Anyone have a RRS TP-243 Ground Level Tripod?

[Chris Brennan]

I am looking for a in-vehicle shooting solution. I drive a Mercury Mariner (essentially the same as a Ford Escape). When shooting from the driver seat, I use a heavy duty bean bag. However when I want to make a shot through the passenger window, I've not yet found a good enough solution to hold my lens/body stable enough: my monopod is still too tall; using my smallest tripod (a Bogen/Manfrotto 3443D) with a short column might work but Bogen/Manfrotto no longer makes a short column for it. And then I discovered the RRS TP-243 Ground Level Tripod... it seems pricey but well-engineered, and it might be the appropriate solution although I hadn't planned to spend that kind of $$. The lens in question is a Canon 500/f4.

Any thoughts, advice, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[colincarter]

what about a window mount, i think that would be the most secure option. The ground level tripod looks great for low level work but how would you secure it in your car?

have a look at one of these, they arnt cheap either, but they will give you what you want

http://www.kirkphoto.com/Window_Mount.html

[Ken Watkins]

Here is a cheaper alternative

http://www.vistek.ca/store/ProPhotoT...ti-tripod.aspx

[Chris Brennan]

what about a window mount, i think that would be the most secure option. The ground level tripod looks great for low level work but how would you secure it in your car?

have a look at one of these, they arnt cheap either, but they will give you what you want

http://www.kirkphoto.com/Window_Mount.html

I had a Kirk mount at one time and thought it a little unwieldly. I guess I forgot to mention that I would still want to be in the driver's seat while shooting out the passenger window. In terms of securing the low level tripod, I don't think there would be an issue because of the weight.... and I'm not overly concerned with the tripod legs dinging up my seat.

[Chris Brennan]

I posted this question on another forum and received a brilliant response: "plastic milk crate on the seat to rest bean bag on." A low tech and inexpensive solution... I love it! I'll try it out tonight!

[Billsnature]

Here is a cheaper alternative

http://www.vistek.ca/store/ProPhotoT...ti-tripod.aspx

I have one of these ergo rests and it is OK at best. I wasn't thrilled with it so I recently purchased a Rue Groofwin Pod that I haven't had a chance to try yet.

The milk create and bag does sound interesting.

[Chris Brennan]

I tried out the "milk crate with beanbag" idea and it didn't work as well as I would have liked, mostly because there was too much flex between the crate and the seat. However, a friend let me borrow his Kirk Photo Low Pod, and it worked perfectly. It's essentially a re-engineered Bogen 3001, beefed up for HD work. A great advantage is the multi-angle feature of the legs. It's more expensive than the milk crate but much cheaper than the RRS version. The Kirk is on it's way...