Blue Leg

Do you know who Bluestockings were? Go look it up. Then find a novel by Sarah Fielding and read it. It won't have photography in it, but you'll be on your way to literacy. In the meantime have a look at the Leofoto tripods in Camera Electronic. The ones hanging on the tripod hooks with the silver-coloured leg locks. Both the smaller and larger Poseidon models are quite beautiful - a term we seldom use for the everyday devices that make up photography. We might regard a camera or a lens as such, but we seldom extend the compliment to tripods and accessories. The advertising spiel for the Poseidon series mentions sea-water resistance conferred by titanium and silicon rubber parts. Certainly the main tubes in that gorgeous blue are carbon fibre. The surprise is when to unlock and discover that it's blue all the way up, Folks. Note that Benbo tripods used to resist seawater too - by the simple expedient of building their tubes upside down and sealed on the bottom. We sold one to a marine biologist who loved it for just this reason. But no-one who ever operated the leg and column lock at the top of a Benbo for the first time ever forgot the experience. I have the blood blisters to this day... The Leofoto Poseidons come in a medium and large, with the difference in size of the legs carrying on to a larger and more complex head. Complexity per se is often a burden, but in this case it allows the user to add the control of friction within the parts and the degree to which the head can be easily adjusted. If you are dealing with a larger and heavier camera or lens, pop for the bigger Leofoto and set the drag on the ball tighter - it will make handling the rig a lot smoother. Here's a question that you need to ask yourself - when do you actually replace a tripod? It's fun to see the new stuff, but when should you consider changing to a new support? Well, if you are dealing with an old tripod that is mainly plastic and starting to crack up, NOW is the time, Run, do not walk, to Camera Electronic, and let us save you from dumping your camera on the road. Likewise, if the dear old pod is starting to corrode away or spall up at the aluminium joints,it is a good time to look at how much better stuff has gotten in the interval between the Menzies Government and now. Old leg clips are in invitation to disaster. If you are going to be standing in salt water, think about what you're doing. I have an old Tiltall that was wonderfully retro until I went down to the beach and started the electrolysis. And finally, consider the art of Art. You need not look like Steptoe when you go out shooting pictures, and neither does your equipment. Make a statement, and make it a stylish one. Show a leg. A blue one.