Just for fun who has the oldest tripod here?

Just wondering out of curiosity since I was once told by my lecturer at a photography evening class that if I bought a Leitz Tiltall as intended, I would have it for life.

Well, I did and that was back in Nov/Dec 1981. It's one of those black ones made by Leitz in Rockleigh, NJ and I still use it, being my sole tripod. Never wanted nor needed another.


How about you pals?

What's your oldest tripod that's still giving valuable service?


Best Wishes

my tripod from ~1998 is the only piece of kit I've kept from then. It was basically one of those "best tripods for <$100" purchases, it's heavy, it's clunky, it's old, it's not even made by bogen anymore (it's a 3211 or something like that).... But yeah, not worth selling. It's now my "trunkpod".

I also have the original Leitz Tiltall (not to be confused with the cheap, inferior successors sold today), which I purchased in the mid-seventies. Although it was "state-of-the-art" 35 years ago, it is certainly not today and I have not used it in many years. Although built like a tank, it is aluminum and way too heavy, has a center column (which reduces stability), and has a non-removable, big, slow, 3-way pan/tilt head. These days I use Gitzo tripods and RRS and A-S ballheads, but will never sell the Tiltall.

I have, and sometimes use, a Spiratone Versatile (Velbon rebadged) dating back to around 1972. But mostly I use one of my newer CF models.

I love my old Tiltall, It's cumbersome and slow but you can't beat the price. I've seen them selling on CL for $25-$100

I have a Bogen 3020 I've had about 25 years. It has the original 3028 head that came with it. I still use it. Kinda heavy by todays standards. I just ordered a Manfrotto 488RC for it.

Houston1863 wrote in post #8389700
Just wondering out of curiosity since I was once told by my lecturer at a photography evening class that if I bought a Leitz Tiltall as intended, I would have it for life.

Well, I did and that was back in Nov/Dec 1981. It's one of those black ones made by Leitz in Rockleigh, NJ and I still use it, being my sole tripod. Never wanted nor needed another.


How about you pals?

What's your oldest tripod that's still giving valuable service?


Best Wishes

While it's been retired but still in my posession, I have one of those black Tiltall tripods also. I used it for many years to hold up my Mamiya 645's and Bronica ETR-S cameras when I was doing weddings.

A Linhof 3 section studio tripod purchased in 1969.

I have an old tripod purchased in 1969. I had another that was older but sold it off with a film camera. I still use mine for shooting pictures with my P&S and light box.

Win

I've got a wooden tripod from the 30s. It has an obsolete attaching mechanism that doesn't fit anything today, though.

Jon wrote in post #8390007
I have, and sometimes use, a Spiratone Versatile (Velbon rebadged) dating back to around 1972. .

Why am I not surprised?

I have a black Tiltall that I bought back in 1972
and I still use it today.

My tripod is a very large granite rock outside our new house, I think it dates back to about 10,000BC or so. Not very portable though, and this probably doesn't quite count, does it?

It's solid, it's stationary and it keeps the camera steady. That should count.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #8400926
My tripod is a very large granite rock outside our new house, I think it dates back to about 10,000BC or so. Not very portable though, and this probably doesn't quite count, does it?

tonybear007 wrote in post #8401091
It's solid, it's stationary and it keeps the camera steady. That should count.

My tripod is this massive orb of dirt roughly the size of the earth. It's a few million years old. Does that count?