jayluber Loc: Phoenix, AZ

You're funny..... MUST!!!!! really.....

M1911 Loc: DFW Metromess

I'm a little old school. I like wooden tripods. I have two, one is a Ries Model C which my dad bought way back in the 1930s for the princely sum of $25. The other is a Berlebach Report 8023. I also have 5 aluminum tripods ranging from a studio type Manfrotto/Bogan to a light travel tripod. My wife likes the Leica Tilt-all which has a slightly bent leg. The leg got bent by a mama rhino while iI was photographing her 3 day old baby. She wasn't aggressive just letting me know she didn't want me to pet her baby.

Anyway My theory is that if the tripod won't hold your camera steady, then you wasted your money. I only use the travel tripod with a point and shoot. The Ries is light weight, has only two leg sections and will hold a 4x5 view steady. The Berlebach has three leg extensions, a center column with a leveling bowl. I use it for field work with 300mm or longer lenses. The Reis for up to 200mm lenses. Both have Arca ball heads.

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

For birds in flight - have you tried hand holding? while it does weigh 6.8 lbs, that is only .5 lbs heavier than a Sigma 150-600 Sport, and I find that to be hand-holdable, even if it is a little longer. In fact, in over 5 yrs of ownership I have never had a need to mount it on a tripod. it certainly is worth a try - and shooting birds with a gimbal and tripod is a real drag with lots of missed shots as you do the dance around the legs.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Most of my BIF shots are hand held. Because the birds are moving fast. Next would be a monopod. But If you need a tripod and head...Make sure the head has the "Almost Universa" Arca Swiss mount... I have "L" bracket Arca Swiss mount brackets on all 4 of my cameras. It is fast and easy to go from horizontal to vertical.And it doubles as a hand hold.

mrtkarlin Loc: Ashland, Oregon

Thank you all for taking the time to provide such thoughtful and comprehensive responses to my questions. I've spent the morning reading and researching your suggestions. I've concluded that there's a bunch of excellent equipment out there. I'm at the point where I'm trying to match the characteristics of the equipment to my style of shooting. My wife and I are seriousish birders. We go to many different settings. Sometimes we operate out of the vehicle, but mostly we walk when we can. I've been shooting a D850 with a Tamron 150-600 for several years, almost exclusively handholding, though I have a relatively inexpensive tripod for astrophotography and landscapes. I also have a monopod with a Wimberley head for when the shots are of greater distance - ocean and lakes for example. The idea of lugging around an extra 10 or more pounds of tripod and head has never been appealing. One is the weight, but the most important was the slow reaction time in getting a shot. The monopod was better on walks, but I still felt it slowed me way down and I would miss shots.

I rented a 500mm F/4 and TC a couple weeks ago and got to experiment a bit on the coast where I carried it on a shoulder harness and handheld for a day, used it on my monopod, and did some shooting out of the car. While I can still handhold the 500, I'm not sure about having the stamina to do it successfully for a multi-hour jaunt. Carrying the camera on the monopod over my shoulder worked well enough though after a couple days I had a groove in my shoulder. When I needed to be quick I could just pick up the whole thing and get it pointed in the right direction. When we went to places where I could set up and have the birds come to me, a tripod would, I'm sure, work well. The monopod did.

Weight and bulk of carrying a tripod are still a concern. Most combos, Gitzo, RRS, Wimberley, Kitana Jr, Fotopro Eagle 9 all weigh around 10 pounds. RRS legs or the Extra long Leofoto and a Flexshooter pro around 6 pounds - certainly better. The Flexhooter pro can also come with a lever clamp (costs extra) so when I jump in and out of the car it makes life easier. No need for an extra plate.

Thanks again for all the input. It's really helping me think this out.

PS: Does anyone have an opinion on a replacement foot for the Nikon 500 F/4E for balance on the head, as a carrying handle, and also with a 3/8" receptacle on the bottom for mounting a shoulder harness?

