test - Optiline AS

T E C H N ( l T OTG
RIY
P (D
)S
A SURESHOT
Thedimmerthe light,the longer
theexposure,
thegreater
thefocallengthpotential
thegreater
the riskof blurredphotographs.
Thosewantingmaximum
fromtheirlenses
canavoidthis by usinga solidtripod.Wetested
eighttripodsfromfourdifferentmanufactures
to seejust howsteady
theyare.
BY KAI HAI'/IANN
It is the rare hobby photographer
who uses a tripod on a reguld basis.
Tripods may come across as supeduous
with today's high'spe€d films and
sensitive sensors, parti€ularly when
photographing with high-speedlenses,
short focal lengihs and in decent light
conditions. The moment th€ lighting
worsens, however, and - above all - the
moment telephoio lenses are broughi
into the gam€,the potential for unsharp
photoSraphsis greatly ircreased.A rule
ofthumb is that no photo shouldbe taken
freehad when the exposureexceedsI
seconddivided by ihe lens focallensth in
millinetres lin 35 mm dimensionsl.If lre
take the Digilux 2 $rith its 28 90 mn
zoom lens
converted into terms of
35 llm - this meds that wide-angle
exposuresof more than 1/30s€condand
tetephotoexposuresof more the 1/125
second are likely to turn out blurred
despite great €fforts in sleadying the
camera. Breathing out when cdefully
pressitrgthe exposurebutton and leaning
againsta wall or olher solid object de
some of the ways one can stabilise an
exposure. Nature photographers, on the
other hand, who roam the lands with a
28
LFt v2046
180 or 250 mm lens, may disregardthe
rule of thlmb mentioned above. when
balancingout the weight of Leica R and
lens,one'sheartbeator eventhe slightest
twitch of muscie tissue will inevitably
produc€camerashake.This istrue for all
speedsbelow 1/500second.lf one .eally
wants to ea?loit the potential of Leica
focal lengths there is no way around a
We had four well'known manulacluers
Berlebach, Manfrotio, Gitzo and
G;ottos - each send us two of their
tripods from different price caiegories,
wheleb. with resdds to weight and
maximum height, we went for the t)?es
that cov€r a broad rang€ of practically
feasible areas of employment. These
eight iripods were then run through a
meticulous test procedure. The results
promiseto give clearinformationon how
nnder
they maintain thei. steadfastness
denanding photographicconditions.
-
THISIS HOWWETESTED
Our first order of business was to
recreate the characteristicsof natuial
Sronnd. To do this we took our iripods to
our atelier md stood them on double'
layered corugated cardboard. On each
tripod we mounted a ManJrotto 410
geared head and onto that w€ added a
digital camerawith a 1700 IlD lens {in
relation to 35 mml. The total weight of
geded head, cmera and lens added up
tomoreor less4 kilograms.At a rangeof
6.5 meires we set up a measuringchart
with millimetre sectioning onto which
we p.ojecteda laserdot. The dot of light
was thenphotographedwith a ls-secoDd
exposure,whereby we attainedan imag€
field wiih approimately 8.5-by-13centimetre dimeDsions.From the laser
beam's recordedtrail we calculatedthe
lens's mdimum
deviaiion duing
dposule. ln ihe table on page 32 we
noted mdimum ho.izontal and vertical
oscillation in arc s€conds (1 degree 60 dc minutes = 3600 dc secondsl.ln
Microsoft Excel the formula for
the calculation of ihe oscillation agle
is:
oscillation in
arc
s€conds
- DEGREEIARCTAN(oscillation/rangell
t3600. A neasured oscillation of the
laserpoint of 10 millim€tres thus means
that the camera budged during exposure
by DEGREE{ARCTANII0 mm/6500)l
.3600- 317.3.
A dec€nt tripod can b€ helpful
in countl€ssphotographicsituations
=
T E C IH{ O t O GTYR I P O D S
(FR0MLEFT:EXP0SURE.
