too severe.
Suggested solutions for a variety of loads:
|
Common Gear in this Category:
- Nikon D40/50/80 with kit lenses
- Canon Rebel XT/XTi with kit lenses
- Point-n-Shoot cameras
Support System Options:
- GT0530 with Really Right
Stuff BH-25
- GT1530 with BH-25 or BH-40 head
Shop for BH-25 Pro:
Shop for GT0530:
|
Common Gear in this Category:
- Nikon D200/D300
- Canon 30D/5D
- longest lens is a 70-200mm/f2.8,
300mm/f4, or 100-400mm/f4.5-5.6
Support System Options:
- GT1530/1540 with
Really
Right Stuff BH-40
- GT2330/2530/2540 with
BH-40/ BH-55
Shop for BH-40 LR:
Shop for GT1530:
Shop for GT2530:
|
|
Common Gear in this Category:
- Nikon D2/D3-series
- Canon 1D-series
- Medium format
- longest SLR lens
is a 400mm/f2.8 or 500mm/f4
Support System Options:
- GT3530/3530S/3530LSV or G1410 with
Really
Right Stuff BH-55 head
Shop for BH-55 LR:
Shop for GT3530S:
|
Common Gear in this Category:
- Nikon
D2/D3-series
- Canon 1D-series
- Medium
& Large format
- “heavy
artillery” 500mm-600mm
Support System Options:
- GT3530S/G1410 legs or RRS TP-243 Ground ‘Pod with
RRS BH-55
- full size Wimberley head
- Arca-Swiss B2 head for large format
Shop for BH-55 LR:
Shop for TP-243 tripod:
|
|
 |
Left: Ultra-Light Solution is our BH-25 Pro ballhead on GT1530 tripod—1.9 pounds.
Middle: Mid-Sized Solution is our BH-40 LR ballhead on GT2530 tripod—4.1 pounds.
Right: Full-Sized Solution is our BH-55 LR ballhead on GT3530S tripod—5.8 pounds. |
|
|