Photoladybon Loc: Long Island

I use a Nikon D500 with a Nikkor 500mmPF lens (sometimes with 1.4TC). Vast majority of the time I hand hold as I find this to be the best in capturing the cleanest shots and most flexible, but on occasion I will use my Pro Media Gear Junior Gimbal which glides seamlessly. I just prefer to hand hold and I am now almost 72.

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

Not true, it will not perfectly balance and leave you with the same weight less freedom of movement that a gimbal will.

Watch this video by Steve Perry
https://backcountrygallery.com/how-to-properly-balance-a-gimbal-head/

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

All three of those tripods would work fine, but all of them are beefy and/or extra tall models and might be more than you need.

The Fotopro E9 I've only seen sold with their gimbal head installed. That's a 10.5 lb. rig. I don't know how much of that is head and how much of it is the leg set alone. Based on the tripod's weight capacity, I think this would be equivalent to a "Series 5" Gitzo or RRS. That's way more heavy duty than you need with just a 500mm lens (except maybe the Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8, which weighs 35 lb. )

The Gitzo you mention is a Series 4 that weighs 5.2 lb., plus the weight of whatever head (and other accessories) you put on it. That's also probably a bit heavier duty than you really need.

The RRS is a Series 3 that's a half lb. lighter at 4.7 lb., plus the weight of whatever head (etc.) you put on it. This is probably about the right weight capacity, but this is an extra tall tripod by having 4-section legs.

In fact, all three of the tripods you refer to have 4-section legs, which allows them to fold up relatively compact while still extending quite tall. But compared to a 3-section leg adding another joint slows down set up, introduces a potential point of flex and reduces the diameter of the lowest leg section. In a sense, 4-section legs give back some of the gains of going to a heavier duty Series 4 or Series 5.

I have a Canon 500mm f/4 that's about the same size and weight as your big Nikkor, and I have no problem using it on a Gitzo Series 3 Systematic tripod. Mine is a 20 year old now-discontinued model, but it's very similar to the current GT3533LS Systematic Series 3, which is a 4.5 lb. tripod with 55 lb. weight rating and 3-section legs selling for $870. (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1328244-REG/gitzo_gt3533lsus_systematic_tripod_ser_3_3s.html/specs.)

I also am not familiar with that FlexShooter head. It looks like some kind of ballhead. I use a more traditional style Kirk BH-1 ballhead (50 lb. rated capacity) on my "big lens" tripod.

But with big lenses I add a Wimberley Sidekick gimbal adapter. This combo allows the tripod to be used for almost anything and is more than sufficient to support my 500mm with a full size DSLR, battery grip, full size flash, flash bracket, teleconverter and more... probably upwards of 10 lb. of camera, lens and accessories. I've seen folks use even heavier lenses than me on their Sidekicks. (20 years ago Wimberley was the only game in town for gimbals... Today there are several manufacturers offering gimbal adapters and dozens offering various full size gimbals.)

With your 500mm f/4 some sort of gimbal is very probably the way to go. A gimbal allows you to manipulate a big lens with just a light touch to track moving subjects smoothly and rapidly. There are "full size" gimbals that replace any other head on the tripod. I instead chose the ballhead with the gimbal adapter because simply removing the adapter makes the tripod usable with shorter lenses. That's a lot faster and easier than doing complete head swaps when wanting to use the tripod with shorter lenses. I've now been using this rig as my primary tripod for over 20 years and it still works faultlessly.

So, yes, the tripods and head you've asked about would work. But the Gitzo and especially the Fotopro are "overkill" for what you want to put on them (and even for somewhat larger lenses, if you ever get them). With any of those tripods you'll certainly have a steady support... but it will be a rather heavy rig. My setup isn't what I'd call "light", by any means (the newer Gitzo Series 3 mentioned above is considerably lighter).

