Do I need to upgrade tripod or head or both?

Jim_Tod

Jim_Tod

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Jim
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I have a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with 496RC2 head. It's been fine and generally quite solid in most situations.

I recently received a Sigma 150-600C from Santa and was trying it out on a particular landscape I liked. I have a D810 and paired the 150-600 to the tripod with the QR plate on the lens mount. It just didn't feel solid, minor movement in a light breeze. Tripod and Head should be good for 5 or 6kg and my combo is around 3kg

Not sure if it's a case of stripping down and retightening everything up on tripod and head or whether I need a new tripod and/ or head.

Would welcome thoughts- don't have a problem buying new gear (or good used) if I need to upgrade but not sure whether I need to be tinking this way
 
600mm is always going to be a problem. I doubt there's any tripod/head combination which will pass the laser pointer test. Tie a laser pointer to the extended lens and have it pointing at a distant wall. Tap the body of the lens with a pencil and observe the jiggle of the laser spot. Or just look at the live view on the LCD at Max magnification.

To improve the performance of your tripod and head check if the mount is holding the lens & body combination under the centre of gravity. If there is not sufficient adjustment to move it there get a long enough QR plate to give the needed adjustment. For best resistance to breezes the support should be under the centre of windage which will may be further out than the centre of gravity.

To stiffen your tripod hang a weight under the centre column and collapse the last and flimsiest section of the legs. If the weight swings in the wind to bad effect try a dog lead screw into the ground, or a weight resting on the ground, pulling down on the hook under the centre column with a luggage elastic.

To check if a problem is in the head or the tripod remove the head and bolt the camera to the tripod directly.

You can't always just spend money and make a problem go away. Sometimes you have to understand what's going on and adapt.
 
•
Hi Jim,

Long lenses have the nasty habit to require special equipment to be enjoyed
at their fullest.

For wildlife shoots and on location work, I got two of these:
htmlhttp://www.feisoleurope.com/feisol-elite-tripod-ct3472-rapid-p-58.html
both with spikes.

One with column and a 70mm ballhead:
http://www.feisoleurope.com/feisol-ball-head-cb70d-with-release-plate-qp144750-p-8.html)
and the other
without column for my canadian made gimbal:
http://www.jobu-design.com/Jobu-Pro2-Gimbal_p_8.html
on a FEISOL Leveling Base LB-7572.
 
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