Sooner or later any nature photographer has to the question – “Am I carrying too much?” The answer is always “yes” because any or all of Sod’s law, Murphy’s rule or Finagle’s corollary dictate that anything you leave behind will become essential.
Tripods are the obvious place to start. I have often (masochistically) carried an old-type Benbo tripod then, for a time, I substituted the old-pattern Baby Benbo when photographing alpines in situ (even with medium format). Foolishly, I left mine with somebody who then moved house and mislaid it. A couple of years ago I bought the newer Mini Trekker version with lighter gauge tubes and plastic right-angled elbow. Unfortunately, it is an inferior piece of kit in comparison: the plastic joint flexes and I don’t use it with a camera.
Low viewpoint, ultra wide angle 'plants in the landscape' shots are a bit of a personal trademark. The Novoflex minipod supports a Sigma 10-20 mm wide-angle zoom that has an excellent close-focus
However, I am now the proud owner of a Novoflex Minipod – it is not cheap but the quality and precision engineering is superb, as with all Novoflex products. It is simple, astonishingly flexible and, most important, rigid when I mount a Nikon D300 with battery pack, 150mm macro lens and flash set up.
The Novoflex minipod holds the 150mm f2.8 macro with complete rigidity: obviously height can be reduced and a lighter ball & socket used. A macro lens with a tripod mount ring is a real boon to move quickly from horizontal to vertical format shots
Each of its three legs (25cm length) is connected to a mini ball and socket joint: these can be independently swiveled and tilted. In addition, each joint carries three grooves of different depth which form preset stops. Each leg ends in a hard rubber ball of 3cm diameter effectively stopping it slipping on (or scratching) smooth surfaces: they also allow it to be set on a table, on stones, against a column… on a camera bag or even against one’s chest or thigh giving a height from about 30cm (depending on the head used) to a few centimetres. A suitable ball & socket head is extra.
Used with a ball and socket head the combination is ideal for getting shots of subjects at ground level – something I often do with wide-angled plant and insect shots. You can purchase a set of 15 cm extension rods (£25) in the same anodized, black finish creating a slightly higher support with little or no loss in rigidity.
photographer in action with an orchid (Limodorum abortivum) - photo by Pier Luigi Pacetti
I purchased mine at £95 from Speedgraphic, my main source of gadgetry for many years. Their service is excellent and prompt (www.speedgraphic.co.uk) and their catalogue of all those essential bits and pieces is a treasure trove.
Looks good Paul, luckily I’ve still got a baby benbo!
I’d be interested on your thoughts on the Sigma 150mm. On my D300 I’m still using my old OM macros (90mm/2 & 135mm/4.5) via a home made adapter and a rubber band to hold the dof preview button down. Plenty sharp (especially the 90) but a little lacking for convenience…
Hello Adam, another member of the Baby Benbo appreciation society and, I see, a user of Olympus macro lenses ! I still treasure the four bellows macro lenses they made and use them on an Olympus bellows with modified ‘back end’ for Nikon. I have been mulling over a future series of posts/mini essays on different categories of macro lens available and the close-focus capabilities of others. There is, for me no universal lens – the subject often dictates the kind of background you need and I like variety. I will put up something more detailed on the Sigma 150mm f2.8 macro in the next fortnight. In the meantime, it is a superb lens, solid, precision-made and with rapid autofocus (so much so that I sometimes forget to switch it off!). Optically, I cannot fault it and I am hyper-critical when it comes to sharpness. I also have a Nikon 105mm f2.8 AF/VR – (yes, slight overkill but there was a reason) and can directly compare the two. They are both ultra-sharp with excellent contrast but I find I use the 150mm macro more and more often because of its tripod mount ring. This makes it very convenient, exceedingly well-balanced and fast as a lens in the field. I often use it with the Sigma x1.4 multiplier with no visible deterioration – a tiny bit of softening at a marked aperture of f/22 but that is probably diffraction and a touch of unsharp mask later eliminates the effect. With the multiplier the lens is effectively a 210mm f/4 macro giving 1.4 x lifesize on full frame but with the crop factor of the D300 added it fills the frame with small beetles and spiders! Finally, the background is beautifully rendered at wide apertures- I dislike the pretentious term bokeh (Oh the Ok bokeh) but it is very pleasing soft blur thanks to the near-perfect circularity of the diaphragm.
