Why are photographers taken for such fools?

Mine came free with my 3LT tripod, still prefer the usual rubber feet.

Chris
 
Foxbat Flyer said:
Mine came free with my 3LT tripod, still prefer the usual rubber feet.

Chris
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My benro came with short ones which sometimes leaves the tripod a little unstable so looking for something a bit longer.
I have rubber feet too but as they just sit on top of the surface don't give much support on muddy, marshy ground.
 
I'd make my own. Is it an M6 thread? I take it that they're to deal with mud that's about 4" deep overlying the bedrock, but such precise conditions might be hard to find. What is it, exactly, that they're for?

There are many ways to spend money. I'm all for improvisation.
 
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No idea - but if shorter spikes will do the job then the Benro ones fit Gitzo tripods - I use them on one of my Gitzo tripods.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Benro-Ste...942379?hash=item3d427497eb:g:lPkAAOSwsB9WDqeC

Or, if you want to go really cheap:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3pcs-3-8-...968994?hash=item1ec038d562:g:d~4AAOSwUKxYgRnU

A Spike is just a spike!A couple of years ago I did pick up a Gitzo (short) spiked foot set which included 3 spiked feet as well as the washers to protect the ends of the tripod legs and 6 rubber bungs (to convert them back to rubber feet without removal) suitable for 2 or 3 series tripods - £10 on FleaBay and brand new.

Very high prices are asked for Gitzo products but I have never (yet) paid a great deal for them - I can't afford the Chinese copies as they are just too expensive!
 
ecoleman said:
They are spikes for a tripod. They replace the rubber feet and give more support when on muddy, loose ground, long grass etc as the dig into the ground.
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Thanks, Elliott. I do have a brain, so wasn't expecting such a prosaic answer.
 
Apparently there will only be 3 available for the UK, I don't suppose they will have any trouble selling them.
 
johnf3f said:
No idea - but if shorter spikes will do the job then the Benro ones fit Gitzo tripods - I use them on one of my Gitzo tripods.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Benro-Ste...942379?hash=item3d427497eb:g:lPkAAOSwsB9WDqeC

Or, if you want to go really cheap:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3pcs-3-8-...968994?hash=item1ec038d562:g:d~4AAOSwUKxYgRnU

A Spike is just a spike!A couple of years ago I did pick up a Gitzo (short) spiked foot set which included 3 spiked feet as well as the washers to protect the ends of the tripod legs and 6 rubber bungs (to convert them back to rubber feet without removal) suitable for 2 or 3 series tripods - £10 on FleaBay and brand new.

Very high prices are asked for Gitzo products but I have never (yet) paid a great deal for them - I can't afford the Chinese copies as they are just too expensive!
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Thanks, I already have short ones that came with the tripod. I found some long ones from China for a fiver each.
 
Same applies to most OEM photographic equipment, lens hoods, caps, straps, batteries even the cameras and lenses. Same for any hobby.
 
I'm looking for a bf3b front cap for my nikon 1.7tc cheapest is £13 on e-bay
if you find one cheaper let me know ?
or if you have a spare for sale let me know
 
Foxbat Flyer said:
I think they would go nicely with the Gitzo 100th anniversary Traveller special edition at £2,500

https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/41-gitzo-100th-anniversary-traveler-kit-carbon-body

Chris
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Good Lord.

'This extraordinary new tripod kit establishes an entirely new paradigm, combining technical perfection, exquisite, iconic design and transcendent functional art ... and looks suspiciously like the standard Traveler kit you can get for a quarter of the price, only with a fancy strap, box and carbon spider, but still no carrying case.'

Sadly it's a Series 1, so the spikes probably won't even fit :)

Here are my favourite 'luxury' accessories - end exposed hotshoe misery now!:

https://petapixel.com/2015/08/06/nikon-announces-a-new-black-and-gold-leather-hot-shoe-cover/
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4176100
 
Now if you said it was a fancy steel with some elaborate heat treatment then I could understand it.
 
holty said:
I'm looking for a bf3b front cap for my nikon 1.7tc cheapest is £13 on e-bay
if you find one cheaper let me know ?
or if you have a spare for sale let me know
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Poly bag or cling film? It is only to keep the dust out, after all - unless you bounce your lenses around in your bag with hard stuff.
Even so, £14 to protect a lens worth ??? £300 - to me that is a no brainer. £8 from somewhere else....it is only the cost of a decent pint in some clubs, and how long does that pint last? Come on, get real.


GTG said:
Now if you said it was a fancy steel with some elaborate heat treatment then I could understand it.
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Funnily enough, I was going to mention that the Gitzo ones are probably properly engineered, higher quality steel and treatment.

I have seen so many cheap Chinese rip off stuff break or be of such low quality I will not risk any of that stuff anymore - it really is noticable how much lower quality stuff from China is.

A friend works in one of the foreign trade departments and the not so hidden blatant industrial theft that goes on in China would make your hair curl - Mercedes are finding this out now. They have built a plant in China, complete with Mercdes staff overseeing the installation and production - but they have no control over the identical plant being built 8 kms away by people who work in the Merc one by day....it won't be long before this second plant is churning out Muckedes clones.

If you all continue to patronise this obvious attempt of the Chinese to dominate all world markets, don't complain when the real stuff is no longer available and the Chinese control every facet of your lives. You have a choice......so the result is in your hands.
 
Funnily enough, I was going to mention that the Gitzo ones are probably properly engineered, higher quality steel and treatment.

