silly tripod load capacity question....

just wondering about load capacities on tripods. I just ordered a Gitzo 1158t tripod which has a 9.9 lb load capacity. Does that mean when I have a 70-200/100-400 attached to either of my bodies I can't hang anything heavier than an apple (figuratively speaking of course) from the hook on the centerpost? I am used to hanging my camera bag from the center post. I've been using a bogen/manfrotto 055mf4 which has a load capacity of around 15 pounds. Now my camera bags sure weighs more than 15 lbs, but it always seemed just fine. Since the tripod is so light, the more weight I can hang from it the better.

Basically what I am asking is can I hang a 20-25lb camera bag on my tripod with a "load rating" of 9.9lbs? I feel ridiculous for asking a question where the answer seems so obvious (no moron, 9.9lbs is 9.9lbs)...oh well.

look forward to hearing from everyone on this one. thanks!

EDIT: OH NO! I PUT THIS TOPIC IN THE CAMERA THREAD AND NOT ACCESSORIES THREAD....sorry everyone for for that. Mods, you are more than welcome to move this to the accessories forum.

I've heard that load ratings are very conservative especially with a top brand like Gitzo. That said I wouldn't plan to exceed it myself and definitely not by a factor of almost 300%. I don't think it matters whether the load is on top or hanging below, pulling or pushing on something exterts the same force.

My everyday bag weighs 23 pounds....I hang it on the hook of my Manfrotto 3021 all the time.

Doesn't the load rating apply to what's on the top of the tripod only?

Cathpah wrote in post #2392838
just wondering about load capacities on tripods. I just ordered a Gitzo 1158t tripod which has a 9.9 lb load capacity. Does that mean when I have a 70-200/100-400 attached to either of my bodies I can't hang anything heavier than an apple (figuratively speaking of course) from the hook on the centerpost? I am used to hanging my camera bag from the center post. I've been using a bogen/manfrotto 055mf4 which has a load capacity of around 15 pounds. Now my camera bags sure weighs more than 15 lbs, but it always seemed just fine. Since the tripod is so light, the more weight I can hang from it the better.

Basically what I am asking is can I hang a 20-25lb camera bag on my tripod with a "load rating" of 9.9lbs? I feel ridiculous for asking a question where the answer seems so obvious (no moron, 9.9lbs is 9.9lbs)...oh well.

look forward to hearing from everyone on this one. thanks!

EDIT: OH NO! I PUT THIS TOPIC IN THE CAMERA THREAD AND NOT ACCESSORIES THREAD....sorry everyone for for that. Mods, you are more than welcome to move this to the accessories forum.

There was a post somewhere from a guy who had written to Gitzo. The response he got back was that the maximum usable load for a camera on top of the tripod. Beyond that number, the tripod loses effectiveness in reducing vibration. Clearly, any of these will hold a much, much, much higher weight than this before they fail.

J.

GilesGuthrie wrote in post #2394108
Doesn't the load rating apply to what's on the top of the tripod only?

Hey guys,

Im an engineer, I dont even own a DSLR yet (will next week though!) let alone a tripod, but I could safely say 25 lbs is fine, in fact you will probably hold a hell of a lot more than that, just make vibration or anything that could cause a problem, anything thats well built will, as long as your hanging it on the centre line it will be fine.

Giles:

whether something is on top if the tripod, below ot or anywhere on its axis, the force acts on the same place.

JohnJ80 wrote in post #2394908
The response he got back was that the maximum usable load for a camera on top of the tripod.
J.

Just covering there arse's, you know how americans and lawsuits together...

No ofence intended anyone, just poking a bit of fun.

I resemble that remark Brrrt_Tsssh.

I don't make a habit of suing others, but have been the victim of a suit claiming marital relations were damaged as a result of a car accident (where they hit me!), but 6 months into deliberations the lovely bride of the family appears knocked up and chatting about the excitement of their next child. I seem to recall that marital relations is a pre-requisite for most pregnancies. BTW, my insurance company settled rather than fought.

