After my first attempts at large format photography, one thing quickly became apparent: the value of a good tripod. It came to mind again as I was packing for my Croatia trip, so I figured I’d do a rundown of all the tripods I use.

Until I started my 8x10 journey, I’d never really given tripods a second thought: I’ve had the same Gitzo Traveller (conveniently and not-at-all-confusingly named GT2524) for the better part of a decade. It did the job. It’s small, reasonably sturdy (sturdy enough for a Pentax 67, although not much more), and overall a good egg of a tripod. At some point the Gitzo ballhead lost a few screws, so I swapped it for a Leofoto RRS clone, but really, no complaints. Eventually, though, I started travelling with lighter cameras and without a carry-on (one-bagging, tfw), and I found that the Gitzo didn’t really fit well in a backpack.

Cue tripod #2 (and my second most used one), the Peak Design. When I got it, it was the only tripod that could fit in the side pocket of my ULA bag. That was it. Literally the only thing that mattered. It wasn’t as sturdy as the Gitzo, and was shockingly similar in weight, but the footprint was small enough.

Then I started to get into 8x10. At first I was using my professor’s old RH Phillips, and the Gitzo was just able to support it, but any movements and adjustments were rather painful and elaborate. It also didn’t go tall enough for a close-up portrait. But I persevered. That is, until Alessandro made me a camera. Beautiful and exquisite as it is, the poor little Gitzo couldn’t take the extra 2kg of Gibo. So the hunt began, and very quickly I ended up with the ProMediaGear ProStix TR434 (seriously, who names these tripods?). This is a sexy piece of kit. It could easily support me, and it goes up to 2m tall, so I can shoot from the car roof. Not to mention it’s the most thoroughly designed tripod I’ve ever seen. Every detail is so beautifully machined and finished that the tripod itself is basically a piece of art. BUT, it’s too big for everyday use (surprisingly, it’s not heavy, although it’s by far the heaviest here). It’s so comically large that I almost exclusively use it with 8x10, and 8 times out of 10 in the studio. Realistically, no one needs it, but if I had to sell one tripod, it would be this one.

Which brings me to the last tripod acquisition, the one where I can finally say I’ve reached some level of tripod nirvana: the rolls-off-the-tongue RRS TVC-24L S2 (I give up). It’s everything I’d want a tripod to be: tall enough to shoot at eye level (even a bit higher with a ballhead), light enough to carry pretty much everywhere, and sturdy enough to support my 8x10. It’s been quite a journey, but over the past year or so, this has been my most used tripod by a country mile.

So, after 10-ish years of photography, I’ve boiled it down to this:

  1. Peak Design Travel Tripod: unjustifiably expensive, but fits in a water bottle pocket and can support a Sony with a 28-70.
  2. Gitzo S2 Traveller: for carry-on-only travel. Covers 80% of my needs.
  3. RRS TVC-24L: whenever I travel with a suitcase and/or have a backpack, and for 95% of my local photography.
  4. ProMediaGear TR434: a beast. Car/train/studio-only large format work.

Does any sane person need 4 tripods? No. Even professional photographers probably don’t. I’d say 90% of people would be fine with either the Peak Design or the Gitzo. Hopefully that’s what comes through: having the extra gear is definitely nice, but it’s by no means a necessity. In any event, the weather is nice today, and I’m off to take some pictures!

P.S. For those wondering, I use Arca-Swiss heads with the Leofoto quick-switch adapter.