AVOIDING BIG LENS DISASTERS

From Art Morris, Birds as Art

AVOIDING BIG LENS DISASTERS

Here is an important e-mail exchange with Dr. Joel Murphy:

AM: Hi Dr. Joel, re:

JM: Thanks for the advice on the Mongoose M3.5 tripod head; it is excellent and has performed flawlessly. I am using it with a Nikon D3 and (usually) the Nikkor 200-400 lens. I have the Mongoose mounted on an Gitzo GT3530 LS tripod. The tripod works fine when legs fully extended but it is very unstable and has fallen over many times when the legs were not fully extended resulting in damage to my Nikkor 200-400 lens. (I had to repair the lens with heavy duty bonding glue in remote Alaska because the tripod mount ring broke.) Can you recommend a larger tripod that is more sturdy?

AM: Before I answer, I need to say a few things.

#1: Here is the rule for big lens safety: if you leave your tripod unattended, it will fall over and result in damage to your equipment. Notice that it is not a matter of if, but of when.

#2: Before you set up a tripod, make sure that the legs of the tripod are all approximately the same length. If you put a rig down with one leg extended more than the other two, it is likely to fall over.

#3: Tripods that are fully extended are more likely to fall over than tripods with their legs shortened. And when they do go over, the damage will be greater.

#4: When setting down a tripod you need to be absolutely sure that the legs are fully splayed. With Gitzo tripods this means that the tab at the top of each of the three leg sections must be fully in and flash to the stop. And this goes double on windy days.

#5: When setting down a tripod on uneven ground it is imperative that the tripod platform be relatively square to the world, that is, the platform needs to be approximately parallel to level ground. To do this, you need to either lengthen the downhill leg or legs, or adjust the angle of either one or two legs by pulling out the aforementioned leg tab(s) and then pulling the leg or legs away from their original position so that the tripod platform is square to the world. The former is a dangerous choice; if you leave the uneven ground or hillside and put the rig down without remembering to even the leg lengths, the rig will likely topple.

#6: Here is the rule for big lens safety: if you leave your tripod unattended, it will fall over and result in damage to your equipment.

When big lenses on tripods hit the ground, it is always the fault of the photographer. If you leave your tripod unattended and a drunk comes by and knocks it over, it is your fault. Period. An option that I often use when I need to step away from my tripod is to simply lay the whole rig on the ground. If it ain’t standing, it cannot fall. If I am at the beach, I will lay the rig across my customized Xtrahand Magnum vest. (Everyone who sees one wants one: http://www.vestedinterest.com/)

We can recommend a larger tripod for you, but if you do not learn to follow the guidelines above religiously, it too will hit the ground.

Just for the record, here it is:

Gitzo GT5541LS Tripod, Item #: GT5541LS. Price: $949.98 plus shipping. This monster replaces the CF 1548, but is lighter, stiffer, and stronger. We recommend this model for folks with 400mm f/2.8 or 600 mm lf/4 lenses that do not feature IS or VR technology, and for those who—in their efforts to create the sharpest possible images—demand the most rigid long lens CF tripod available.

Sorry to have to be so frank but I can only call them as I see them. To sum up, you just need to learn to handle your gear more carefully. Heck, I speak from experience. Over the first ten years that I used big glass I destroyed about six big lenses. Each accident was my fault for one of the reasons above…

Later and love, artie

The next day, Joel e-mailed me an admission of guilt… On all counts.