# Basic tripod questions



## kat.hayes (Jan 27, 2016)

I'm really new to photography and borrowed a tripod to use with my 5DM3. Up until now I have been shooting without one. I seem to be having a very difficult time with properly setting the tripod up. I am using a Feisol CT-3441S.

1. Is there a series of steps that I should generally follow when setting up the tripod?
2. I start out by moving each of the 3 legs into place, though I seem to have a difficult time getting it level. And, if I do get it level, I do not see how the legs can get locked into place. Is there something I'm missing here?
3. The ballhead has 3 dials, the smaller one locks/releases it from rotating. I can not seem to figure out what the larger lock/release dial does and I also have no idea what the small friction dial is for.

Any help will be very much appreciated!


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 27, 2016)

Just pull out the legs to the desired height – when using a ballhead, the only time you need the tripod itself to be level is when shooting a panorama (and if you do that routinely, better to get a rotating platform for on top of the ballhead).

You say what legs you have, not what head. But typically on ballheads with three knobs, the big one tightens/loosens the ball (2D movement, main function to position camera), the smaller knob near the base is the pan lock which releases the base to rotate only on one axis (parallel to ground for panning), and the third knob is the tension control for the ball – you can set it such that the tension is slightly greater than the load, so with the main knob tight you can move the camera around against resistance but it will stay in that place when you let it go.


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## privatebydesign (Jan 27, 2016)

This might be worth a view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpC8tAukoGg


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## JonAustin (Jan 27, 2016)

Apologies if this is too brash, but rather then watching the skeevy dude in the video, have you considered asking the person from whom you borrowed the tripod to give you a setup tutorial?


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## kat.hayes (Jan 28, 2016)

Thanks for the replies and patience for my ignorance. The ballhead is a Feisol CB-40D. Thanks for the link, though it didn't help much. The tripod in the video shows the small levers on the top outside of each leg for locking them/changing angle, though the one I’m using is on the inside and they do not seem to lock when pressing them for changing the angle.

The person I am borrowing the tripod from is out of the country for a while, that is why I’m able to use it, though not properly…

1. Why do you not need to be concerned if the tripod is level when using a ballhead? I assumed that you had to spend time configuring it to be level to ensure your shot does not seem off balance, are you saying that is not a concern with using a tripod?

2. There just seems like there is movement with the ballhead when I bump into it which would mess with a shot…how do I tighten this so it does not move like cane be seen in the video?

https://youtu.be/nbS8wExc470

Thanks!!!


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## Pookie (Jan 28, 2016)

kat.hayes said:


> Thanks for the replies and patience for my ignorance. The ballhead is a Feisol CB-40D. Thanks for the link, though it didn't help much. The tripod in the video shows the small levers on the top outside of each leg for locking them/changing angle, though the one I’m using is on the inside and they do not seem to lock when pressing them for changing the angle.
> 
> The person I am borrowing the tripod from is out of the country for a while, that is why I’m able to use it, though not properly…
> 
> ...



I will assume you have a computer since you posted this. Google - Feisol CB-40D Manual.

Scroll down to the actual company website. There you will find the product description for the ballhead you are asking about, and directly on top is a button for the manual of the head. Second do a site search and you will find the manual for the actual tripod with setup instructions. Not difficult to find and a hell of alot easier than opening a thread on this forum to get a BS video from CR's expert Google Gopher.

This is for the CB50D but they state "The following manual applies to all FEISOL Ball Heads"

http://www.feisol.com/0823ballhead_um.html or http://www.feisol.com/0823usermanual.html


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## privatebydesign (Jan 28, 2016)

Ooh, I really like Google Gopher, thanks , I've changed my avatar. :-*

P.S. Do you not see the irony of trying to insult somebody by calling them out for doing a Google search, meanwhile suggesting doing a Google search? Amazing..............


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## Pookie (Jan 28, 2016)

privatebydesign said:


> Ooh, I really like Google Gopher, thanks , I've changed my avatar. :-*



It's definitely fitting... ;D


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## DJL329 (Jan 28, 2016)

kat.hayes said:


> 1. Why do you not need to be concerned if the tripod is level when using a ballhead? I assumed that you had to spend time configuring it to be level to ensure your shot does not seem off balance, are you saying that is not a concern with using a tripod?
> 
> 2. There just seems like there is movement with the ballhead when I bump into it which would mess with a shot…how do I tighten this so it does not move like cane be seen in the video?




1. You misunderstood Neuro. You want the _camera_ to be level, not necessarily the tripod.

Use the tripod legs to _support_ the camera, so that the camera is at the correct height, balanced (so it won't fall over), etc. 