TESTRESUTTS
PEiIDUtUM.DR0PTEST)
Berlebach
Report2022. An ash-wood
t.ipodlhat prcveshighlyimmunetoshesscaus€dby
theweightofthependulumand by impactnearlhetipod fet
€xpertrcsultssimilarto the
GiottosMTal70. A caDontibrctipod that achieves
Be ebachReDoft2022 but suffeEa bit rno€ understressinducedbythe pendulum
the Repot8023 haslessstiflnessand,
Be ebachR€port8023. Dueto itsthrcelegseernents
siiess
lessflexibility
to absotb
comparcd
withtheReport
2022withitsi{o legsegrnents,
GiottosMT 9160. In spiteol beinga bit smallerandheaviefthanthe 6rbon fibrc model
Esults
MT 8170, thisaluminiumtripoddoesnot achievethesame,outslanding
30
LFt V2006
bythe pendulum(middle)and impaci
lvla.lrotto055Prc8.Theresullsof stresscaused
aluminium
tripod
lagsbehand
the leadingfour
sho{
thatthis
nearthele€t{iight)
lvanfrctloO55lVF3MagFiberA cafton fibrc tripodthat hasdifficultyabsotbingimPacting
that of stompingleet
seightson the groundneafty(right).Theeffectcompareswilh
GitzoG1257LVt.A cafton libre t podthat rcactsto ihe impactolweights(right)more
thanthe othertripodsbut resistsstrcssinducedby the pendulumquiteefficientlv
sensitively
citzo cllga Basalt.A smalland lithtweightbasalifibrc tipod that fallsfat behindthe
is limited
Thu! its p|acticalityin tems of extrcmetelephotos
otherdevicestested.
!2006 fil
TRIPODS
TECHNOTOGY
AI{DTESTRESULTS
SPECIFICATIOIiS
B€ ebachRepon2022
MTal70
Giottos
Report
ao23
Berlebach
Sizewithoutlift cenlrecolumn
(min/max)
0,54m-1,18m
0,51m 1,30m
0,52m 1,32m
Centrccolumnext€ndable
0,43m
0,30 m (0,46 m forflap posliion)
0,43m
TEnsportlentth
O,7am
0,67rn
0,70m
Weight
2,9kE
2,6kg
2,1t8
Lift centrecoluhn with c€nk
No
TRIPOD
FEATURES/ERGONOMICS
Rotatingcentrccolumn
Ttueadto secuEtriDodhead
1/4 inch
l/4 and 3/8 inch
U4 nch
sethents pertipod leg
2
3
3
Tripodl€gsettings
Lo.kiry of tripodlegs
Spikesandp astic
tripodl€ts
supportivercdsb€twe€n
Cafboniibfe
Bag,caffierstrap,seiof toos
Variablecentefcolumn,
levelling
appror165euros
(de{ialionin arc *conds)
STABILITY
(hodzonial/vedical)
posurc
ft
260'1330'
zao't320'
210't3lo'
P€ndulum(horirontal/vedical)
270\300'
390'/310'
3lo'/320'
Drcptest (horizontal/v€nical)
290/31o'
3i0'/300'
430'/380'
Totalangle
1760'
19I0'
2020'
For a more thorough investigarion into
ihe capabilitiesof the tripods we devised
ihree different scendios and measured
maximum height, without the *tended
centre column, for each cmera'tripod
combination. we ascertained the
tipod's behaviourunder mediun'speed,
dynamic sFess by repeatedly pressing
th€ er?osure button during tbe
32
Llt 1t2006
measuring time. We simtrlaied the
behaviour of slight wind influences by
attachinga pendulum to th€ gearedhead
sending it into a circulal motion. We
measured reaction to unexp€ctecl
dynamic strain by repeatedlydropping a
2 kilogram sack of meial plates fron a
heighi of 20 centimetresright next to the
tripod legs. ln practice. one naturally
ties to avoid any form of stress, but if
you want to measure the behaviour of
tripods understress,the only thing to do
is to simply stressthem.
ISCAMERA
HOWRETEVANT
MOVEMEl{T?
