Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] The Low Down on Down Low [was Tuesday Flowers]

Subject: Re: [OM] The Low Down on Down Low [was Tuesday Flowers]
From: "Johnie Stafford" <jms@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:26:23 -0600
I've got John Shaw's _Landscape Photography_ book. Excellent book.

I had a Slick tripod back in the 80's. Loved that tripod. The legs would
extend to a very low configuration. The center post also had a lug on the
bottom for moving the head to a face down position for even lower shooting.
There was also a lug on one of the legs that allowed the option of mounting
the head down one of the legs as well.

The head that came with it was pretty decent. The pan ring included index
markers for taking multi-shot panoramic images. 

Johnie

-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Swale [mailto:bj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:53 AM
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [OM] The Low Down on Down Low [was Tuesday Flowers]

About (25?) years ago before the days of commonly available internet etc and
when I used to  buy Pop Photography mag, I found John Shaw's wonderful books
on Nature Photography.

His books were the only ones I ever saw which gave specific, model-naming
advice about tripods etc for getting down low, for which I was (and am) very
grateful..

I think he recommended two, a Gitzo and a Slik.

>From this I ended up buying a Gitzo Studex 320 ( I think it is) with a
Bogen/Manfrotto 3-way head, and I have never regretted it.

One of my brothers had the machine shop where he works make me a 
shorter centre post from a round of solid aluminium. He measured the 
dimensions with a wooden carpenter's rule, and to my complete amazement 
it fits precisely, and always has !!

Especially in the days of OM cameras, the core principle was to get the 
camera as near to the top of the tripod as possible, in the pursuit of utter

stability and image sharpness. I still subscribe to that principle; from
what I 
learned in Physics classes, that makes very good sense to me..

John Johns (for whom I once worked, and who enabled me into my first 
35mm camera, a Practica FX with Zeiss Tessar) in his still-available book 
(2nd hand, via www.bookfinder.com ) "Know your camera" also has 
illustrated examples which I learned to follow.

I still have the Olympus system gear for rack and pinion etc getting close
to 
plants etc, but I never found this stable or (especially) firm enough for 
decent results. I generally have no problem moving the tripod in-toto 
physically to the exact distance I need.

I bought the tripod gear from B&H in NY, based on their Pop Photo adverts. 
I never saw such stable, heavy tripods in any bricks-and-mortar shop here ( 
and there were plenty then). They were delivered to me at the  other side of

the world by the USPS & International Postal .system.

The only quibble I have with the Gitzo system is their method of locking the

tubular sliding adjustment of the legs. Sometimes it is difficult to undo.
The 
flip-style locks of other species are easier. I also now have a Linhof
(lighter-
weight) tripod which I have carted around the world, and more recently a 
2nd hand ($25) BEMBLU, but where weight is no problem, I use the Gitzo 
every time. 

Brian Swale.
-- 
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/

-- 
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz