Some years ago, Thom  Hogan wrote a very clever piece entitled ‘Serious Support‘ on the subject of purchasing the right support system.  The original article from 2003 has been updated, I’m thinking perhaps several times now, and has remained the best single source of advice on this important purchase.  Indeed, the article has influenced me during the many purchases I have made over the years.  ‘But wait…’, you exclaim, ‘Wasn’t Hogan’s article supposed to keep us from making costly purchasing mistakes?’    The answer is yes, of course, and if you properly heed Hogan’s advise, you might be able to avoid my fate.  You might, but I’m a little uncertain, since when it comes to support, the range of situations and needs are too variable to be well-served by any one system.  I say system, because the components of the rig; which includes the camera plate, ball head, and of course tripod legs, are all equally important.

The first system I put together consisted of a Gitzo G1228MK2 tripod and a Markins Q-Ball M10 ball head with a standard Markins camera clamp*.   Gear from Gitzo and Markins are mechanical works of art, and are near perfection in function and manufacture.  This combination is an excellent medium weight setup that has served me well for several years.  For most situations this is all most of us would ever need.  Nevertheless, in moderate breezes or if you mount big glass, it’s hard to get the stability you would like to have.

As a reaction to the limitations in the 1228 + M10 rig,  I went a bit crazy and put together the second system, which consisted of a Gitzo G1325 and a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head.  Yeah, this rig is stable under all reasonable conditions.  As I was becoming very interested in panoramic photography at this same time, I also replaced the standard camera clamp with a Really Right Stuff PCL-1 panning clamp. I later added a Gitzo GS5120LVL leveling base and a Kirk Photo BH-1, with the RRS PCL-1 clamp, of course.  This was the first FrankenPod.  Adding the leveling base solves the problem of repositioning the tripod – often one’s initial guess at the optimal tripod placement gets updated after leveling is sorted out.  Repositioning the tripod means releveling the setup, which is much easier with the tripod-based leveling section.  The new Gitzo leveling tripods have this feature built in (see below).  Secondly, although RRS makes excellent gear, including ball heads, I sometimes like the upright Markins-like orientation of the ball head, and the Kirk ball heads are like a scaled up version of Markins head, e.g., they are mechanically perfect.  Anyway, as styling as this setup is, if need to wander very far from the car to get your shot, you are most probably leaving this system behind.

So, now I have a medium weight system, which is not too heavy and pretty stable, and a heavy-duty system that provides excellent support, but lacks portability.  Obviously, I am lacking something here.  Yeah, an ultra-light system.  The solution seemed pretty obvious: the Gitzo GT1541T and the Markins QBall Q3 Traveler head.  The Markins head was designed specifically for the GT1541T and fits perfectly.  This is an awesome setup and is the first choice for field work that involves long hikes.

So, I’ve got it all, right?  Nah, one more.  The current favorite; which is appropriately named FrankenPod II: Son of FrankenPod, consists of a Gitzo GT2540LLVL leveling tripod with a Markins M10-NQS head (no plate) and the RRS PCL-1 clamp.  To put the head and clamp together you will either need to shorten the  included 3/8″ threaded titanium stud, or as I did, have your favorite machinist friend (Thanks, D.R.!) make up a custom ring to get a nice flush fit between the clamp and QBall stem.  This setup; which is shown at the top of this entry, has become the first choice for virtually all uses.  It’s just awesome.

BTW, I did manage to consistently adhere to one of Thom Hogan’s lessons: Buy the best quality that you can afford.

*The camera mounting hardware consists of a clamp that is attached to the ball head, and a plate that is attached to the camera – the two matching together in a sort of modified tongue-in-groove affair that get named ‘arca style’.  I like the L-plates from both RRS and Kirk about equally well.