A pod of tripods

I have mentioned before that I have a curious fascination with tripods and have accumulated a collection of a dozen or so over time, together with a range of heads of various types. Most of the tripods are Gitzo, though I also have a Manfrotto, a Giottos and a Redged. I don't use most of them very often but they are nice bits of engineering.

Today I had to wait in for a parcel delivery so I took some of them out of their bags and photographed them. This was primarily for inventory purposes but the range of sizes is striking in this group shot.


From tallest to shortest they are:

-A very old Gitzo 'giant'. Aluminium and very heavy. Must be about 3 metres tall plus a geared centre column if that is not enough! I have only needed the full height twice but the bulk of the thing is handy at more normal height when shooting events where kids are running around. Very hard to topple over.

-Gitzo series 5 'long'. Carbon fibre with centre column. Much lighter and easier to use than the 'giant'. Tall enough for all but the most unusual situations. Can take very heavy gear.

-Gitzo series 2. Carbon fibre with geared centre column. My most used tripod. Not too heavy. Not too big. Good for all but the heaviest kit.

-Gitzo series 2 'explorer' with hinged centre column. Aluminium. Useful to get into awkward angles. Not used much.

-Gitzo series 1. Carbon fibre. Very lightweight. Good for travel but not for heavy kit.

-Gitzo series 2. Basalt. 4 section and shorter extended height than most. Very compact when folded so good for travel and with decent load capacity.

-Redged table top tripod. Nicely made though the legs need to be splayed to their wider angle setting for it to be stable.

That giant Gitzo is a monster! Do you carry steps around with it? Or stilts?

The only times I have used it at full height I used steps. I was photographing large groups of over 100 people and needed an elevated viewpoint to ensure all of the faces were visible. I imagine it could also be handy if setting up on a steeply sloping location or flight of steps. Another use could be for birds in flight - to get under the action without having to stoop - but that's not my thing.

Wow, I've never seen a tripod as big as that. Does it build domed cities and attempt to enslave mankind?

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tripods