Photos from the Porsche & Mercedes-Benz Museums

Thanks again for posting ! 

Do the German museums permit tripods?

Museums in Chicago tell me I can't use tripods......and the Museum of Science and Industry staff have either told me no photos or severely restricted my camera use even when the building is almost empty of visitors.

I almost brought that issue up originally, but didn’t. So now is as good a time as any!

Both the Porsche & Mercedes-Benz Museums do allow tripods - as they both said when I mentioned how happy I was that they did - “we want you to show your friends why they should come”. Makes a lot of sense, in addition to being reasonable.

Here’s a list of places I’ve been that do allow tripods:

National Museum of the United States Air Force - Dayton, OH

National Museum of Naval Aviation - Pensacola, FL

Planes of Fame - Chino, CA

Pima Air & Space Museum - Pima, AZ

Museum of Aviation - Warner Robins, GA

RAF Museum - London, England (Haven’t been there, but I confirmed this via email)

Flying Heritage Collection - Seattle, WA

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum - Evergreen, OR

Palm Springs Air Museum - Palm Springs, CA

Yanks Air Museum - Chino, CA

EAA AirVenture Museum - Oshkosh, WI

Tennessee Museum of Aviation - Sevierville, TN

Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum - Miramar, CA

USS Midway Museum - San Diego, CA

San Diego Air & Space Museum - San Diego, CA (Confirmed this via email)

Porsche Museum - Zuffenhausen, Germany

Mercedes-Benz Museum - Untertürkheim, Germany

Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum - Sinsheim, Germany

Here is a list of the place I’ve been to that are bad actors and do not allow tripods:

National Air and Space Museum - Washington, DC (National Mall)

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center - Chantilly, VA (IAD airport, essentially)

Deutsches Museum - Munich, Germany

March Field Air Museum - Riverside, CA (Come on, this place is a dump. The only really important thing they have there is a SR–71 and that’s what I want to take a good pic of, alas they aren’t having it)

I’m going on my yearly business trip to VA on Monday, and will be able to spend a few hours at the Udvar-Hazy Center where I’ve had mixed results. What I mean is that I have two small tripods that are super useful - and no more than 6 inches tall. Last time I was there, one of the rent-a-cop jerks threatened to throw me out if I didn’t stop using it. I had a very difficult time controlling tongue during that exchange - it was absolutely ridiculous. This is the tripod I’m talking about:

Although, I really do recommend this tripod, and the larger “Clamper” - I call them the “Swiss Army Knife” of tripods. Especially the ability to clamp it on a handrail - immensely useful! Here’s a link to their web page, although I’d buy it from Amazon or B&H.

Promaster Compact Tripods

So I’m going to try again, and this time I have a couple of new lenses that should help. Photography is an area where I can fall off the deep end, but I’ll keep this short. My budget will only allow a Sony NEX–5N with Canon FD manual lenses (that are probably as old as I am, but a lot better looking than I am!). The new additions since the last visit are a 100mm ƒ2.8 and a 20mm ƒ2.8 - both should be really useful.

The main goal is to get a better shot of the SR–71 at closing time when those same jerks are yelling and herding people out (I’m not kidding about the yelling) of the museum. I’m going to practice during the day, get my setup just right and when there’s no people, hopefully get a great shot.

Best regards,

Mike

Thanks for that list of museums and recommended tripods.

During my film days, I made a lot of use of a Minolta MD 24mm F2.8 lens in museums resting the camera against solid objects for timed exposures- some lasting long enough for reciprocity failure to intrude.

I expect those 100mm and 20 mm lenses will be very useful for you.

You took some really wonderful photos.

Best of luck on your quest for the SR-71 shots.

Awesome photos (or captures, or whatever we are supposed to call them these days lol). Thanks for sharing.