Tripod Upgrade

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Deleted member 97794

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I thought some might be interested in this...

I use Benro tripod's, and have the carbon fibre version of the Mach 3. It comes with a set of rubber feet and a set of spikes but it's not ideal to be swapping these when out in the field.

I noted that some new tripods are coming with combined spikes and rubber caps, and bought a set on these on Amazon. I think they're a brilliant and practical solution as it takes seconds to pull off the rubber caps from the spikes, making your tripod quickly adaptable to whatever situation you find yourself in.

 
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The rubber feet have 90° of movement.
 
I was more worried about the flat and wide base of each individual foot on something like irregular rocks, where the more usual rounded/tapered rubber foot might conform better. But I've never actually tried the big foot style, so I don't know if that's actually a problem.
 
I've become a convert to using spikes for all situations outdoors; the only time I put the rubber feet on is for use indoors where it will damage my floors.
I used to believe that using them on harder surfaces where they couldn't penetrate much would reduce stability/performance, but testing shows that isn't really the case.

For my big tripod I'm using 110mm adjustable length SS spikes set to ~ 65mm... the bottom tube is 40mm dia and regular spikes are just lost on them.
 
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Always been curious about these long spikes - does it impact stability when they're perched up on hard flooring, instead of sticking deep into soft ground?
 
Try bending one!!!
 
utterdrong said:
Always been curious about these long spikes - does it impact stability when they're perched up on hard flooring, instead of sticking deep into soft ground?
Click to expand...
I don't use my spikes on hard flooring but I often perch my tripods on rocks when in the landscape, I don't find them in any way unstable there.

005 Church Rock (Bronica Setup) 03-7931 PS Adj.JPG015 Yes Tor and Shelstone Tor (Broni Setup) 09-9869 PS Adj.JPG
 
My newest tripods are about 20 years old. They are both SLIK 212 Pro and they have never failed me either in the studio or when out in the World. At about 5.5 lbs each I keep considering lighter tripods, but then I have to give up so many features that I'm soon back using only these when outdoors. They are very versatile and stable, and they have rubber feet that can be screwed up and down, revealing metal spikes in their centers when screwed up for outdoor use. Each leg can be angled out to almost 90 degrees from the base, and have stops that can be bypassed when the more unusual angles are needed. One of the legs has a 1/4-20 stud on it to allow attaching options that might be needed during a shoot. I usually add my second camera here temporarily while shooting outside somewhere, but have also had my geared head on it, so I can switch heads when going from the normal SLIK head to doing still life close-ups. The lower end of the center column of this tripod also has a 1/4-20 male stud, and I usually keep an eye-nut on it so I can attach weights when out on windy days, or the geared head and camera when shooting very low "still life" close-ups under the tripod. I keep wanting lighter tripods as I'm getting older, but then I'm not finding any with all of the features that these old, stable, and reliable tripods have, so I continue to use them and live with their weight. I have 8 or 9 tripods in the corner of my studio, but mostly only use these SLIK tripods and my Regalite 6 camera stands when working in my studio.

Charley
 
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