I thought I would start a thread on tripod & accessories suitable for MFT cameras used for Post Focus (Panasonic) and focus stacking (Panasonic, Olympus and even Fuji). These camera bodies are smaller and lighter than the average 35mm camera. Several of the options could handle a 35mm body without any dramas.
Nick (gardnersassistant) posted details of his Benro setup (with Velbon arm), but that model is no longer available and I started my own search.
VANGUARD
The Vanguard Alta Pro models have a Multi-Angle Central Column (MACC) System, allowing great flexibility to get close to the ground and various positions. Example here: https://is.gd/GPii64
Aluminium and carbon fibre models are available. In Australia they are expensive. It is best to wait for a 15%off sale from CR Kennedy the importer.
BENRO
The flexible centre column can be found in the SystemGo and SystemGo Plus tripods. Availability varies between countries. Mechanism displayed here: https://youtu.be/GjJa8N-02JM
BENBO
Hard to find but the Benbo Trekker has a flexible centre column: http://www.patersonphotographic.com/?p=358
Once mastered it seems to offer great flexibility, demo here: https://youtu.be/pPTm86fJNTc
3 LEGGED THING
They also offer some interesting designs like built in monopods and reversible centre columns allowing considerable flexibility. They have different series all with interesting names like the 3 LEGGED THING Punk Brian.
Availability in Australia is not good.
VELBON VS SERIES
The build quality is not as good with the Velbon and I have some stability concerns based on other Velbon’s I have used, but they do offer flexibility for smaller camera bodies: http://www.velbon.biz/product/vs.html
Demo video here: https://youtu.be/1Yj0Khrb9mk
K&F CONCEPT
Robert Hall did a review of the TM2534T tripod and spoke very highly of build quality and features. It has a built in monopod and an extremely flexible centre column. It has extraordinary flexibility, best shown by this video: https://youtu.be/IPzSdAVyf3M
Plus a very competitive price of USD150 delivered to Australia.
Other models have column flexibility and options in aluminium and carbon fibre (like the TM2515T), but they are not as flexible as the TM2534T.
Also marketed under Neewer's & Zomei's name on Amazon.
OBEN LATERAL SERIES
The brand only seems available through B&H. But the lateral series allows the user to move the centre column into various positions. Demo here: https://youtu.be/ihft26m_kZE?t=18
ACCESSORIES
If you already have a good tripod a flexible arm maybe the best choice. They are available from
Feisel
FEISOL Horizontal Adapter VH-40HA KIT: https://is.gd/g5Jt8s
FEISOL VH-60 Horizontal Adapter Kit, only suitable for large tripods. It is overkill for a MFT camera body: https://is.gd/VDYRZf
K&F Concept
Has a “Rotatable Multi-Angle Center Column” for USD35: https://is.gd/I3JTLO
Video demo here: https://youtu.be/2AE2ha-Y0J4
I bought one to test on my trusty old Gitzo tripod.
Manfrotto
Manfrotto 131D lateral arm (less flexible that most arms), very like the FEISOL Horizontal Adapter PB-70HA KIT.
Sirui
Sirui HA-77 Horizontal Arm
Tether Tools
The Rock Solid 2-Head Cross Bar Side Arm (and variants): https://www.tethertools.com/?p=2436128
Velbon
Velbon V-4 Articulating Boom Arm: https://is.gd/wCzDGP
Feel free to add other models.
Post focus tripods & accessories
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Post focus tripods & accessories
Last edited by TheDocAUS on Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:36 pm, edited 13 times in total.
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gardenersassistant
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Sun May 31, 2009 5:21 am
- Location: North Somerset, England
I hope it's ok to talk about technique/usage here as well as the physical items.
Here is the setup I'm using, as photographed in mid 2014 with a Canon 70D that I was using for botanical scenes at the time. It is a Benro carbon fibre tripod with a Velbon arm and no name rail and ball head. As a result of recent discussions I had a look at a more up to date Benro with a central column that it is easier to reverse. However I decided to stick with this one because I find the levers on the legs work well for me and I'm not sure I would like having instead to turn the locking mechanisms on the current tripod of this type.
