garry wolfe

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

Leitz Loc: Solms

I don't think there are any tripod manufacturers here, so all you're going to get are opinions. Good luck!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

It is a money and weight thing ........the higher you go, the cost and weight go up exponentially ! ( assuming you keep decent stability ).

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

I think it may be that those of us tall folk are fewer in number than the more common 5'10"s. Too few to carry much financial clout with design teams. We're an after thought. "Oh yeah, them. Well, ....... Let 'em slouch"! 😈


RRS makes models that are plenty tall enough for someone 6'4" like me, without an unstable center column too! Unfortunately, they are very costly. But on the plus side, they are exceptionally made. I don't envision having to ever replace mine.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I am one of those 5'10" people and I rarely extend the legs on my Manfrotto tripod all the way and even rarer do I extend the center column. This tripod would accommodate a 6 foot 4 person without a problem. I also have a Vixen tripod that could easily be used by someone 7 foot tall. The Manfrotto cost over $200 and the Vixen was over $300. I'd speculate the lower cost $50, $100, $150 tripods are usually shorter and backpack tripods are definitely shorter.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

I am 6'7, I have a Gitzo systematic tripod with no center column and it is plenty long for me, no bending. Look at their models designated with an "L" suffix for long.

Dr.Nikon Loc: Honolulu Hawaii

After I added a CarbonFiber Gimbal head to the non center column beast of a tripod.., and given the fact the Camera has a battery holder ... All of this made the height thing a mute case .. Plenty high for me now .. I'm 6'1..

There are plenty of tripods high enough with center columns ..., the key is to get one without a center column that will fit your height ...if money is no object .. RRS for sure ...

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I have an old Slik that I can extend to 8 feet in height, there are many others like that!

Bill_de Loc: US

How hard have you looked?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Brand_Gitzo&ci=2636&N=4075788741+4291428784

--

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Here is a heavy duty tripod with a max height of 85.1". They have a similar model in Carbon fiber at a little over twice the price.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Support+Weight_40-49.9+lb&ci=2636&N=4075788741+4291589386+4291074169

garry wolfe

thanks all for the feed back !

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I like my tripod with the center column. Although I rarely extend the center, I can remove it and insert it up side down.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

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.



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).

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

If you are shooting anything up in the air - like birds, airplanes, tall buildings ect, ect your tripod needs to go HIGHER than you are tall ! The best case scenario for using a center post is to have it cross braced at the bottom to the legs.

Bill_de Loc: US

---