EraserGirl

Can someone posts some images on a good way to carry a tripod attached to a rack?

it usually takes me a few minutes and many bungees to get it to not move.
and then getting it off the rack takes too long.
surely I am not the only one who has this problem.
thanks

astronomerroyal

Sorry, no solution from me - I'm in the same boat as you. I've been after an alternative ever since my tripod snagged on a footbridge sending me onto the handlebars - the bungees then catapulting me backwards, like a scene from a cartoon. Rack's never been the same since.

I've tried putting it vertically in my pannier, but it's top-heavy, still needs bungees, and has a habit of leaning over as the feet are unsecured inside the pannier.

I did find that adding those foam leg protectors to the tripod made it easier to fasten it down.

Googling 'bicycle rack tripod' didn't return anything terribly useful, other than some other people with the same problem. Maybe you should design the world's first tripod pannier? Like a quiver for arrows, with some fastening straps. I may try this myself, and if I do I'll tell you how it goes.

Good luck avoiding that granite-bound inhospitable shore...

Allen

My tripod locks.
I hook one of it's feet in the bottom of the rack's triangle and bungee the tripod to the top of the rack.
If I'm using two panniers I place a bit of foam rubber on the top of the rack and bungee the tripod on it.
The foam keeps the tripod from sliding around.

jonsam

Sounds like you need to ditch the bungees and go with a cam strap. They hold tighter and don't stretch. It will also be good to put a little padding like a folded towel or some camping foam between the tripod and the rack. This will help keep both from getting scratched as well as provide a bit of friction to keep the tripod from sliding around. Hope that works.

StephenH

A big basket is another option.

Come to think of it, if you could semi-permanently mount a big plastic tube in the position that Allen G has his tripod, you could just plop it in there and whip it out in a hurry.

wahoonc

You all must be hauling some massive tripods! I have two, one is a mini that can be used on a table top (or similar flat surface) for timer shots. The other I have is full sized and IIRC weighs maybe 5#. I use it primarily for video. It usually straps on top of the rack bag.

Aaron

retrofit

Not a full sized tripod, but this is what I'm considering:

Flexpod Tripod



And its big brother for heavier cameras:

Gripper Pod Pro



stan

astronomerroyal

does that require extra hardware? Securing the feet seems to be the solution. what sort of tripod is that? It looks interesting - one of those with a stem that can be turned horizontally?

Here's the tripod quiver I just made.

1) Aluminium T-frame (made of that square C shaped stuff).
2) Piece of camera strap at top to protect tripod.
3) Lense pouch to hold feet, bolted to quiver via its belt loop (i.e. no bolt heads inside pouch).
4) Piece of leather belt between rack and vertical strut to stop rattling.
5) Velcro strap to secure quiver to rack posts.
6) Undo bungee and lift tripod out.

I think it'll work well- certainly worth an hour or two, especially if your tripod is big and valuable. Thanks for posing the Q.

EraserGirl

These are all very cute and I do have one but it's NOT a substitute for a tripod.
sometimes there just isn't a place to attach this where you want to get your shot.
they are basically an emergency solution.

wahoonc

I have seen those used on bikes to attach a small video camera to the handlebars, definitely not the same as a full sized rigid tripod.

Aaron

Allen

The only extra hardware is the bungee cord.
That's a Gitzo (I'm a photog by trade).

HandsomeRyan

If you look closely there is a tripod strapped to the top of my rack.

graywolf

Since I use a rather large tripod (Bogan 3021), I carry it in a case on my back.

Way back in the old days (1890's), the camera that later (With a lot of add-ons.) became the Speed Graphic was designed for bicyclists (Called a bicycle camera, don't you know?), it was carried on the rear rack or dangling from the handle bars. The tripod, very much needed for a view camera, was usually a long wooden thing that normally was carried strapped to the top tube. That all was a lot of trouble for a days shooting of a half-dozen or so photos. Just thought I would put things in perspective for you

EraserGirl

Having a hard time imagining a Speed Graphic on a bike...it weighs more than some bikes..
can you see Weegee on a bicycle?

StephenH

Bikes weighed more back then, too, though.

graywolf

That is actually where the lunch box shape of the folded camera came from. A lot of guys who strip down a Speed Graphic to us as a view camera do not realize they are just converting it back to a Bicycle Camera. Strip off the viewfinders, the rangefinder, all the interconnects, flash syncronization, etc, and you have the basic 5x7x4 inch lunch box shaped focal plane shutter bicycle camera made by Folmer and Schwing in NYC.

Eventually Kodak bought them out (the bicycle craze had long since ended) and moved production to Rochester where over the years it got modified into the press camera everyone knows. It is not hard to figure how that happened; small, light, compact (For a professional 4x5 camera. There actually was a 5x7 version at one time) with a high speed focalplane shutter; it was pretty much just what a press photographer needed. When they added flash sync in the late 1920's it was a match made in heaven. The love affair lasted 50 years or so.

My Crown Graphic kit weights about 20 lbs without the tripod, my 35mm kit weighs more than that and most professional photographers' digital kit is quite a bit heavier (I only have a snapshot type digital camera).

Folks ought to read about the bike craze back at the end of the 19th century, they will be amazed at what was available. Think about it, the safety bicycle was the fastest thing around except the train. As for heavy, there was at least one bike that weighed 19 lbs back then. Bikes were the high tech thing back then.