And I wonder why we're a litigious society?

For any reputable manufacturer of tripods, the "supported weight" specification should have NOTHING to do with how much you can actually load the tripod before it is not able to support the weight. The specification should be related to how heavy a camera/lens package can be with the tripod holding it "steady". Unfortunately, to my knowledge there is no standard rating for how steady a tripod has to be to get a particular rating.

I am fairly sure that cheapie tripods are far over-rated as far as how steady they can hold a heavier camera/lens than the products from manufacturers of higher-end tripods. I would suspect the ratings of the cheapie tripods are closer to how much weight you can put on them before collapse occurs than the ratings of, say, Bogen/Manfrotto's main line tripods.

IMO, i would look at the 1/4-20 0r 3/8 stud first. If it is cheap metal, it will snap quite easily. I have seen more than once, photographers walking in the woods with their tripod on their shoulder, camera and big lens mounted on the tripod. Three have had their gear wind up taking a dump to the ground because the stud broke.

Brrrt_tsssh wrote in post #2395740
Hey guys,

Im an engineer, I dont even own a DSLR yet (will next week though!) let alone a tripod, but I could safely say 25 lbs is fine, in fact you will probably hold a hell of a lot more than that, just make vibration or anything that could cause a problem, anything thats well built will, as long as your hanging it on the centre line it will be fine.

Giles:

whether something is on top if the tripod, below ot or anywhere on its axis, the force acts on the same place.

I'm an engineer too. A tripod is not about supporting gross amounts of weight without collapsing. It is about insulating the camera mass from vibration that wrecks image sharpness.

Read this and tell me what you think. This will also help you understand why Gitzo sets their loads where they do - it about defining the effective load for their tripods while shooting a photograph.

Charlie Kim Tripod Teechnique

J.

I wrote to Gitzo and asked them about the weight recommendation, because the explorer seems much more solid than other manufacturer's similarly rated tripods.

Their reply was that some tripods are rated for carrying weight but the Gitzo rates on "recommended weight" which takes vibration damping into consideration.

They rate the explorer at about 20 pounds, but I can put my entire body weight on it.

Sloany wrote in post #2396766
IMO, i would look at the 1/4-20 0r 3/8 stud first. If it is cheap metal, it will snap quite easily. I have seen more than once, photographers walking in the woods with their tripod on their shoulder, camera and big lens mounted on the tripod. Three have had their gear wind up taking a dump to the ground because the stud broke.

Now that I actually think about it, this makes more sense, as when you have the camera in normal posiiton i.e horizontal the load acts directly down so no probs as far as load only is concerned, as for vibration I dunno..I but im just about to read the above post that discusses it!

But, if you have the camera in portrait position (think thats what you call it??) I.e tilted on its side, all the weight of the camera will be supported via the wee screw in bolt that fixes the camera to the tripod, that would break first as all the load is transferred to the tripod via that, so if you knew the material of that and thread size, you could figure out how much it could support before failing and the camera dropping off, plus a longer lense will cause the load to be further out, therefore increasing the stress on the bolt in both the portrait and landscape positions....

Sorry if this is too technical im at work and in work mode!! lol

[QUOTE=Sloany;2396766]​IMO, i would look at the 1/4-20 0r 3/8 stud first. If it is cheap metal, it will snap quite easily. I have seen more than once, photographers walking in the woods with their tripod on their shoulder, camera and big lens mounted on the tripod. Three have had their gear wind up taking a dump to the ground because the stud broke.[/quote

This is a very good point When i was fixing my gimble on my monopod i was not at all happy with the 3/8 fixing stud it was hollow with the 1/4 stud inside to give you 2 options but it just looked weak so fitted a 3/8 solid bolt into my monopod and bolted the gimble to the pod
After all its got to hold a 1dmk2 and 500f4isL over my shoulder when im walking so i need to be sure it wont break.
Rob

The load ratings are just a guide as to what body and lens they recommend you use it for.