Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/07/28

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Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: carbon fibre television tripod
From: Alexey Merz <alexey@webcom.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 22:32:42 +0100

Joseph Codispoti wrote:
> Jeremy,
> Thanks for the education on tripods. I have always held that the heavier the
> tripod the better the photo.

Not necessarily. As Ansel Adams points out in _The Camera_, any tripod 
will have a (set of) resonance characteristics (dependant on how it's set
up), as will any camera/lens/shutter speed combination. These effects
can interact in unfortunate ways. 

Adams describes one tripod that was sufficient for his 8x10 setup that 
wouldn't give sharp exposures with his 2.25^2 Hasselblad. Nevertheless,
a less substantial tripod gave great performance with the Hassy. 

With respect to the current discussion, the damping characteristics of 
composite materials *might* reduce resonance effects, particularly if such
damping were combined with mechanical stressing of the rig as several 
others have suggested.

WRT general image quality issues (including camera support) I recently
read:

     AUTHOR    Williams, John B., 1941-
      TITLE    Image clarity : high-resolution photography
  PUBLISHER    Boston : Focal Press, c1990.
  ISBN/ISSN    0240800338
      PRICE    Sixty bucks @ amazon.com

... and learned quite a lot. Williams has written something comparatively
unusual: a technical primer at a fairly high level that is neither 
condescending nor inaccessible to the nonspecialist. 

Regards,
..........................................................................
Alexey Merz | URL: http://www.webcom.com/alexey | email: alexey@webcom.com
            | PGP public key: http://pgp5.ai.mit.edu/ | voice:503/494-6840