How long are your optics that are going in the field with you?

A few years back, I spent quite a little time testing tripod/head
combos with the P67. There seemed to be a strange vibe/tuning thing
going on and some lighter rigs did surprisingly well. I used a laser
pointer attached to the camera and burned up some old freezer (aged)
rolls. I am currently using a Reporter 1328 and #3 head at a weight
of about 8# for a field rig. This combo seems to tame things quite
well and is reasonably portable.

I'm taking longer to mend than expected from a knee operation last
year and have been using a Bronica 645RF and an old Bogen 3011/3025
rig. I've been able to squeeze decent 11X14's from this and I only
bring it up as it now has me thinking of a Mamiya 7 instead of the
P67's for the field. 99% of what I've used my P67 stuff in the field
for could have been done with the Mamiya and the little Bronica and
small tripod has got the idea started about an alternative to the P67
for extended hiking. The P67 isn't really so bad to haul with a
couple/three lenses but the tripod ends up being the main part of the
carrying issue..... You might have need for an slr for your purposes
but I thought I'd toss the idea out and it's easy to spend someone
else's money!

On 30 Nov 2004 12:44:15 -0800, (Ken Smith) wrote:

I'm hitting the road in the Spring, backpacking, and am considering
using my Pentax 6x7 exclusively.

What do think is the lightest tripod I can get away with using slow
speeds?
Though I use mirror lockup, the focal plane shutter makes a serious
thrust and
speeds lower than 1/60 show it. Hand dampering the camera helps, but
even that gets risky the slower you go.

I've been using my heavier Berlbach with a sizable Bogen head around
home areas, as my lighter Bogen made for some very unsharp tests, but
I can't see
taking it on a long backpacking tourism trip.

Thanks, Ken Smith


Craig Schroeder
craig nospam craigschroeder com

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