Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/01/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Bernard wrote: > > > Ted Grant wrote: > > > May I suggest, "we use or not to use tripods if and when it is > > necessary!" > > But.... can you define "necessary". And when the moment comes when it's > necessary, please do tell us...... what's the best material for a > tripod, ey Ted? > There is no one best material for a tripod, and there is no one best tripod. The perfectly stiff and lightweight tripod would transmit a camera's vibrations unchanged to the ground. Yet if you are on soft ground, the ground itself is a great damping material and hence this is just fine. This same tripod mounted to a rigid support might not be the best. One could easily use gel pads under the legs however. A perfectly damping tripod would likely weigh much more than a tripod otherwise able to support the same weight. So there are tradeoffs like everything in life. Wood, aluminum and carbon fiber, all are excellent materials. So is magnesium and titanium. All have been and still are used for planes, bikes, tennis rackets and golf clubs. I believe carbon fiber has the highest stiffness to weight ratio. Perhaps titanium has the highest stiffness to volume/surface area ratio. Wood is terrific for the price with the added benefit of ease of machinability. Aluminum obviously has its own benefits (low cost, excellent strength, easily machined). Carbon fiber and wood have the property of dampening mid frequency vibrations while transmitting low frequency vibrations (otherwise they wouldn't be stiff). Adding external mass helps to damp such low frequency vibrations. A viscoelastic gel pad can be very effective at damping mid frequency vibrations. Combining the two would seem to be the best. I one were seriously interested in this one could fashion a viscoelastic plate which would mount between the tripod head and camera mounting plate. Whether this is or isn't worthwhile depends alot on what you are taking pictures of. If you would be satisfied with the quality of the pictures taken handheld if there were enough light, then getting involved in this is just nonsense. On the other hand if you are for some reason interested in eaking out the ultimate in performance for a particular lens, camera, film, and tripod system then there is some work to be done actually measuring and damping vibrations. For me, 95% of the time I shoot handheld and hold my breath, steady my hands and 'click' in low light situations. For that other 5% of the time this is an interesting topic :-) Jonathan Borden