New CF Tripod Choices - Help :)...

[Mr Darcy]

Just be sure to read (or re-read) Thom Hogan's Tripod page before doing anything drastic

[aim54x]

Just be sure to read (or re-read) Thom Hogan's Tripod page before doing anything drastic

That is very good advice!

[Murray Foote]

... and after you've read that, here's another page that might provide some useful information.

[Remorhaz]

Just be sure to read (or re-read) Thom Hogan's Tripod page before doing anything drastic

... and after you've read that, here's another page that might provide some useful information.

Thanks have read both of those before and to be clear I don't think any of us is looking to buy a cheap $20 plastic tripod (although that is essentially what Suren uses now ). I believe we are looking to get good solid quality gear. I think the only failing with Thoms article is that it assumes buying quality will last a lifetime - I assume (know) it will not.

One update however to my previous summary is that it appears that the Feisol CT-3442 does have anti rotation legs and at 1.05kg (without optional centre column) or 1.25kg (with) and at US$309 + $39 (CF column) + $25 (short column) + $12 (spikes) + $37 (delivery) it's in the same ballpark (feature and pricewise) as the Sirui.

[Sylvia]

Just be sure to read (or re-read) Thom Hogan's Tripod page before doing anything drastic

A good read and thanks for the link.

Seems Thom and I are on the same page.
Buy once and buy well always pays off.
All my support gear is RRS, mono's and tripods and all my big lens 200/300/400 have RRS feet to easily adapt between the supports. Its not cheap to do but neither is good gear to buy. Seems silly to have great gear and having a support system that can't cope.

[Mr Darcy]

Thanks have read both of those before and to be clear I don't think any of us is looking to buy a cheap $20 plastic tripod

I didn't mean to imply that you were. Though you do seem to be in the intermediate stage that Thom talks about where you are aware that you need something better, but are unwilling, or unable, to spend all that money for a top end solution.

With just a modicum of care, RRS and/or Gitzo should last a non professional a lifetime. Barring unfortunate accidents of course. I seem to recall Gary talking about the time he slammed a tripod with a taxi door. Even for that scenario, both carry an extensive range of spare parts. I'm not convinced the Chinese do that even now, though they are certainly lifting their game dramatically in terms of quality of manufacture. All too often in the past, Chinese quality control has left a lot to be desired. Benro Ball heads were a case in point. People who got good ones reckoned they were at least the equal of anything out there. Too many people got duds however. They seem to have improved things lately, but their prices have gone up too.

For you seascape nuts, Gitzo do make their Ocean Traveller which is specifically made with corrosion problems in mind.
It doesn't come cheap though. They need to recoup their R&D costs somehow.

[Remorhaz]

FYI Suren and Gerry - I just found this on the Feisol web site:

Saltwater-Resistant
Usable in the Water
Anti-Corrosion Protection

http://www.feisol.net/info_pages.php?pages_id=16

at least they mention it...

[Remorhaz]

Oh and there's sort of another reason I don't want to spend $700 on the Gitzo - I got my quote to repair my SB-600 ( ) and decided instead to grab an SB-900 from DWI so I'm $500 poorer now

Holy dogsnap - I got home today and my new SB-900 was already here! now thats service...

[biggerry]

Just be sure to read (or re-read) Thom Hogan's Tripod page before doing anything drastic

A good read and thanks for the link.

Seems Thom and I are on the same page.
Buy once and buy well always pays off.
All my support gear is RRS, mono's and tripods and all my big lens 200/300/400 have RRS feet to easily adapt between the supports. Its not cheap to do but neither is good gear to buy. Seems silly to have great gear and having a support system that can't cope.

I agree with teh buy once policy, however my gear is not the top end and I am not a professional, nor can i justify having the top end of just about any photography equipment. Would you still recommend that I buy a $800 tripod? being a hobbyist (however much i hate that word) my spectrum of products should really be around the entry/midrange manfrotto (which i guess i have) and other products like the feisol or sirui, not gitzo or RRS.

I bought a dirt cheap tripod when i first started, i had absolutely no intention of spending 300 bucks let alone 800 on a tripod, i also did not think i would be that interested in photography (damn how wrong i was). This is where i disagree with Thom and some others that buying the topend is necessarily the right thing. As hobby's / interests develop there is the whole process of upgrade - thats how i learnt as a kid, you started with hand-me-downs and whatever you could afford, if you stuck with it, wore out what you had and made use of it, then you earned the privilige of upgrading and moving to better stuff. This still rings true for me today... quite possibly you will spend more money, however if for whatever reason you don't go all the way or dont have the funds then you could be better off..

Anyway, i guess what I am getting at it is often important not to always assume everyone else needs the best or topend , there are often producst in the midrange for a reason...

