Old & heavy, CHEAP tripod sturdy enough to shoot a buffalo stampede in a hurricane: For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be...

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

Desert Gecko wrote:

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

Try Berlebach wooden tripods. Heavy, solid and simple. Here's a link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=berlebach+tripods&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

phlash46 wrote:

Try Berlebach wooden tripods. Heavy, solid and simple. Here's a link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=berlebach+tripods&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

Great piece of kit, but it might not meet your criteria for cheap--and it doesn't come with a head. If you have the time and patience, maybe you can search something out at a yard sale.

Don Craig Loc: Saranac, NY

A table-top tripod taped to the hood of your car?

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

doduce wrote:

Great piece of kit, but it might not meet your criteria for cheap--and it doesn't come with a head. If you have the time and patience, maybe you can search something out at a yard sale.

Try looking for used ones on E-Bay, Craigs List or other forums...they've been made for years and changed but little...

RRRoger Loc: Monterey Bay, California

Stampede in Hurricane?
You need a camera mount for your Military Grade Humvee.

Grizzz Loc: Oregon coast

Looking at those surveyors tripods, gave me an idea. I'm going to take some steel tubing and make my own tripod, something inside my own budget. :-)

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

If you can weld, and want one really heavy and really cheap - you could build your own.

You will need pipe for the legs (4 @ 40" of 2" and 1 1/2" ), a 4" round plate to mount the head to(1/4" thick) and high strength 5/16" x 2" fine thread machinists bolts/nuts (4). The smaller pipe slides in the larger pipe allowing for leveling - drill a hole in the larger pipe 8" up from bottom, weld on a 5/16" nut and uses a bolt to hold the inside pipe in place.

I would go to a scrap iron shop or if you know anyone in the oil industry, get some pipe from them - I've seen it going for $1.50 a foot here so cost would be around $20 for the pipe - a couple of bucks for the 1/4" plate and couple of bucks for the bolts -

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Desert Gecko wrote:

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

Sounds like a word-for-word description of the discontinued Bogen 3068 tripod legs. These were built for large format cameras, solid as a rock, and readily available all over for under $100.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Desert Gecko wrote:

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

Here you go! After reading all your requirements this is what I came up with! Plus, it is easily portable and the wind won't be a problem! :-D

Shutterbugsailer Loc: Staten Island NY (AKA Cincinnati by the Sea)

Desert Gecko wrote:

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

Picked up an old "Husky" brand tripod at a garage sale for $10.00 Lives up to its name in every sense of the word.

MW

Desert Gecko wrote:

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

Try eBay. Search for Zone IV tripod. If that's too expensive there are lot of surveyors tripods on eBay but you will need to add a head and there maybe som DIY to adapt them to a camera

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Yeah, there are more than a few old Bogen (now Manfrotto) tripods that would meet your specifications. They are built like tanks and pretty difficult to break. Look on Craigslist and eBay. I've got a thirty year old 3046 tripod with a modified 3046 pan/tilt head on it. Still works great, but it weighs a ton so I don't haul it around any more... It's on a dolly now, and pretty much stays in my studio. I see these on eBay going for $100 to $200, depending upon condition and the head or other accessories included (if any).

Older Gitzo aluminum tripods also often go for pretty cheap too... nowhere near the prices of the carbon fiber models. Some of them are quite heavy duty (13xx Series 3 and 15xx Series 5 models, in particular).

Frankly, though, some of the older carbon fiber models can be found for relative bargain prices, too... Over the past couple years, I've bought both a 1325 and a 1348, fairly heavy duty CF models, for under $350 each, including shipping. Both came with accessories that cost over $200 too. All I had to do was add heads and they are both ready to go. (I put a $60 ballhead on one, $110 gimbal head on the other... but I also put LegCoats on each and bought carrying cases for them... another $90 per tripod.) You could easily spend $1500 or more for each of these setups, buying essentially the same thing brand new.

If you want quick release, I'd suggest you look for a head separately, if necessary, that's compatible with Arca-Swiss style lens and camera plates. This is the most universal type of quick release. Both Bogen and Gitzo have had their own proprietary QR designs, that are a lot harder to find and not interchangeable with each other or anyone else's designs.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Desert Gecko wrote:

For occasional specialty use, I need something that is solid as a rock, simple as Simon, and can be ugly as sin and heavy as my mother-in-law. I thought about mounting my camera to a boulder, then thought someone here might know of a good old clunker tripod.

Any suggestions of an old brand to search for?

What lens and camera are you trying to support? Are you intending to shoot macro or long telephoto? Not knowing this bit of information will yield a landslide of well-intentioned but pointless recommendations. You select a tripod based on focal length and/or image magnification. That is the "long" and "short" of it - pun intended. :)

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Gene, mostly nightscapes and some landscapes and other (like macro) when I want to change camera settings without the camera moving even the slightest (some settings cannot be programmed into a bracketed series). I'm getting some good suggestions here so far.