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For those that were interested my new Sirui N2204 + K20X (arca swiss style ballhead with friction control) carbon fibre Tripod Set finally arrived - I paid $429 AUD delivered.

The delayed arrival was no fault of the vendor BTW - they sent it pretty much straight away - Fedex and Australian customs had it languishing for two weeks here in Sydney before they bothered to try and contact me for the information they wanted (confirmation of the price I paid) before waiting a few more days before releasing it from customs. Fedex should definitely exclude the term "Express" from their moniker

Anyway I havn't had a chance to have a real play with it yet (the tripod or the ballhead/arca swiss plate) but I'll bring it to our next outing and you guys can have a play - it's definitely VERY light (in comparison to my current setup).

The ballhead seems very smooth (much better than my Manfrotto 488RC4 ball head) plus it has the ability to set the friction which is nice - so I don't have to have it go from tight to flopping around like the Manfrotto. The control thing for setting the friction is tiny however (those with RSS heads - do you find you just set that and don't really change it?) so I'd hope there's no real need for changing that much out in the field?


... now for that RSS L plate for my D7000 and perhaps a BH-40... hmmm...

I have only had my BH-40 for a little while, but I can say that I do adjust the friction more than I thought I would. It is really nice to be able to set the friction to just hold the camera without locking it, yet still be able to move the camera easily and smoothly. My guess is the K20 doesnt allow for this usage.

I am keen to have a look at those legs though.

Remorhaz wrote:Sirui N2204

Very keen to check this one out. Thanks Rodney.

Remorhaz wrote: Fedex should definitely exclude the term "Express" from their moniker

They were quite late in delivering that Basketball in that movie 'Cast Away' as well.

Remorhaz wrote:Fedex should definitely exclude the term "Express" from their moniker

Every time I have had trouble with customs, Fedex has been the courier company. I have even had to pay customs on items that would have otherwise not have gone over AUD1000 (Just!) These days I try to avoid them.

Remorhaz wrote:The control thing for setting the friction is tiny however (those with RSS heads - do you find you just set that and don't really change it?

Sorry, but like Cameron, I use it quite a bit. It is lovely to set the drag so the camera stays put when I let it go, but is easy to move when I grip it. Every lens/Camera combination requires a different setting. If I only had one lens/camera I probably wouldn't use it as much.

Cameron, are you using your tripod more now you have the BH40? I found I did.

Mr Darcy wrote:Every lens/Camera combination requires a different setting.

Exactly.

Mr Darcy wrote:Every lens/Camera combination requires a different setting. If I only had one lens/camera I probably wouldn't use it as much.

I have to admit that i find that this is completely and utterly true!

Cameron, are you using your tripod more now you have the BH40? I found I did.

The short answer is yes and no....Yes I have used it more (lugged it up the Mountain at least the once, as well as out to Vivid quite a few times) but then again I have had more reason to call on the tripod lately as well....

Can I get back to you on that one?

Hey Rodney,

What's the difference between R2204 and N2204??

There is a R2204 for $300 odd on ebay. Apparently it's carbon fibre as well.

I just happen to have the Sirui catalogue.
N Series:
Legs fold 180 (Like the Gitzo Traveller)
One leg can be taken off to use as a monopod, Centre column attaches for extra height
Shorth centre column for low work.

RSeries
Centre column can be inverted for low work.
Built in bubble
Model MaxH MinH Wgt Load
R2204: 1610 360 1.3 15
N2204 1650 170 1.3 15

Thanks very much Greg. I couldn't make it to PMA.

I need to make sure that the 180 degree leg gymnastics is compatible with the BH40 before I make a selection. Otherwise the monopod wouldn't be particularly useful for me per-se.

surenj wrote:I need to make sure that the 180 degree leg gymnastics is compatible with the BH40 before I make a selection. Otherwise the monopod wouldn't be particularly useful for me per-se.

Talk to Cameron. He was going to take his BH40 down & try it out.

I must admit I was very tempted by the monopod ( the dedicated one, not the pull apart tripod), but the clamp on the head was not compatible with RRS. I tried to ask, but hit an insurmountable language barrier. They wanted to sell me their plate & I wanted to explain that I really would have wanted to change the clamp instead, but couldn't get through. I will admit it was late in the day & we were both tired & not trying real hard.

Mr Darcy wrote:Model MaxH MinH Wgt Load
R2204: 1650 170 1.3 15
N2204 1610 360 1.3 15

Hmm

I think you might have those sort of back to front...

The N2204 (the one I have) has a max height of 165cm (long centre column up) and min height of 17cm (short centre column down and legs splayed) - I'm only using the short column (because it's 139cm without the column extended anyway which is tall enough for me - I tried the long column up and it was over my head)

Then there is an M2204 (same max height) and min height of 38cm and has a reversable centre column

Some of the R series seem to be more like the Gitzo Systematic (no centre column) but the R2204's I've seen on sellers web pages online look to me sort of like the M2204 on the siruiusa.com web site (but without the 180 degree fold to get a shorter folded length of 46cm and has a slightly lower max height with centre col down of 135cm and col up of 161cm)

Suren - if you want to try your BH40 on my tripod to see if you can do the reverse fold over the head? However note if you want the legs to completely close (even with the supplied K20x head) you need to use the long column - I can reverse fold with the short column sort of - the legs are a little open - it does still fit in the bag though

I had a brief play with the N2204 with the G20 head....it does clamp onto the RRS L-plate...but that is because it is a screw clamp and not a lever clamp.

As for a more extensive test on the tripod....the G20 head seemed well built and usable managed to compare this to my BH40LR using my D300 + 70-200mm VR combination, but on a N2004 (aluminum version of the N2204) and for intents and purposes, the G20 head seemed to keep up well with the BH40 with the 'tap-test' (tapping the lens and observing the shake in the viewfinder). It was noticeable difference but not a huge difference. The legs didnt do so well though as both the heads displayed shake, I am going to assume the CF legs would be better in this respect. The good news is that the setup was happy to keep 200mm (with 10 sec timer) sharp and still for 2-3 sec exposures.

I am keen to test again with the N2204 legs.

Remorhaz wrote:Hmm

I think you might have those sort of back to front...

Yep. fixed.

I was starting to think that the R2204 (or whatever that has been advertised on ebay) was a better tripod!! Thanks for the corrections Greg.

Yep, keen to try it out Rodney. I can't visualise what you mean re: long column vs short column reverse folding. We need to meet up for a seascape soonish anyway. It has been too long and I need to check whether my camera still works.

Hey Cameron, how does the stability compare to the comparable Manfrotto varieties? [I feel though that the Manfrotto CF versions are not so good value though]

I havent tested the MF 190CXPRO4....and at 600ish I wouldnt bother.