0575 10 2014_06_03 P1370579 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 12 2014_06_03 P1370581 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 14 2014_06_03 P1370583 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 19 2014_06_03 P1370590 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 07 2014_06_03 P1370575 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
Since then I had a quite long period of hardly ever using a tripod because sessions seemed more fluid when working hand-held rather than feeling awkwardly stop-go with a tripod. Just recently with the G9 I have started using a tripod again, for stacking captures using post focus.
Hand-held can work fine for post focus depending on the shooting conditions and magnification, and that is what I used almost all the time with the G80. At around the time I got the G9 I wondered if using a tripod would increase the image quality, but I wasn't convinced of that from a like for like comparison of 8 scenes with and without the tripod (full size JPEGs in this album at Flickr).
The hand-held captures in the linked Flickr album have "HH" in the name. The others have "TPA" in the name. This is because I used a tripod-assisted approach where I keep my hands on the camera, using the tripod like one uses a monopod (so I don't use a remote release as in the above photos). I use this tripod-assisted approach rather than working hands-off because of the fine control it gives me. I find when working hands-off that changes of framing when I let go of the camera to take the shot can get quite annoying. Also, some of the shots are simply not possible with a hands-off approach because the tripod has to be in an unstable position/configuration to get the shot.
Of course using a tripod doesn't help with subjects that move. However, post focus does work with moving botanical subjects. I often work in a breeze with subjects moving while the capture is in progress. Whether this works or not depends on whether the part of the plant you want in focus is moving as a single entity, which can be ok, or has separate parts moving independently, which is less likely to work, although it does work sometimes. In such cases success rates are likely to be much higher with post focus than with focus bracketing because the capture rate is (with my G series cameras at least) over six times faster with post focus (30 fps) than focus bracketing (around 4.5 captures/sec).
I wouldn't say the setup I'm using is sturdy; there is give and sag in various connections. This doesn't matter much for hands-on use. And I think there is probably, in general, a trade-off between sturdiness and flexibility. My preference leans towards flexibility. That said, I have used my setup for some hands-off work, using focus bracketing such as these.
1058 1 2017_01_08 P1190127-94 (B,Radius50,Smoothing3+Cetc) LR6 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
1276 02 2018_01_12 G80+60 F2.8 ISO200 1-100 FB 92i (B,1,1+outerB,21,10+clone) P1130718-809v3 LR6 1300h-2 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
1263 1 2017_12_14 Paperweight 1 FB 168i F2.8 (B,Radius4,Smoothing2) LR6 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
Here is the setup I'm using, as photographed in mid 2014 with a Canon 70D that I was using for botanical scenes at the time. It is a Benro carbon fibre tripod with a Velbon arm and no name rail and ball head. As a result of recent discussions I had a look at a more up to date Benro with a central column that it is easier to reverse. However I decided to stick with this one because I find the levers on the legs work well for me and I'm not sure I would like having instead to turn the locking mechanisms on the current tripod of this type.
0575 10 2014_06_03 P1370579 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 12 2014_06_03 P1370581 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 14 2014_06_03 P1370583 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 19 2014_06_03 P1370590 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
0575 07 2014_06_03 P1370575 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
Since then I had a quite long period of hardly ever using a tripod because sessions seemed more fluid when working hand-held rather than feeling awkwardly stop-go with a tripod. Just recently with the G9 I have started using a tripod again, for stacking captures using post focus.
Hand-held can work fine for post focus depending on the shooting conditions and magnification, and that is what I used almost all the time with the G80. At around the time I got the G9 I wondered if using a tripod would increase the image quality, but I wasn't convinced of that from a like for like comparison of 8 scenes with and without the tripod (full size JPEGs in this album at Flickr).
The hand-held captures in the linked Flickr album have "HH" in the name. The others have "TPA" in the name. This is because I used a tripod-assisted approach where I keep my hands on the camera, using the tripod like one uses a monopod (so I don't use a remote release as in the above photos). I use this tripod-assisted approach rather than working hands-off because of the fine control it gives me. I find when working hands-off that changes of framing when I let go of the camera to take the shot can get quite annoying. Also, some of the shots are simply not possible with a hands-off approach because the tripod has to be in an unstable position/configuration to get the shot.
