Hermann
Saturday 24th April 2004, 12:19
A couple of quick comments after reading the postings on tripods:
I'm somewhat amazed why so many people seem to prefer Manfrotto tripods over Gitzos. Alright, the Manfrottos aren't bad (and the RC 128 is a pretty decent head), but the Gitzos are in my opinion quite clearly better. My oldest Gitzo is close on 20 years old and still going strong despite some considerable abuse. I've seen several Manfrottos fall apart after a few years of heavy use, but never a Gitzo. Another point is that they don't seem to suffer from corrosion as quickly as the Manfrottos. I've seen quite a few Manfrottos where the screw began to rust after only a couple of weeks birding at the North Sea. I'm still using aluminium tripods, but when I upgrade to a carbon fibre tripod it'll be a Gitzo, too.
On monopods: Sure, monopods are no substitute for a decent tripod. However, in some circumstances they're very useful, for instance when birding in the woods. The same applies to trips that involve very long hikes when it's essential so save as much weight as possible. In such circumstances I use a monopod from a Swiss company called "Monostat". It has a funny-looking rubber foot that makes a heck of a difference compared to all other monopods I tried over the years. In fact, I get better stability with the Monostat than with most of the ultra lightweight tripods around. And in the woods, for instance, where I carry the Monstat with my Nikon 60mm mounted over the shoulder, I much quicker on the bird than with any three-legged tripod ...:)
Hermann
I'm somewhat amazed why so many people seem to prefer Manfrotto tripods over Gitzos. Alright, the Manfrottos aren't bad (and the RC 128 is a pretty decent head), but the Gitzos are in my opinion quite clearly better. My oldest Gitzo is close on 20 years old and still going strong despite some considerable abuse. I've seen several Manfrottos fall apart after a few years of heavy use, but never a Gitzo. Another point is that they don't seem to suffer from corrosion as quickly as the Manfrottos. I've seen quite a few Manfrottos where the screw began to rust after only a couple of weeks birding at the North Sea. I'm still using aluminium tripods, but when I upgrade to a carbon fibre tripod it'll be a Gitzo, too.
On monopods: Sure, monopods are no substitute for a decent tripod. However, in some circumstances they're very useful, for instance when birding in the woods. The same applies to trips that involve very long hikes when it's essential so save as much weight as possible. In such circumstances I use a monopod from a Swiss company called "Monostat". It has a funny-looking rubber foot that makes a heck of a difference compared to all other monopods I tried over the years. In fact, I get better stability with the Monostat than with most of the ultra lightweight tripods around. And in the woods, for instance, where I carry the Monstat with my Nikon 60mm mounted over the shoulder, I much quicker on the bird than with any three-legged tripod ...:)
Hermann