I have seen so many cheap Chinese rip off stuff break or be of such low quality I will not risk any of that stuff anymore - it really is noticable how much lower quality stuff from China is.

A friend works in one of the foreign trade departments and the not so hidden blatant industrial theft that goes on in China would make your hair curl - Mercedes are finding this out now. They have built a plant in China, complete with Mercdes staff overseeing the installation and production - but they have no control over the identical plant being built 8 kms away by people who work in the Merc one by day....it won't be long before this second plant is churning out Muckedes clones.
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Whilst I may agree with you for certain products, this is a metal spike. How do you "properly" engineer a spike? It doesn't have to withstand ultra high temperatures, it doesn't have to withstand unusual forces, It does not have to be precision engineered to ensure peak performance, it's a spike.

It's a spike that pushes into the mud, if it breaks I don't care, I'l buy another.

Then you talk about theft in China. It's a spike. Guarantee nobody could patent that and I'll bet my only child that the Gitzo spike is made from the same crap in China as the £5 one.

If you all continue to patronise this obvious attempt of the Chinese to dominate all world markets, don't complain when the real stuff is no longer available and the Chinese control every facet of your lives. You have a choice......so the result is in your hands.
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If you continue to pay way over the odds for simple, basic accessories, we will always be ripped off by the OEM's because they know they can get away with it. I know what my choice will be.
 
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I was lucky to win a Sirui tripod in a competition and it comes with spikes inside the rubber feet - twist the rubber feet and they extend out. Very neat and quite handy.
 
ecoleman said:
It's a spike that pushes into the mud, if it breaks I don't care, I'l buy another.
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Pushes into mud? Grips on hard surfaces is more likely - ice for example. If you need one and it breaks in the field, that's a shoot potentially wrecked and a day's earnings (or possibly more) down the drain alongside the PITA factor of having to source a new one. If the spikes on my speaker stands are anything to go by, the "real" ones for the tripod will be hardened and properly sharp.
 
Nod said:
Pushes into mud? Grips on hard surfaces is more likely - ice for example. If you need one and it breaks in the field, that's a shoot potentially wrecked and a day's earnings (or possibly more) down the drain alongside the PITA factor of having to source a new one. If the spikes on my speaker stands are anything to go by, the "real" ones for the tripod will be hardened and properly sharp.
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Okay, If you think they are worth it. Knock yourself out.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Have you ever seen Russ Andrews power cables?
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Had to google that. What a load of crap

1m power cable £60 :withstupid:

Speed up the natural cable burn-in process with our Burn In service. £15 :thinking:
Deep Cryogenic treatment can be applied to mains cables, interconnects and speaker cables. £25.50o_O
Improve performance with our best mains fuse £25 :ROFLMAO:

If anybody believes that b*****ks, they deserve to pay those prices.
 
buy some screwed rod from screw fix with the same thread as you need cut to lenth and grind one end down till pointed
put 2 nuts on the end going into tripod led use one of the nuts as a lock nut easy peasey
 
holty said:
buy some screwed rod from screw fix with the same thread as you need cut to lenth and grind one end down till pointed
put 2 nuts on the end going into tripod led use one of the nuts as a lock nut easy peasey
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So you support your £600-1100 tripod on 3 pieces of random metal after you spend all that money to gain stability. It does not mean the originals will be brilliant but ...
 
TLR-330 said:
So you support your £600-1100 tripod on 3 pieces of random metal after you spend all that money to gain stability. It does not mean the originals will be brilliant but ...
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works a treat have done before for a couple of mates
you need to take a chill pill and calm down and wind your neck in :LOL::LOL:

more chance of lightning killing you than one of my home made spikes failing:exit:

screwed rod has a very high tensile strength not random metal whatever that is maybe you can enlighten us ??
but you would have seen that before you posted you answer thats if you had bothered to check out screwed rod !!!!

don't be offended but it sounds like you don't know what your talking about when it come to metal
take it as being true what i said I'm an engineer :woot:
 
3/8 the threaded bar would do a great job - Stainless is even better! However spiked feet are so cheap it's not worth bothering.

Personally I am not worried about a £600-1100 tripod (who spends that much?) I am more concerned with the fact that this lens is on the top:

http://www.wexphotographic.com/canon-ef-800mm-f56-l-is-usm-lens-1024502/

Incidentally regarding the £600 to £1100 for a tripod - what brand are you thinking of and where are you buying them? I use 4 Gitzo tripods, a Gitzo Mono Pod and an accessory Systematic center column. The cheapest tripod (G1550T) and the center column were second hand and the rest were bought new (not from E Bay!) - total cost £1129.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Have you ever seen Russ Andrews power cables?
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This is what I was thinking, if you think photographers are bad you should see "audiophiles" (I use the term loosely as you can be an audiophile and not be an idiot).

Bits of wire that cost thousands of pounds that have no actual effect on the sound quality? ooh yes please! You could drown in the snake oil.

As for the Gitzo spikes, seems mad to me too but IF they are forged rather than cast then at least they will be of better quality that the cheapies but still...
 
I also liked the Quick Release Plate for £84.95 (reduced though to a very reasonable £63.95!!)
 
It's not just photographers, just look at the Hi-Fi world were there are many fools soon to be parted from their money.

Many think that a £150,000 Onedoff turntable is miles better than a £25,000 Linn turntable when everyone else knows that by the time you get to the low thousands there is very little if any difference between the sound reproduction on any of them.

The laws Science and physics is just bunkum the the Audiophools
 
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