garry wolfe wrote:
hi all i am wondering why most tripod makers do not make them have max hight of lets say 75" i am 6ft &59"/62" max does not work is it $ or do most of the makers have a max hight of 5ft people you can always adj. them shorter what am i missing? thanks garry
It's a compromise... To make a tripod taller extended, it either won't fold up as small or needs additional leg sections, which are necessarily smaller diameter and will make it less stable.
Ideally tripods are measured for height with the legs alone... Many have some sort of center column that can be used to increase height. But doing so decreases stability - a little with some of the better designs, a lot with other designs - so it's preferable to not have to extend any center column at all.
And whatever head or other accessories add more height... typically 4 to 6 inches, depending upon the type of head. I use leveling platforms between my tripod legs and heads, too, which raise the height another inch or more.
Plus, the eye port of your camera is probably another couple inches higher than the platform of the head.
Plus, a tripod doesn't need to be as tall as you. It only needs to come up to eye level, which is probably 3 or 4 inches less than your full height.
So, a leg set that reaches 62" without extending the column.... plus, say, a 4 or 5" tall tripod head on top of that... plus the camera eye port positioned another couple inches above that would get it to around 68 or 69" total... which should put it pretty close to eye level for a person 72" tall (unless you're Star Wars character Jar Jar Binks, with your eyes are on stalks on top of your head).
B&H Photo and some other websites do a really good job giving tripod specifications.... showing their height as measured without head and without center column extended... as well as the height with those added.
There are taller tripods... I have two Gitzo G1325 Mk II Systematic, which are plenty tall for me without any center column (aobut 60", if memory serves... plus added height from a heavy duty ballhead and leveling platform on one, gimbal head and leveling platform on the other). I also have a Gitzo G1348 Mk II Systematic, which reaches 72" with the leg set alone, if I recall correctly. The center column and heavy duty ballhead that I use on top of that makes it at least 6" taller without extending the column at all... and I can (but try to avoid) extend the column for another 12 or 18" height, if needed). My fourth tripod is a 30+ year old, aluminum Bogen (now Manfrotto) "beast" that weighs a ton and reaches about 8 foot total: counting the roller dolly it all sits on, the pan/tilt head atop it, the leveling platform under that, and extending the cross-braced, geared center column. Being about 5' 9" myself, I never need to extend any of these fully... unless I'm doing a high angle shot from a step ladder! Any of them would easily meet the needs of someone 6' or taller, too.
rmorrison1116 wrote:
I like my tripod with the center column. Although I rarely extend the center, I can remove it and insert it up side down.
That's what I do, too... With the one field tripod I have fitted with a column. That way I can hang the camera an lens directly underneath the tripod, which is MUCH more stable for low angle macro work than those tripods with center columns that rotate to and beyond horizontal for similar purpose (many of those are kind of a joke, IMO... they tip over really easily).