Taller tripod

[Alan Christensen]

I currently have two Bogen 475 tripods. They work great, but sometimes I wish I could go a bit higher. I notice that the Bogen 3046 goes 15" higher than the 475, but from the picture it doesn't look like it has a variable leg spreader. If you go to maximum height, then are you stuck with the footprint being a single, very large size? This might be a problem when I am in tight quarters but still want to go high. My 475's allow me to make the tripod more vertical to handle this situation. Does the 3046 allow you to do the same?

[Frank Granovski]

I had the Manfrotto 075B, and it went very high. But it was difficult to level and it only had a short handle.

[Don Bloom]

The 3046/3246 (same but black) will get up there. I've gotten mine over 8 feet without the center colum OR the leg extentions. With the legs they'll go almost 10 feet still without the center column. The spreader is not variable BUT I use mine all the time with the legs close and use either a super clamp or duct tape to keep them in place. It works, the clamp obviously is better.
And now I think I'll get off this subject as my dirty old mans mind is starting to envision things an old guy like me probably shouldn't be seeing in his head ;-) (legs and all that)
Hope this helps,
Don B.

[Alan Christensen]

Don-

Thanks for the reply. What do you tape/clamp to keep the legs close? the center slider? what do you mean by a super clamp? Is this just some sort of c clamp or is it some sort of accessory made for just this purpose?

[Don Bloom]

Alan,
Bogen makes a multipurpose clamp called "the super clamp". I always have a couple laying around for mounting or clamping..well, things! Yes, tape UNDER the slider and build some tape up to keep the slider from moving downward OR you can use a "C" clamp but put something like tape or some other soft cover on the jaws of the clamp so you don't mar the surface of the tripod. Mr. Bogen would get mighty upset if you mess up his tripods beeeeeeeuatiful finish.

Man, I'm gettin' punchy, hope this helps you out. The 3046 although kinda heavy is a super pod, I've got 3 and love 'em.
Good luck,
Don

[Dave Largent]

Don,

What did you mean about the "leg extensions" that
allow it to go 10 feet high? Is this an accessory
item?

Off topic, but I thought about some advice you
gave me awhile back regarding using light stands
at weddings when I read on another forum about
that photographer who was running the cords
over grass and someone tripped on a cord
and the bride got a gash on her head from the light.
(I had asked about using a stand near the dance floor
and you advised against it.) When you were doing
stills, did you cover those cords that were run over
grass? Or maybe back then you didn't as people
weren't so litigious?

[Don Bloom]

Dave,
The leg extensions are now a part of the lower legs of the 3046.
When I got my first 2 the legs had only a single drop down that took the tripod up to about 6 feet, now there is a screw collar on a 2nd drop down leg that takes the tripod up about another 2 feet. BandH has them listed under tripod accessories I think and the come in black and silver. About $50.00. I got a couple of sets for my other 2 tripods when I got my 3rd 3246 and it took about 5 minutes to retro fit the others. Neat!

When I was doing weddings as a still photog back in the olden days, you know, 8X10 view camera-flash powder ETC :-)

Seriously, I never used any lighting more than my strobes could provide. I had a 200wattsec Graflex/Singer that I used on a 40" white umbrella as a main light and a 50 wattsec Graflex/Singer that I threw a piece of diffusion material on and used on the camera as a front fill. Now I used this setup for the formals both before and after the ceremony. No cords as my 200WS strobe had a slave attachment and the battery box was pretty big and heavy and so was the stand. It was actually made for a 8" Klieg light to be used in a studio and had 3 legs that folded up and then when opened came straight out at a 90 degree angle from the stand. Very solid. I hung the battery box on the lowest part of the stand off the thumb screw which was really about a 3 inch "T" screw and I could just about stand on it. Very solid very strong very heavy. The only way that stand set up could fall over was if someone purposely knocked it over.

Anyway, there were no cords running and if there were too many people gathering I would ask someone, ususally a guy in the bridal party just to kinda keep folks away (I always try to make friends with the guys in the party). Never had a problem except one time down at the lakefront doing some fashion work for a small company the wind wanted to take the umbrella and move the stand a little. A couple of sand bags fixed that.
Hope that I answered your question, oh, yeah, people still sued then, just not for as many stupid things as today.

Don