From the values listed in the tabl€ for
GiuoGll9a
Giottos
MT9160
ilanfrctto 055ProB
Manfrotto
o55MF3Mat Fiber GiEoGl25TLVL
O , 5 lm l , l a m
0,23m 1,39m
O,22 1,37n
O,32 \,il m
0,36m 0,9s m
0,30 m (0,46 forilap position)
0,35m
0,35m
o,22n
0,26n
0,61m
0,65m
0,65m
0,66m
0,41m
2,7kE
2,6 kE
1,9kc
1,6kg
I,t kc
No
NO
No
No
1/4 and 3/8 inch
NO
l/4 and 3/8 inch
3/A inch
3/8 inch
U4 and3/8 inch
3
3
3
3
3 locksteps
3 l o c hs i e p s
NO
NO
B a s a lfti b t e
Carbonfibre
Carrierstlap
Bag,carriefstrap,set oftools
Variabl€
centercolumn,
20 degrces,levetling
levelling
levelling
levelling
320'/3aO'
370'/360'
approx.330
eurcs
approx.750
eurcs
290'1230'
330'/320'
460't420'
3307330'
400'/340'
3307350'
330'/310'
114'1440'
340'/350'
450'1370'
700'/650'
910'/880'
870'/860'
2050'
2294'
2550'
30ao'
3420'
leam how much camera shake we are to
expect from longer exposures. This is
easily achieved with a disital camera,
with which you cu calculate the camera
movemetrt with a simple division
betweenthe known picture angle of the
camera lens and the size of the cdera
sensor in pixels. Witi a so-millimetre
focal length {in relation to 35 nml, the
picture angle adds up to about 45 degrees
and 27
diagonally, 36 vertically
horizontally- h tne case of the Digilu 2
with its s-mega-pkelsensorl256ox 1920
pixelsl, th€ distance betweeD the two
image points equals aD angle of 0.014
degiees, which conesponds to 50.6 arc
seconds. From this value onuard the
cmera begins to distort the ima8e by one
pixel. According to our table, this
deviance is greatly exceeded in all cases.
This is the result of a ruthless test
- one should
proc€dllJe, which
remember- ws not designedto produce
in
shake-free exposues. Moreovet
practice oDe would avoid exposing by
hud by using a seff-tiDer or cable
release triSger and, if possible,
v2006 tft
33
TRIP()DS
TECHNOLOGY
alternative to the sand bag is to tie a
strong rubber baDdtothe centrecolumn
and have it pull downwdd, either by
tying it io ihe ground or fastening it
beneath one's foot. As to whether an
increaseof massas such bearsa positive
effect on the photographydependsupon
the kind of dynamic stiess one wants to
absorh Rapid vibration, as cansed by the
flapping mi[oa is indeed dampened.In
the case of loDger,high energy stresssuch a when tripod and camera are
placedon moving grounds the ircrease
of mass is of no or perhaps even
disadvdtageous iDlluencei here. the
pendulum effect of the additional weight
m€rely adds to destabilisation.In the
past, siiuations as such have ofien prove!
to benefit from placins pieces of
po\ueihde foam as a dampeningmass
beneaththe iripod feet.
Aboveleft: Well-bljilt pan headsarc
easilyhandled,astheyenableth€ cameH
to movealongvadousindividualaxes.
have
Above ghi: Solidball-sockethe:ds
highstabililybut wo*ing with them
€quiressomegeltingusedto. Right:Gear
h€adsarc the solutionwhenyou want
yourtipod
enra p€cisionin manoeuvring
SETUP?
HOWISA TRIPOD
BeforereachinSinto our bag oftricks the
ftst thing io do is to ensue that tne
bipod is set up correctll Placedonlevel,
firm ground the tipod siandsbest on its
spikes at the end of the tripod legs; the
rubber feet we use on flat or sensitive
surfaces. Should the surface be
exceedinglysoft, suchin the caseofawet
lawn or field, stand plates de ideal, but
very few tipods come wiih these.
how large and hea!ry the lens is - the
enploying a mirror pre-releaseio avoid
more massive the lens, the less stable Alternatively, one can use small plastic
shake. The stability of tripod and tripod
plates or other solid maierials to prevent
head gains in relevancy when taking
the tripod from sinking - even flai stores
However, a decent w€ight in ihe light
macro exposureswith long focal iengths,
will do in a pinch.