[surenj]

buy a cheap $20 plastic tripod (although that is essentially what Suren uses now )

Dude, I paid $89 in 2001 for your information. It has gone through alot of abuse including no washing in-between seawater shoots to being left outside for a few weeks (in the rain) as I forgot about it. A few times, I've left it in the shower a few weeks so that I can get rid of the seawater by using the soap coming off people having showers....

I won't be getting the Ocean traveler because it's $1400.

Brent Pearson who is a seascape nut uses a Gitzo clone I think. I might shoot him a message as most of our members here don't seem to store their tripods in salt water. (Nor would I if I paid top bucks for it. I doubt insurance would cover water damage!)

Agree with Gerry here. We are simply trying to figure out the best midrange pod to buy I guess. [I do confess I got myself a RRS head as Brent swears by it]

[biggerry]

also, apologies Sylvia, i did quote you but my comment was not directed at you, more to teh point its not directed at anyone in particular...

[Sylvia]

also, apologies Sylvia, i did quote you but my comment was not directed at you, more to teh point its not directed at anyone in particular...

No biggy biggerry, so no need to apologise either.
My comments are/were not directed to anyone in particular either, just what comes from many years of buying stuff twice, with the eventual situation of getting what I should have acquired the first time, for me, you understand.

What works for me is what works for me. I am not telling anyone what they should do or buy. Just what works for me.

For the record, I am not a pro photographer. The fact that I can afford this hobby, did not land in my lap either.

I agree, we should all cut our cloth accordingly, this is wisdom.

cheers.

[Mr Darcy]

My comments are/were not directed to anyone in particular either, just what comes from many years of buying stuff twice, with the eventual situation of getting what I should have acquired the first time, for me, you understand.

Except I am a slow learner. In many cases I have bought three or more times. These days I am awake to it, and perhaps too frequently overbuy. Not just in photography gear.
But while I have frequently regretted underbuying, I have NEVER regretted overbuying. Though I have been short of cash at times because of it.

I have been pushing the buy "top end" line so that you can leverage from my experience rather than repeat my mistakes. If you do overbuy, you can always sell it on when you move on.

At the moment, I am working on building up a dual NAS RAID backup system to replace a plethora of ad-hoc boxes bought over the years. I should have gone down this route years ago. The new system is massive overkill for my needs at the moment, but based on past experience, will probably still only last a year or two. It is 2x Netgear Ultra 6 one populated with 6x 2TB drives, the other with 6x 3TB drives. and one spare of each drive type. One will ultimately go under the house & will act as a media server as well. The other will be local & just be backup. I will still use the ad hoc drives, but they will become offsite backups living in a back corner of my brothers place. This change has been triggered by the 15,000 photos I took on my trip.

[surenj]

Thanks Greg for that insight.

As I stated before, $700 = 15yrs equates to $300 7yrs roughly. I agree that the higher end stuff is easier to offload.

[petermmc]

Hi all,

I responded to Surenj with a few comments about Sirui in a post the other day. I have been away with work and have just read these posts. I think the comments about usage and purpose of the tripod, which have emerged in this discussion, are points that are well worth considering. My old manfrotto, which has to be 15 yrs old, had never missed a beat and I have used it extensively. I am sure Gitzos could last a life time in a war against the taliban. I use my tripod a lot and find that the quality of Sirui is perfect for my kind of photography therefore, as a customer, it satisfies all my needs. If I turned pro, then I may consider getting a much more expensive tripod. At the end of the day it only holds up my camera. I am not sure what getting a brand that could cost me three times more, including the ball head, would actually do for my photography. If it only lasts 5 or ten years, I will get another one and I am still in front. I think Sirui would be classed as a solid medium to high end tripod which has all the bells and whistles that many good photographers, like you, would need. I have happily put my 14-24, 24-70 and 300 F4 on it with no concerns for their safety.

I think those of you who are thinking of purchasing tripods, which are 'upper range,' should also think carefully about Arca Swiss base plates as these are the 'ducks guts'. For your information, these base plates, which fit onto the bottom of your camera or lens mounts, have a grooves on the side which fit into Arca Swiss clamps. When they are in and tightened they make you feel very confident that they will not pop out. They also have a safety mechanism to prevent lenses slipping off.

The best part of my 'journey of discovery' into tripods was discovering how useful it is to have 'one system fits all' and Arca is the closest thing to an 'international' fit there is. Kirk, for example, who make a great range of professional bits and pieces, including alternative lens mounts and fantastic ball heads use Arca Swiss mounts. Whe I purchased their lens mount for the 300F4, it fitted perfectly without getting any additional lens bracket. It fits straight onto the Sirui ball head and clamps tightly. I now have a Sirui baseplate for all my cameras and lenses that take base plates. I also have an additional Sirui ball head for my monopod so that when I grab my camera and monopod, everything fits. This is cool....mind you I could get out a bit more.