That RRS tripod is a more reasonable Series 3 and the lightest of the three you mentioned, but it has 4-section legs to reach extra height. Unless you're tall and need that additional height, I'd recommend choosing 3-section legs instead. They will be a little faster to set up and more stable thanks to fewer joints an larger diameter tubing in the bottom section. That RRS tripod is nearly 69" tall. The Gitzo GT3533LS linked above is about 60". How tall do you really need? Stand comfortably on a flat floor and measure your eyeline. Then look for a tripod and head that will position your camera's viewfinder eyeport slightly above that distance, so that you can tilt the rig to shoot upward comfortably. You have to take add up the sizes of all the components involved, to accurately determine how high the camera's eyeport will be positioned.

For example, I have a leveling platform under the ballhead on my tripod, and I use a battery grip on my camera. Those are in addition to the height the head and/or gimbal adds. As a result, when my DSLRs are mounted directly on the ballhead in landscape/horizontal orientation, the eyeport is 11" above the top of the tripod itself. When the ballhead is "flopped" to the side to put the camera in portrait/vertical orientation, the eyeport is 5" above top of the tripod (I don't use an L-bracket). When using the gimbal adapter with a large lens, the eyeport ends up 10.5" (vert. orientation) to 12" (horiz. orientation) above the top of the tripod while shooting level. It's 1 or 2" higher when tilted to shoot downward or 1 or 2" lower if tilting the lens to shoot upward.

I'm 5'-9" tall, but my eyeline is 62" (5'-2")... So with the head, accessories, camera, etc. all stacked on top of it, my 58" tripod is plenty tall for me in all these configurations. (And, if really needed, I've got another tripod that goes to something like 80".... though I would need a step ladder to work with it at full extension.) Note that the newer Gitzo model I linked above is almost 2" taller than mine.

If it's tall enough and you prefer, RRS offers a TVC-33 Versa Series 3 Mk2 that's 58.6" tall, has 3-section legs, and is even lighter weight (4.3 lb.) and lower priced ($1025).

Finally, keep in mind that you'll also need Arca-compatible quick release plates for your camera and lens (or lenses, if you have more than one with a tripod mounting ring). Depending upon exactly which Nikkor 500mm you've got, you may have choice of an Arca-style lens plate, a replacement tripod mounting foot or a complete replacement tripod mounting ring. If you go with a ballhead and gimbal adapter, those rely upon Arca-style QR. Nearly all full size gimbals also require Arca-compatibility. Many folks who use the big Nikkors choose a replacement foot (it's required with some lenses, such as a Canon 100-400 II that I use... that lens' OEM foot doesn't work well with lens plates).

Do watch the Steve Perry video about gimbals at the link provided in an earlier response.

Here is a link to a partial, nicely illustrated list of gimbals: http://www.carolinawildphoto.com/gimbal_list.htm

Hope this helps!

mrtkarlin Loc: Ashland, Oregon

Alan thanks so much for your thorough evaluation. The reason for a taller tripod is for astrophotography. I do enough of that to care. The Feisol 3472 ($700) has also recently been recommended which goes to 71" with a very sturdy centerpost, but without the center post is 58", and folds to 22.4". It weighs 4 pounds and holds 66 pounds. The Flexshooter only weighs 1.5 pounds and according to videos and those that own one say that it acts very much like a gimbal without the mass and weight, and can be ordered with a lever release. It has a leveling base (the outer ball). The RRS legs are still one of my choices as well.

I'm shooting a D850 with a 500mm F/4E. Do you have a recommendation for a replacement foot? I know it's Nikon and not Canon, but you seem well versed. I have watched the Steve Perry video, and because of him now use a wimberley MH 100 on my monopod.

Thanks again for your insights.

jayluber Loc: Phoenix, AZ

I just picked up the Leofoto LM-36CL - it's the extra long (high) tripod and it's solid as a tank.
Check it out. List for something like $550 - 600. No center col.

mrtkarlin Loc: Ashland, Oregon

Thanks Jay