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My first search for an ideal travel tripod
culminated in 1990 with the Cullman Mini-Tripod.
The picture above shows the Cullman contrasted
against the giant Bogen. I'm surprised that the Cullman is still
available (Model CU-1002) for $57.50 at
http://www.rtsphoto.com/html/cullm2a.html.
The little Cullman is a tubular device with
three-section legs and screw-in locking lugs. It has a
reversible center post and ball head.
Collapsed, the tripod is just over 18 inches
long, ideal for packing in the bottom of a suitcase. It extends
to 48 inches, not quite tall enough for eye-level viewing but
good for a digital camera with a fold-out LCD (such as my Nikon
CP5000). Best of all, the Mini-Tripod weighs less than two
pounds.
Over the years, the ball and socket head lost
its grip and I had to replace it this year with a Manfretto ball
and socket. This has been my travel tripod for 12 years, serving
me faithfully in Europe, Asia, Hawaii and North America.
At PMA, I heard about a Hakuba tripod called the
Velbon Maxi 343, built to the specifications posed by Herbert
Keppler of Popular Photography.
On paper, the Velbon 343 is a duplicate of my
Cullman. Same weight: 1.9 pounds. Folds to 17.5 inches. A better
ball/socket head.
But, the 343 extends to 62.4 inches. That's eye
level for me, important for easy composition.
So how did Hakuba gain an entire foot of height
in a tripod of identical folded dimensions? Well, I measured
each of the telescoping section legs. On the Maxi 343, each
section is over 10 inches in length. On the Cullman, each
section is less than seven inches long. The Velbon extension
post is an inch longer.
Other advantages of the 343 include flip locks
for the legs. The Cullman has screw-down legs which sometimes
required a wrench to loosen them. Rubber feet can be unscrewed
to reveal spiked feet for icy surfaces. The 343 ships with a
canvas carry bag.
The Velbon 343 is a fairly difficult product to
locate. I got mine from Continental Camera in Buffalo (http://www.continentalcamera.com)
but have since located it at Electronics eMall for $69.95 (http://electronicsemall.com/velmax343etr.html). |