Then, use the ball head to _level_ the camera, using the largest of the 3 knobs to loosen/tighten the ball, as Neuro described.

2. The pan knob (the one closest to the base) should tighten the base so that it doesn't move, as you showed in the video. If tightening this knob has no effect, then the head _may_ be broken.


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## Ozarker (Jan 28, 2016)

Pookie said:


> kat.hayes said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the replies and patience for my ignorance. The ballhead is a Feisol CB-40D. Thanks for the link, though it didn't help much. The tripod in the video shows the small levers on the top outside of each leg for locking them/changing angle, though the one I’m using is on the inside and they do not seem to lock when pressing them for changing the angle.
> ...



Dang!


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## tolusina (Jan 28, 2016)

kat.hayes said:


> ......
> 
> 2. There just seems like there is movement with the ballhead when I bump into it which would mess with a shot…how do I tighten this so it does not move like cane be seen in the video?
> 
> https://youtu.be/nbS8wExc470


I've zero experience with Feisol, but the play shown in your video seems definitely wrong.
I'd not hesitate removing the head from the legs, look see if there's a screw loose that's allowing the play.

If you want to shoot multi-frame panoramas, you want the base level.
Without a leveling base or post, you'll set level by adjusting the legs.
It's a pano, you're not generally in a hurry.
Helpful for base leveling is a level such as this...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/882986-REG/Sunwayfoto_LP_76_Leveling_Plate.html







I don't see where anyone has yet mentioned _The Rule_, *Lens Over Leg*.
The bigger the lens and/or the more irregular the terrain, the more _The Rule_ matters.
The idea is to have a leg directly beneath the weight of the lens to prevent the whole works from tipping.

Seems the point of a Ballhead over a three axis head is to allow adjustment in three axes with one adjustment. It's precisely freehand.

I've seen hotshoe mounted levels in shops, never seen one in use.
An example, this one from Acratech





And a B&H page listing several others...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=spirit+level&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=

If panos aren't your thing, never mind leveling the base/post, level the camera the same way you always have done, by eyeball through the finder.
6D has a built in electronic level, I think 7D and/or 7DII does too. A sweet feature I quite like and use often though I got along fine for decades without.


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 28, 2016)

tolusina said:


> I've seen hotshoe mounted levels in shops, never seen one in use.
> An example, this one from Acratech



I have one from Manfrotto, I used it before I had bodies with electronic levels which are more accurate, easier to use, and always with you.


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## CapturingLight (Jan 28, 2016)

neuroanatomist said:


> Just pull out the legs to the desired height – when using a ballhead, the only time you need the tripod itself to be level is when shooting a panorama (and if you do that routinely, better to get a rotating platform for on top of the ballhead).


Genius! I have seen these rotation platforms advertised but was always left with the impression they are to be mounted between the head and the tripod, for heads that do not have this feature. I find having to level the tripod and then the head for panoramas a pain. I have seen self leveling heads advertised but they are not cheep. Adding a rotating platform for on top of the head never occurred to me. In fact I now wonder why more tripod heads are not designed this way.


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## neuroanatomist (Jan 28, 2016)

CapturingLight said:


> neuroanatomist said:
> 
> 
> > Just pull out the legs to the desired height – when using a ballhead, the only time you need the tripod itself to be level is when shooting a panorama (and if you do that routinely, better to get a rotating platform for on top of the ballhead).
> ...



There's the PCL-1 from RRS which mounts in the ballhead clamp. There's also the Arca Swiss P0 with that type of design incorporated, and the Acratech GP which is a 'reversible' ballhead design. Check 'em out!


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## FEBS (Jan 28, 2016)

tolusina said:


> I don't see where anyone has yet mentioned _The Rule_, *Lens Over Leg*.
> The bigger the lens and/or the more irregular the terrain, the more _The Rule_ matters.
> The idea is to have a leg directly beneath the weight of the lens to prevent the whole works from tipping.



+1

But in that case I would also advice NOT using a ballhead but a gimball head instead.


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## DJL329 (Jan 29, 2016)

dilbert said:


> DJL329 said:
> 
> 
> > kat.hayes said:
> ...



Except that _assumes_ that the ground is level and the subject is the level to the ground and/or horizon, where the camera isn't angled up or down, which isn't _necessarily_ the case. This is the point Neuro made, which the OP did not understand, and why I stated "not _necessarily_ the tripod."



neuroanatomist said:


> ... when using a ballhead, the only time you need the tripod itself to be level is when shooting a panorama ...



In any case, I did address the balancing concern: "so that the camera is ... balanced (so it won't fall over)..." But thanks, anyway. :


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