Returning to Analog Large Format: The Big Shop

[Lam-Bartll]

My choice for a large, sturdy, and cheap tripod was a vintage aluminum Tiltall. It's much more stable than my compact Manfrotto travel tripod. I'm able to use a 300mm f/4 Canon FD lens on it with a teleconverter and gimbal. That would be about 5 pounds with the camera. They go for a little under $100. It doesn't have all the fancy features of a newer model.

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I have this Tiltall as well and I'd definitely recommend it. It can handle my Horseman 45HF easily and I am normally do a decent distance hike with it on my back.

 

[Grafmatic]

When apples to oranges are compared it's no wonder people get dissatisfied with their tripod choice. I don't know how Tiltall became a star of this thread and I have no idea what they deliver with current design/manufacturing. Back in Tiltall's original days of stardom, I could not find a single reason to buy one over a Bogen. Today there are so many great tripod choices at all price points and sizes, it's impossible not to find the right one.

I suggested earlier the carbon Innorel which to me, especially with bowl head, is one of the best compromises on the market today. This especially so for heavy gear, LF etc. If anything beefier is needed, its larger cousin, the RT90C is the way to consider.

I dont understand bowl heads well except that they seem to be mainly intended for video (which I don't do). I don't want a fluid or ball head.
The Tiltall seems to have good balance between height, structural quality, and weight. They are also plentiful on the used market. It seems to be the Volkswagen Beetle of tripods.
There are many tripods indeed but the herd thins out quickly above about 60" as far as affordability. Plenty of choices at $600 and up. Hard to find specs on used or discontinued models. I started a thread on the topic that even I am tired of.

 

[DF]

Hello… Still a noob here… for anybody who hasn’t seen my posts, I am a former and soon to be returning large format, sheet film photographer.
I am in the process of figuring out what’s out there and how cheap I can get it for. I’ve got the camera on order: Intrepid 4x5. My first lens is here: 180mm Nikkor-W. (Future planned lenses are 120mm and 90mm Super Angulon clones by Fuji and Ilex respectively. .I will be developing in a Stearman Press 6-sheet daylight tank.

stuff like film processing supplies, focusing cloth, film holders, and most other odds and ends like cable releases, and so forth, I either have or can obtain easily. I was dreading finding out what light meters cost these days. Fortunately, I already have one: my iPhone. It turns out there are a number of spot meter apps, most supporting the zone system, I even found one that compensate for reciprocity effect, having the curves for a lot of popular films programmed into it. I haven’t given it the acid test of actual use, but assuming it works, it saves me both kit weight and money.

Where I am getting stuck is in several areas. First one would be tripods. Picking out a tripod is tricky for me. First off, I’m 6 foot two. Second I hate tripods that I have to pull or crank the center column up 2 feet from the tripod yoke. Third, I am not a spring chicken anymore and want it to be as light as possible. These requirements may seem to be mutually exclusive, but I did it way back when: when I was shooting large format before, I used a Linhof record giant tripod, which was amazingly light for its available height- on level terrain, I could get the camera high enough that I had to stand on something to see through it, without raising the center column at all. With a Bogen hex plate head, the whole thing weighed about 9 pounds and easily supported a monorail camera.

I have not been able to find one used nor even a picture of one, but that’s what I’m looking for or something like it. I welcome recommendations on tripods.

The other area where I am stuck is filters. I note that Wratten filters are still being made and sold. I haven’t been able to find filter holders. There also are, or were, other options like Cokin and Lee; still in the research phase on those. I could probably work with about six filters. I just don’t want to have to duplicate them across three lenses. Advice and recommendations welcomed here also.

I found a tripod with good height, although the legs are four section so it might take a while to put up. It also is inexpensive, enough so to make me wonder if it’s a piece of crap or not. Anyway, here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/Concept-Compact-Aluminum-K234A7-FH-03/dp/B0D2HPGJCZ?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

Any advice or recommendations are welcome and thanks in advance.

"I was dreading finding out what light meters cost these days" -
I usually dread what everything costs these days....