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Mike_rgb
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_rgb
Post Number: 28
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 02, 2007 - 02:46 pm: | 
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Everyone wants a $400.00 stiff as steel Bogen etc at least I did. Only in my world of light weight used & Wally World Tripods, you have to watch the wind & the light build.
Then again there is a saying: Good things come to those who wait. At a recent flea mkt I saw a Tripod that looked as if it was on sterods. I asked the lady what kind it was & how much. She said it was her Husbands & it was a Gitzo for $20.00. All the rubber grips were gone but it had a huge ball head & I believe it would hold a TV set.
Well that was then & now I am in process of cleaning, light sanding, grey wrinkle painting, I have found a thick, black rubberized, tough gripable, shelf liner material to replace the long gone rubber to tighten & loosen the leg sections.
I saw this written about one at e-bay with out the ball head. Gitzo the Cadalac of tripods from France. Other than Gitzo / France I can't see any other markings. I like taking pictures of waterfalls here in the NC Mountians, I'll bet this Gitzo get's a lot of use.
Mike |
Rj_
Tinkerer
Username: Rj_
Post Number: 14
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 07, 2007 - 01:50 pm: |
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Mike,
Bogen (Manfrottos) are interesting tripods. I find their quick release leg braces more useful in the cold than the Gitzos, although on the balance of weight, the carbon fibre 6x series Gitzos are more practical.
Both having their merits, if you're interested in a quick solution for the ruberrised grip, heat-shrink electrical tubing made in various widths is a fantastic solution taking less than several minutes to recustomise your complete tripod. Insert the sections in a tube and use a hairdryer on the warm setting and the wrapping shrinks to a perfect fit seamlessly.
With respect to the ball head versus geared head dilemma, I have never enjoyed the weight of the geared head, however the precision of the ball head is equally lacking, so again it seems to return to the issue of portable weight.
Enjoy using it.
Kind regards. |
Mike_rgb
Tinkerer
Username: Mike_rgb
Post Number: 31
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 - 11:22 pm: |
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Hi Rj
The black shrink tubing is the one I have decided to use. I had a lot of well meaning hints
as to what I should use use. I have used a lot of shrink tubing on both British Motorcycles & German Cars working in classic restorations over the years.
I like the beauty of the Cameras on your web site. It was a 1955 Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35 my Father bought in the Post PX in Japan for $50.00 USD that hooked me. Still alive at 93 he sent it to me with manual. I was bitten hard & deep.
When we were Kids all we ever saw was a camera with a leather flap that opened & snaped shut. The first time I saw this Camera was when I removed it from it's leather case when he sent it to me. I could not stop looking at it my eyes caresed it like a work of art. Like most everything I cherish it is heavy just something I have learned to live with.
It's the intervention of the human hands craftmanship of the 30s, 40s, & 50s that has drawn me to the machines of the past. One of my friends believes my Gitzo is the uglyist tripod he has ever seen. Of course he loves all things plastic, Cars, Cameras, people, etc.
I truly like people like my friend John, he gave me a like new Nikon FE he had, because he had to wind it. After my first 17 years spent traveling the World as a US ARMY Brat. I have been very lucky, meeting so many new people here in the USA, is so very special to learn what they have to teach.
Cheers.
Mike |
Rj_
Tinkerer
Username: Rj_
Post Number: 16
Registered: 08-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 15, 2007 - 06:42 am: |
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Hi Mike,
Thanks for the kind comments and letting us know how you got on!
The Gitzo is much easier to restore than vintage Norton too. Your Zeiss Ikon Contessa is one of the most iconic 1955 cameras ever made and its history makes it all the more worthwhile cherishing. I think this aspect - handing on a legacy with a vintage camera - is the aspect I value most about vintage cameras. Or at least, learning what that legacy, and the craftsmanship which has gone into creating it, is about.
By the way - I've lost the tripod spikes from my Gitzo on a rocky shoreline somewhere - I've learnt that their supply agency in England has moved away from Hasselblad. Let's hope their supply chain for spare parts isn't disrupted for too long.
Kind regards,
RJ |
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