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Acratech Joins PixelatedImage
October 21st, 2008
While on the recent Lumen Dei tour in Ladakh, one of our participants showed up with a tripod head that had us all drooling. Matt and I played with it and, wooed by it’s fantastic design and lightweight, fell in love with it. The head is the GV2 by Acratech and I’m pleased as punch to be able to announce that they’ve come on board as sponsors. I’ll do a more complete review when I get mine but having played with it in the field I can tell you it’s a smooth, solid, light piece of quality gear. Huge thanks to Scott and the Acratech folks. Check out the GV2 and other Acratech tripod heads HERE.
I’ve been wanting for a while to do another shout out to my sponsors, so here’s a good opportunity to do that. But first, here’s why. My sponsors get on board for a number of reasons, marketing being one of them. But without exception they’re all companies that back my vision and have expressed a desire to get on board with that vision. Their sponsorship does one principal thing for me – it puts me into top-of-the-line products, lowers my overhead, and allows me to continue to shoot for organizations that work with the vunerable and have little – or no – budget for their photographic resource needs.
What is important for you to know is that I choose my sponsors and not the other way around. I review their stuff, but that’s not why they send it to me, and their sponsorship in no way affects my honest appraisal of things. If Canon sponsored me and I had an issue with their product or service, I’d be honest about it. My relationship with my readers is as important to me as my relationships to my sponsors. I just thought you should know.
On the other hand, I get an awful lot of inquiries about the whole concept. I suggest you read my previous article about sponsorships HERE but If I had to boil it down, I’d say this – sponsorship is a mutually beneficial relationship that takes time and effort and trust. If you’re looking at it as a way to get free stuff, you’re looking at it all wrong. It’s a powerful marketing tool for both parties, and it’s a way of making connections within the photographic community. The exchange of products and services within that relationship is only part of it.
So, back to the topic at hand – over the last year my sponsors have been kind and generous with their time and products, while continuing to innovate and serve the needs of photographers all over the world. My sponsors, Adobe, Lexar, Think Tank Photo, Blackrapid, Stormcase, ZINK, Evrium, and Gitzo all contribute to my efforts as partners. In some cases they give product to me, in others to my students. I’m deeply grateful for them and it’s time I did another shout out and just said “thank you!” publicly.
I’ve got the original Acratech Ultimate Ball-head. Lightweight and solid. It’s a great pairing on my Gitzo basalt tripod. Fits in a backpack and gives rock-solid images even with longer lenses while being easy to carry around and work with. A precision piece of kit…
Speaking of tripods and such. A newb question here: I was taught that light weight tripods were bad. Was I taught wrong? I was told that they need good weight to them so to prevent camera shake. A lighter tripod may shake when being stepped around. What is all the rage about lightweight tripods and ball heads then? I can understand the need for light weight when travelling but I assume camera shake would be more risky with lighter weight.
I have a Manfrotto Gruppo tripod purchased about 8 years ago for $220. It’s fairly heavy but not a monster. I have not had the privelage of using new higher end tripods. I would love to read an article about the comparisons of such a tripod I have and the newer expensive ones. I know not to purchase a “Wal-mart” quality item such as Optex but how can a high-end tripod make me a better photographer?
Hey Chris – Not a bad question at all. It all comes down to balance. You’re right – a light tripod is usually garbage and not much better than useless. But when traveling, it comes down to priorities. For me the question when traveling fairly light, and NOT being a landscape shooter is, do I bring NO tripod or a short sturdy one. If you do a search here on the blog you’ll find a couple articles about the ideal travel tripod and the question of compromise that represents. For me I’d like one a little shorter and that would allow me to save weight. For the few shots I take with a tripod, I can put it on a table or squat down to use it. Some shooters use a tripod so often and for such long exposures, or with long lenses, that a heavier tripod is a must. I’m just not one of them. But in the studio, and at home, I have big solid tripods that cost a lot of money.
A higher-end set of sticks will not make you a better shooter. It will support longer lenses and longer exposures and give you sharper images with a lighter tripod to carry, but your wallet will be lighter too. If the one you have now is suitable for your needs, then put your hard earned cash elsewhere. But for me, I travel so much I want the lightest/strongest I can afford. The basic triangle, of which you can choose two, is Sturdy, Lightweight, Cheap.
Thank you, David. I am soon leaving for Thailand. Being more of a landscape guy than people guy, I have struggled with which tri-pod to take, my monfrotto or cheap table top which WONT hold my camera steady. I have decided to take the monfrotto and deal with the weight.