Of course using a tripod doesn't help with subjects that move. However, post focus does work with moving botanical subjects. I often work in a breeze with subjects moving while the capture is in progress. Whether this works or not depends on whether the part of the plant you want in focus is moving as a single entity, which can be ok, or has separate parts moving independently, which is less likely to work, although it does work sometimes. In such cases success rates are likely to be much higher with post focus than with focus bracketing because the capture rate is (with my G series cameras at least) over six times faster with post focus (30 fps) than focus bracketing (around 4.5 captures/sec).
I wouldn't say the setup I'm using is sturdy; there is give and sag in various connections. This doesn't matter much for hands-on use. And I think there is probably, in general, a trade-off between sturdiness and flexibility. My preference leans towards flexibility. That said, I have used my setup for some hands-off work, using focus bracketing such as these.
1058 1 2017_01_08 P1190127-94 (B,Radius50,Smoothing3+Cetc) LR6 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
1276 02 2018_01_12 G80+60 F2.8 ISO200 1-100 FB 92i (B,1,1+outerB,21,10+clone) P1130718-809v3 LR6 1300h-2 by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
1263 1 2017_12_14 Paperweight 1 FB 168i F2.8 (B,Radius4,Smoothing2) LR6 1300h by gardenersassistant, on Flickr
Nick
Flickr
Blog
Journey since 2007
Rework and reposts of my images posted in this forum are always welcome, especially if they come with an explanation of what you did and how you did it.
Flickr
Blog
Journey since 2007
Rework and reposts of my images posted in this forum are always welcome, especially if they come with an explanation of what you did and how you did it.
More testing needed, but my initial thoughts on the K&F Concept TM2534T are positive. Stable, flexible and at a fair price (you can argue its cheap for what you get). It is close to the functionality of Nick's Benro setup.
Not sure it is sturdy enough for a DSLR, but for a MFT camera it is ideal.
The K&F Concept “Rotatable Multi-Angle Center Column” seems a bit small. No need for me to use it on the TM2534T, and my other tripods are probably too big for it to be of much use, but time will tell.
Not sure it is sturdy enough for a DSLR, but for a MFT camera it is ideal.
The K&F Concept “Rotatable Multi-Angle Center Column” seems a bit small. No need for me to use it on the TM2534T, and my other tripods are probably too big for it to be of much use, but time will tell.
K&F Concept “Rotatable Multi-Angle Center Column
K&F Concept “Rotatable Multi-Angle Center Column”
The arm works nicely on a small tripod like the SunwayFoto T1A20 or RRS TP-243. These smaller tripods and arms are not as sturdy as full-size tripods, meaning more care is required with good in field technique.
The arm does NOT come with a ballhead but I use my Sunwayfoto 3-way geared head.
It is a light build but sturdy enough for a MFT camera body. There is a rubber cover for one end of the arm, which I am sure I will lose soon, it comes off too easily.
I have a strong preference for the K&F Concept TM2534T tripod, it is just a better overall package (the USD35 for the arm is better used going towards the USD150 tripod price).
The arm maybe useful for someone looking for greater flexibility on a small tripod they own, but not much else. It is not useful for larger tripods.
K&F Concept accidentally sent me two tripods and arms, making it even cheaper ???? I will contact K&F after they come back from Chinese New Year to resolve the mix up.
The arm works nicely on a small tripod like the SunwayFoto T1A20 or RRS TP-243. These smaller tripods and arms are not as sturdy as full-size tripods, meaning more care is required with good in field technique.
The arm does NOT come with a ballhead but I use my Sunwayfoto 3-way geared head.
It is a light build but sturdy enough for a MFT camera body. There is a rubber cover for one end of the arm, which I am sure I will lose soon, it comes off too easily.
I have a strong preference for the K&F Concept TM2534T tripod, it is just a better overall package (the USD35 for the arm is better used going towards the USD150 tripod price).
The arm maybe useful for someone looking for greater flexibility on a small tripod they own, but not much else. It is not useful for larger tripods.
K&F Concept accidentally sent me two tripods and arms, making it even cheaper ???? I will contact K&F after they come back from Chinese New Year to resolve the mix up.