as the slightest movemeni becomes place has its advantages,as lonS as ihe
When pulling out the bipod legs to
tripod is not overbuldened.Due to the
increasingly visible the greater th€
ed
i.e.,
increase
the heighi it is recome
A
Leica
R8
or
inertia
of
mass,
Epid
movement
photograph is enlarged.
wiih
the
thicker
that one begirs
vibration
is more effectively absorbed
R9 equipped with a Disital Module R
segments,as the thinner ones de less
Pa72 by 2576 pixels, ffop factor 1-371 by healT weighis than by light ones.For
ihis reason, exp€rienc€dphoiosraphers stable and should o y be pulled out
requires, in conjDction with m Apowill occasionallyhans a snall bagof sand when necessary Same is true for the
Te\'t-R 560 nm
4 la 770 mm rocal
or simild f.om the tripod's centre centre column. For mdimum stability
lensrh on the DMRI, a nere 2.5 arc
one should o y pull it out - while
column. With this dtificial increasein
secondsof shaketo causea motion'blur
weight, ihe set up in the areaofth€ head keepins it as short as possible - when
effect of one pixel. An additional
challenge is that a tripod's dynamic be€ones more inert and coDsequently there is no other way io airive at the
desiredheight.
the cdera is stabilised.A light-u€ight
behaviour changes depending npon
34
rfl V2006
When the iegs are at a 30-io-40-degree
angle,the v€rtical and horizontalaxesof
are most effectively
the tipod
supported.The legs should be arranged
in sucha way that one of them is pointed
in the direction of the shot. This, as
opposed to having two legs standing
outwardly to the left and right of the lens,
is pdticularly useful i! conjunctionwith
long focal lengths. Not to forget, all
screwsand novable componentshaveto
be s€cur€d on the mount of the centre
column and on the tripod head.
RECOMMENDED
TRIPOD
HEADS
Professionaliripods have a plate with a
thread {1/4inch or 2/8 inch)at the end of
the cente column s€fling to mount a
t.ipod head with standardisedthread. lf
necessary,
an adapterhelpsfit the headto
the tripod thread.The principal \?es of
bipod heads are ball'socket, pan and
geared pan heads. Ball-sockei heads
consistof a clmp mechanisnaDda large,
rotating ball that can be tightened to
esiablish the camerapelspective. Coupled
to th€ ball is a cameraplate onto which
ihe camera is mounted. Pan heads are
probably the user friendtiest, as they
enablethe cameraiotiltalongboth a{es,
from left to right an top to bottom. If
beyondthat a panningalong the z-dis is
faciliiated, then one speaksof a 3D pan
head. Gear€d pan heads de besi for
accurate compositions as they featu.e
transmission mechanics for the tilt
f unclion thereby enabling extla-p.ecise
fine'tuDing.The stability ofa bipod head
not only dependson iis size but also on
how iiisconsi.ucied and whichmaterials
are emptoyed. In terms of supporting
elements,plasticis onlyused fo. the fixed
headsof cheaptnpods. High quality heads
de made of steel,masnesiun, aluminiurn,
titanium or specialisedalloy- ln lhe coming
issue we will iake a closer look at the
characteristicsof various t)?es ofheads.
THETESTS
EVALUATIIIG
Our test exposuresreveal that there de
obvious differences between tripods.
THE BEST FROM LOWEPRO AND KONIG:
PHOTO RUCKSACKS FOR THE 66M''
. Cycling . Hiling . Clmbng
UNIQUE
. Outside:Lowepro-Mcroirekker
. nsde:Stondord(dnig phoio bog
. Periectft for'M" equlpment
MICROTREKKERlO(|
Come@wilh lens
EightsetlinQsfor le.ses
compodmenrwidrhs
7 0m m / 7 0 m m / 7 0 m m
( nd v duolly odjustob e
sddividea)
lnnerdimensions
W=2l,5cmiH=26,5cmi D=ll,5cm
Oulerdimensio.s
w=26,5 cm: H=29,0cm: 0=20,5 cm
tuice 159,00Euo
MICROTREKKER2OO
72nnl72mml95nm
W=26,5cmr H=320cm, D=l25cm
w=28,0cn ll=353 cmr D=21,5cm
Postloch I 203,7l I l8 G@tenoo
FINISH
.