Thom Hogan, who is a Nikon guru, no doubt, is largely talking to the professional market. I have read his article on tripods several times and I think that if you followed his advice, you might feel a hole in your pocket, but would be very happy with the results. I dont need to spend that kind of money for a tripod to suit my needs and that's what its all about. My tripod still has three legs and holds my camera solidly. It swivels and turns when I want it to and is just looks dandy. It has sharp spikes that can come out on the bottom when I ice skate and inverts so that I can lie on the ground and take photos of worms. It comes with more allen keys that seems humanly possible and a few other well made attachments that I am still pondering over. When I take a decent photo of the moon, I will be truly satisfied.

Some food for thought.

Have a nice weekend....and get out a bit more.....just got a D7000 while I await the Nikon D700xsmkII800b. This latest version of the D70, (it really does look like an improved D70) which this site was originally named after, truly sings. I may even post a photo soon if I can just work out how to attach the D7000 it to my Sirui tripod.

Peter Mc

[Mr Darcy]

I am not sure what getting a brand that could cost me three times more, including the ball head, would actually do for my photography.

1. When I started using a Gitzo, my photos were suddenly sharper
2. Because I too use an ArcaSwiss variant (RRS), it is suddenly much easier to use a tripod than before, fiddling with with screws and such, so I use a tripod more often. So again, my photos are sharper.
3. Again because I travel more often with the tripod, I take photos which were once impossible for me. as my tripod used to be at home, and now it isn't.

I like the RRS because it is well made and low profile. Because it is low profile, I can just forget it is there, and leave the plate on all the time. However, because it is low profile, it is sometimes not compatible with other brands also ostensibly ArcaSwiss. This seems to be mainly an issue when attempting to use other brand plates on RRS lever clamps. But to avoid compatibility issues I have standardised on RRS as I am sure they want me to.

The only problem I have is that my tripods are now useless for casual use by others. This may be a good thing. I have balanced an Ixus on top of my setup though.

[Remorhaz]

Ah hang it... Sirui N2204 + K20X Tripod set ordered - AUD$429 incl free delivery. Next month when my wife doesn't notice how much I've spent in the past week I'll order the RSS BH40 + D7000 L Plate

After some further reading I decided not to go the Feisol (which was probably my other non Gitzo choice).

Suren/Gerry - I'll message when it arrives and you can check it out.

[petermmc]

Good luck with that. I am sure you will not be disappointed. Please let me know how you go with it all. Comes in nice box. I had to wait about 2 weeks so dont be too desparate. I had a play with the N2204 this morning, seeing as I keep saying nice things about it, and I am sure it would easily hold a 10kg sack of potatoes on the under carriage holding hook. Mind you I rarely take a 10kg sack of potatoes with me when I am shooting...unless I am really hungry. All the best.

Peter Mc PS I hope Sirui sees my efforts here and sends me a free baseplate or even a Sirui cap

[Murray Foote]

Mind you I rarely take a 10kg sack of potatoes with me when I am shooting...unless I am really hungry.

A dozen bottles of red would probably work just as well....

[gstark]

I seem to recall Gary talking about the time he slammed a tripod with a taxi door.

That was actually a Manfrotto monopod, actually, but yes.

Aluminium.

Retracted.

Got into the back seat of the cab and closed the door. With the 'pod half hanging outside.

So the door didn't actually close.

Still have it; still works perfectly, even with a dent in the side.

[Mr Darcy]

Mind you I rarely take a 10kg sack of potatoes with me when I am shooting...unless I am really hungry.

A dozen bottles of red would probably work just as well....

Nah. They keep getting lighter & eventually the whole shebang just blows away. Mind you, you won't care by then.

[petermmc]

mmmm.......... red wine and chips. I may just forget my tripod.

[biggerry]

PS I hope Sirui sees my efforts here and sends me a free baseplate or even a Sirui cap

Suren/Gerry - I'll message when it arrives and you can check it out.

it was only a matter of time I knew if I was patience someone would cough up for one. Now, to get that together with gregs one and it would be a good trial session..

[surenj]

Wait... I may well order the Gitzo. Need to buy that lotto ticket as well.

[aim54x]

Wait... I may well order the Gitzo. Need to buy that lotto ticket as well.

Is that a lotto ticket before or after the Gitzo purchase?

PS I hope Sirui sees my efforts here and sends me a free baseplate or even a Sirui cap

Fingers crossed for you!

Suren/Gerry - I'll message when it arrives and you can check it out.

it was only a matter of time I knew if I was patience someone would cough up for one. Now, to get that together with gregs one and it would be a good trial session..

I cant wait to check out the Sirui as well...sounds like an interesting tripod

[surenj]

Next month when my wife doesn't notice how much I've spent in the past week

Perhaps she will be glad that at least there won't be anymore time-consuming 'tripod research'.

Suren/Gerry - I'll message when it arrives and you can check it out.

Thanks and hopefully we will see you in the sea somewhere.