Thanks Paul, useful info!
Paul – Living in out-of-the-way Pembrokeshire, I have to rely on information from others about bits of kit that I can’t see in our local photo shop. And we do have an excellent shop now, but they can’t stock everything! So, your positive comments about the Novoflex mini-pod are most welcome. I wasn’t sure whether or not to dismiss it as a gimmick, despite the brand name. But you’ve left me with a bit of a dilemma – I was looking at the Manfrotto hi-hat for use with the video camera (again waiting for an opportinity to try one) but now I’m wondering if this mini-pod will do the job for both stills and video – it seems it will take the weight of the video camera.
Adam – As regards the Sigma 150mm 2.8 macro – I agree with Paul that it is a lovely lens, and so quiet! My husband has the Nikon 105 and 60mm micro lenses, which he manages to use handheld, but I’ll go with my 150 on a tripod any day. I’ve also used it handheld for larger animals – eg leopards, elephants and impala in Kruger.
I also used to (masochistically) carry around a Uniloc 1700 tripod just because it was said to be the best thing for wildlife photography. Then when we were packing for a trip to Nepal, I looked at it and said no, enough is enough. Too big, too heavy, too clumsy, has a tendency to fall over . . . . replaced it with a Manfrotto 190B – much more my size, and just as versatile as the uniloc is supposed to be. Ever tried getting the water out of the Uniloc’s legs after being caught in a downpour?
Something else that just occurred to me… I see you’re using the commander unit with the SB-R200s rather than the D300′s built-in flash. Any reason in terms of reliability or is just more convenient?
Cheers, Adam
The commander is very convenient and I have got used to it. The display makes it easy to dial in compensation and so on. I also use the SB900 off/on camera with a diffuser both for background and as sole lighting unit and don’t have to think too much. The D300 is a great instrument but there is so much to adjust and every now and again I hit something when fumbling with buttons and just re-set everything. Too many years with hand-held flash meters and things!
Paul
Thanks Paul, still using my old OM macroflash (T28 twin) in manual but looking to upgrade soonish – wasn’t budgeting on buying the commander unit as well though. Use the built-in commander quite a bit for climbing shots so am fairly used to it now – you’re right it can be a fiddle!
Adam
I’m all for using what is familiar so that, when the opportunity arises one is not fumbling and adjusting and the ‘shot’ is the main thing. I used a Nikon SB 29S with my D100 in manual and the LCD became a visual exposure meter. After a few test shots to find the aperture to use at particular magnification and power ratio it worked very well by ‘guesswork’: just a touch of underexposure for white and yellows and over for blacks and browns…the OM T28 is superb and the geometry of the set-up produces very good relief. In the field the SB R200 set up is very quick and accurate. These days we are spoilt
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You should try to write some top ten type articles or something like it
Hello Gary,
Thanks for the suggestion. I must admit I have an aversion to ‘lists’ and ‘top ten’ type features. I know from my newspaper contacts that ‘top ten bests’ are often space-fillers and the writer struggles to get enough valid material. I have written these ‘best of’ things for travel books and after a few entries run out of steam (and destinations). In a practical sense we are three photographers who write a blog and no-one is going to send us boxes of stuff to compare. What I prefer to do is what I feel I can do best and that is to write with honesty, a ‘warts and all’ assessment of something that I, as a pro who demands a great deal and does not treat equipment with kid gloves, can use with confidence. In the case of the Novoflex Minipod it is in a class of one – for the price there is nothing else as firm or versatile. That’s my honest assessment, not motivated by free gifts – I bought it for full price and no discount! I know my co-bloggers are also of this ‘give praise where it is due’ outlook…and when we do not like something we can say so with no advertisers to please (not the case with most magazines). Long may that last.
best regards
Paul
Just found your really useful website and your recommendation of the minipod. Have you found the need to use the extension legs at all? Also wondered if you had a preference for any particular size or model of ball head to combine with the minipod. I would be using it with Canon 60mm most of the time. Thank you for some fascinating posts. Best wishes, Brian