This is a special order item. Est. arrival at B&H is 7-14 days (subject to availability). Your order will be charged at the time of shipment.
International orders*The Berlebach 8023 Wood Tripod Legs wtih a Center Column is a 3-section model, featuring a sliding center-column which adds additional height adjustment. These center-columns are made from precision-drawn light-metal tubing and are built into the tripod to fit precisely. Use of an extra-short center column (10 cm) enables near-ground-level work.
Berlebach has been manufacturing beautifully finished pieces of German craftsmanship for over a century, and then as now the natural advantages of wood continually appeal to discriminating shooters. Handling a wood tripod in extremes of heat or cold is quite a different experience than that of a metal or even carbon fiber tripod. Wood just seems not to care.
But despite wood's impervious nature to temperature and its general aesthetic appeal, the best reason to choose wood over any other material for a tripod is its incredible ability to absorb vibrations. A wooden tripod placed in a shallow stream may be vibrating quite a bit where the legs meet the water, but up at the column it is dead as a doornail. Putting a laser pointer on top of a metal, carbon fiber and wood tripod and shaking the legs of each clearly displays the advantage. The laser pointer's beam upon the wood tripod will have come to a rest much quicker than the others, and additionally its resonating disturbances will be smaller as well. This will assuredly show up in your pictures!
| Maximum Height | 69.3" (176.0 cm) |
| Maximum Height w/o Column Extended | 49.5" (126.0 cm) |
| Minimum Height | 20.5" (52.0 cm) |
| Folded Length | 27.2" (69.0 cm) |
| Load Capacity | 22.5 lb (10.2 kg) |
| Leg Sections | 3 |
| Leg Lock Type | Twist |
| Independent Leg Spread | Yes |
| Center Column Sections | 1 |
| Center Column Type | Rapid |
| Center Brace | No |
| Spiked Feet | Yes |
| Head Type | None |
| Head Mount Thread Size | 1/4"-20 |
| Weight | 6.20 lb (2.80 kg) |
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Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Berlebach 8023 Wood Tripod Legs with Center Column:
This is truly an "old school" tripod. If you have a need for speed, then this is not your piece of equipment. Extending the legs requires many, many turns of the locking knobs, and then again to lock the leg sections in place. I envisioned that this tripod would be extremely sturdy, however, when extended, it is actually rather shakey. It is no lightweight to carry though, and very ackward to carry unless it is in a bag. The center column release is a lever that you often have to reposition several times to fully loosen or tighten. A wing style lock would be much easier. There are "click wheels", for lack of a better term, that are used to allow the legs to spread out. These wheels are also quite ackward to use. When the tripod is extended and picked up, there is no resistence and the legs fall in, usually trapping your hand inside. Just the slightest position movement of the tripod requires you to spread the legs out again for stable footing. Also take note, the tripod uses a 1/4 inch stud to mount the head. All of my heads require a 3/8 inch stud, so better plan on buying an adapter to mount most heads. So with all these negatives, are there any positives to the tripod? Well, the title of this review kind of sums it up. It IS a lovely sight to behold, and we all know us humans put up with a lot of hardships for the sake of looks! But when I really need to USE a tripod, sorry, I will still be using my carbon fiber unit with the fast flip leg locks, much easier transportability, and what seems to be more security for my camera.
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