.
.
.
.
.
Addinonolstiched cushionedbotiom
Comporimentdivide6 frmly fxed io sde ond boitom
the someworkmonship
os for lorgetele-enses
Soid even underthe mosi dlffcuf condiiions
p
Hgh quolilycroftsmonsh
lndviduol,specol requestsore po$ib e
E moir ekoenig@oor
com
hnpi//membe6.oolcom/ekoe. g
KENIO
P h o t o b o g s
TRIPODS
TECHNOTOGY
Theset up: with caneE mountedon the
a laserdot at 6.5 m€lre
tipod w€ exposed
positioniDgwhile the legs ate collaPsedlf you happento er! during this st€p,you
can still open ihe legs with force - the
ihin locking pegsfor the legsde therebv
draggedthrough the bearinssurfacesfor
the leg selting and the mechanics are
dmaged. Even so, th€ Giottos MT 8170
renains a hard'knock triPod for
professionalapplications.
8023
REPORT
BERLEBACH
when exceedingly high stability is
required md bulk and ueighi are less
crucial, the heaviest tlipod iested,
the BerlebachReport 2022, delivers the
best results. At ihe other end of the
spectrum w€ have the comPact, light
weight Gilzo G1198,which is tlvice as
nlnerable to vibration caused during
exTosure.The results,however,are still
f& beyond the capacities of simple,
bottom-of-the-line tripods. Even the
unrivalled,older Gitzo G0l - a small bui
populd travel tripod is nearly thr€e
times more prone to shake than ihe
massive Report 2022.
Our results show that some of the
generaltruisms on tripods do havesome
iruth io them. Wood, for insiance
remainsa hiShly comPetitivemateiial to
this day. Carbon fibres can still have
advaDtagesover aluminium and even
wood - ihe material is stiff but elastic
enough so as to efficiently absorb
vibration induced by exposure The
influence of leg s€gmentson stability is
also an interestingaspect,which shows
on the simild Berlebach tliPods.
Obviously there is a relationshiP
betvre€n tripod weight and stability One
should note,however,that the weight of
a tripod is not necessarilyan indication
of its stability dd capacity to absorb
vibration. Their engineering ed
materialare as important indetermining
stability. The following characterisation
of our eiSht test devices are listed
36
tft i/2006
according to how well they performed
2022
REPORT
BERIEBACH
The Berl€bachReport 2022 is a wooden
tipod with legs consisting of two
s€gments.At 2.9 kilograms it wetghs
mole ihan ihe other tripods in our line
up. Its transportlen8lh also makesit less
convenientfor a mor€ spontaneousday
out. The lab test provesastronomersand
land sun€yors to be quite right when
they still choose to €mPloY wooden
tripods ioday. The Berlebach Report 2022
resists slow stress lcanera exposu.e
p€nduluml with great efficiencv and
dampens vibration better than most
tripods made of mode.n materials.
The BeriebachReport 8023 is similar to
the Report 2022- Only diffeience: ils legs
consisiof three segm€nts.Consequently
in theory the construction cannot be
quite as massive, and the measuring
r€sults do in fact show that the Repori
8023 does not have the stiffness and
fleaibility at absorbing vibration as the
model with two respectiv€leg segmenis
Siill, the BerlebachReport 8023 reaches
vaiues superior over th€ foltowing
MT9160
GtoTTos
The substantially cheaper Giottos MT
9160look mlchlike itsbig brother'The
main differenceis that the tripod legsare
nade ofaluminium, therebymaking the
MT 9160one hundred grms heavier,in
spite of being a litde smaller' He!e, too,
MT8170
GtoTTos
we discover an option allowing us to
The Giottos MT 8170 wiih its carbon set the centre column at a diagonal
angle as well as the unusual fix tight
fibre legs ranks second in our stabilitv
mechanicsofthe tripod legs,uhich must
test- The device is exceedinglystiff and
be unde6tood so as io not damage
steadyyet flexible enough to absorbthe
the tJipod when varying leg angles.
