Shooting Stability

[Rusty]

There have been a half-dozen or so threads in the past month talking and/or asking about tripods. I would like to share something I learned in the late 1960s and have used with great results ever since.

This does NOT replace a good quality tripod but will work when a tripod is inconvenient and, IMHO, is better than a monopod. This was a magazine article in Modern Photography or some such publication -- I read several in those days. While this was an article and not an advert, the writer was quite brand specific. He insisted that you needed a "Leica table tripod w/ball and socket head".

Well, OK, it made sense to me and I bought one. Whenever I had anything over 55mm on my camera, this came out. There is a wing-nut on the bottom: the legs fold completely flat and it will slip into a coat pocket.

I used this for candids of the kids (toddlers)... (I would be a fly on the wall 20 feet away w/200mm lens), high-school track, volleyball, and have lost track of how many hundreds of rolls of Tri-X at ISO1600 and 1/125sec were burned up in dimly lit youth hockey games.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1YwzloaOWD3UzCFVWNX37Ysd9SCdbA1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1YwzloaOWD3UzCFVWNX37Ysd9SCdbA1)

I can't believe it MUST be a Leica, but a good ball and socket head is the key. You mount the camera and then plant 2 legs on your collar bones and the 3d one on your sternum. The left hand focuses (and pulls the body back against your face) and the right hand also steadies (and fires and rewinds).

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1ZUg8C14kcEjwAslNB3N0NfvpPvL_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1ZUg8C14kcEjwAslNB3N0NfvpPvL)

I miss the ability to use a cable release on the digital cameras.

This is not going to replace a tripod, but you will be amazed at how rock-steady you can hold a long lens: get your feet right, elbows planted to the side, hand supporting the lens, face supporting the camera, and then you get that wonderful 3-point plant on your chest. If you can lean against something as well, it gets even better.

I Googled "Leica table tripod" and find it's still available. I was astounded at the price of $119.85 (Ace Photo). I think I paid around thirty bucks for mine but, OK, that was 35 years ago :D

I did not do an exhaustive search (I already have one) but did see something on e-Bay for 99-cents (plus $10 s/h) :)

I offer this for what it's worth.

Rusty

[Bob_Benner]

Thanks for the info Rusty, I will definately have to give this a try. Of course nothing really beats a good Tripod, but how often do you see a shot and just can not make it because you would have to set up a tripod inorder to get the picture. With this technique I could see myself walking around with everything attached and using my camera shoulder strap. Great info, thanks again:)

[LeeOtsubo]

A trick I remember from the dark ages is the stringpod. When you're caught without a tripod or monopod, tie a (strong) string to your camera strap, step on the loose end on the ground and pull the camera up tight against the string. When using a long lens, tie the string around the barrel of the lens or tripod mount, if you have one.

These days, a QR plate for $10 can be used to anchor the string on the camera. If your long lens has a tripod mount, attach the QR plate to it.

Geez, I probably have other useless ideas collecting dust in my mind that I can't remember anymore. They say memory is the second thing that goes and I can't remember the first thing.

[TonyW]

Rusty: Funny you should mention that. I have one of these (http://www.gentec-intl.com/Default.asp?mode=prd&div_id=&prod_id=B610) that I picked up for $20 and it works just great the way you describe it - originally got it for my little Sony P&S as an emergency, stick it in your pocket, tripod. Found that it works great as a stabilizer on the big camera. Not a Leica but it works :D

Tony

[Rusty]

I could see myself walking around with everything attached and using my camera shoulder strap

No, Bob, You gotta get it right -- remember the image. You put the strap around your neck, the tripod feet hit close to your stomach, the lens points sorta down, and swings from side to side when you walk; letting it swing is part of the image. Way Cool :cool:

Two weeks after the first hocky game I covered, 3 other Dads showed up with the same Leica TT arrangement :)

You can't do that with a stringpod! (Yeah, Lee, I remember that one too. It works but, as I say, it doesn't look cool)

Rusty

[pixlbandit]

Gosh! I've used my Gorillapod that way and thought that I probably looked like a dork!
Vicki