impactnexlto the tripod iegsin our drop
In our tesi, the MT 9160 ieaches
test. Included in the delivery de
numerous other helpful components, almost the same, decert values as the
and the d€{terity of the cenbe column,
infinitely variable diagonal
with
O55PROB
MANFROTTO
sirnplifiesmany photographicsituations
The Manfroito 055ProB is a universal
A lessfavourableaspectof this Fipod
aluminium tripod with a centre column
has to do with its construction, which
that can rotate90 degreesallowingone to
fixes the bipod legs at thre€ aD8lesdcl
requires some explanation Rotating seiit a horizontalagle. This way you can
take photos of the ground at a
around th€ centre column, the systemis
based on a plate sening to set the leg perpendicularangle, thus making it an
excellent tripod fo, rcfro pu4roses.
Allowing one to get even closer to the
ground the cenlre cohmn can bc
scpa.atcd so that a minimal top-plate
h e i g h io f o n l l 0 . 2 3 m e t r e si s S r a n t e d
u'ithout nc.cssarill having to be set it at
length oi ihe legs and positioned nro,e
easilyfor shoc facing the ground.
GtTZo
Gt257tvt-
GITZO
GI198BASATT
Amongst photoS.aphers,Gitzo has the
reputationof building funcLjoDailripods
MANTROTTO
O55MF3MAGIIBER that last ior a lifeiime. The Gitzo
The MaDfrotio 055I1F3 MaS Fiber is a
G l 2 5 7 L V Lc e n a i n l lc o n f i r m st h i sc l a i n .
light and universal carbo! tripod. lts
ir spite of beiDg ihe secoDdli8htcst
three-elementcarbon fibre legs have a
t.ipod in o!r tcst it hasa f.$ featuresthat
dclta shaprd profile that increaseslbe
a d d t o t h e w e i g h t .T b i s n r a n r l lc o n c c r n s
thc levclling hcad, a ball sockethead iD
siiffnessfacior.As with thc 055PrcB,ihc
c e n t r cc o l u t u no f t h e 0 5 5 M F 3 l l a g F j b e r which the ceDtre cohunn is sec!.e.i
can br set aLa Lorizontalangle slandiDg T h a D k st o t h ' ss r " s t e m
t h ec e n l r . . o l u t u n
is infinitcll adjnstableup to a 20 degree
ftom the tripod at a 90 dcg.cc anglc
Likewisc, thc .entre cohrmn separates angle. This way ihe camera ca. bc sct
and enablesphoto ops Dear the S.ound horizontallr"s'ithout having to alter the
The GitzoGII98 is by far the lightest
tripod ('ith the snrallestdimensions in
the test U.likc tbe G1257LVLit has no
particularitiesyet possesses
all the time'
honoured features of ctrrrent Gitzo
trjpods. \Corih nrentioning are the
.enovabl. plaie for tLe tripod head, a
large unrg nut for tbe adjusttuent of
the cenbc .ohmD and user-friendly
mecbanicsfor adjustingthe angleof the
l e g s .I n o u r s h o c kt e s t t h t G i t z oG 1 1 9 8
rank d last;nonethelessit stillhas clearly
superiorstability ove. cheaptripods.
I herebyoderlhe followingitems
LEIGAAiI ILLUSTMTID
HISTORY:
TEICATOTOGRAFIE
IIITERI{ATIONAI.
Buchservlce
93
Hammerbrookstr.
D 20097 Hamburg
Germany
kdh reo€)
CAITIERAS I.EIISES ACCtSSoRlts
SET0f ALI3 800(5(4ee
€)
rwanltopaybycredt ca|d
or senda fax ++49/40,/24086430
EOOKS
ATWWW'LFI.ONLINE.CO
DISCOVER
MORE
II{TTRESTII{G