Tripod: Advice needed

[Hanno]

Dear friends,

I am on the market for a tripod. I am currently using a Manfrotto. I am very happy with it, even if it is very heavy, but the tripod is getting on in years and beginning to fall apart. I tend to go for a Manfrotto again. I read somewhere on this forum that they have carbon tripods. Is this true, has anyone out there had experiences with them? There are no decent tripods on the market here in Vietnam, i would have to mail order and would like to get as much information as possible before I make a decision.

Thank you in advance,

Hanno

[Grousemore]

Hi Hanno, I use a Manfrotto carbon tripod,model 443 (USA 3443D) and have been very pleased with it.
I went for this one on the recommendation of several BF members,as lightweight was of paramount importance to me.
Some people expressed doubt about its stability in windy conditions,but I was on the beach at Dungeness last week in a fair blow and found it perfectly satisfactory.
If you use the Forum search facility,e.g 'Tripod lightweight' you'll get some of the numerous posts on the subject to help you decide.
Good luck.

[digi-birder]

Hi Hanno,

I also have the CarbonOne 443, as it's called. I had the Manfrotto 190CL and found it very heavy to lug around on long trails round reserves. Although on paper the carbon fibre tripod is not that much lighter than the aluminium one, your shoulders will certainly thank you for it.

As Grousemore says, despite its light weight it is very stable. The reason is, so I read, carbon fibre absorbs vibrations better than aluminium. With my digiscoping setup, if I tap the legs of the old tripod the vibrations take quite some time to subside. With the carbon fibre they are steadied again much quicker. Obviously not an issue if you are not going to digiscope, but helpful all the same, especially on windy beaches.

[Andrew]

(Sorry for adding a rider question)

Digi, do you still use the old fluid head on your new carbon fibre tripod or have you got a lighter head. I just ask because I feel that buying a carbon tripod and using my current head from the 128RCNAT does not seem to look like being any lighter.

[Grousemore]

Hi Andrew,i'm sure Diane will give you the full SP,but i thought I'd add that I got the 700RC2 head,which weighs in at 0.52 kg and whilst not over impressed with it,at least the lightweight is evident.

[Andrew]

Does that include the centre column too?

[Geoff Brown]

Manfrotto 441 carbon fibre. it's very light but strong and stable. any head can be screwed onto it using Manfrotto's special attachment system. so go for it. Look at Manfrotto's web site for all the details or contact them for literature.

[Grousemore]

The centre column comes with the tripod,the weight was just the head.

[digi-birder]

I have used a 128RC fluid head, just as I had on the old one. It seemed the best choice at the time. I believe it was the best one at the time for digiscoping, although some are using the sliding plate one to move the scope forward. I'm not sure of the weight of this compared to the 128.

[Andrew]

Yes, I now understand a lot better. Buy the carbon Tripod and take the fluid head off my current heavy metal one and attach it to the carbon's centre column. That could make it a bit lighter which would be a real boon on the holiday birding sessions.

[zeberdee]

I purchased a Manfrotto CarbonOne model 440 tripod with a 460 MagAlloy 3-Axis head, the 440 is slightly shorter than the 443 due to the 440 having three leg sections but this makes it less stable when fully extended. I use this soley for nature and wildlife photography and it is ideal for camera use. I would recommend the 443 with a 128 lightweight fluid head for telescoping use.

[william j clive]

I am a pro photographer and a birder, and purchased a 443 last year to photograph weddings. Of course, I also use a camera which is mounted on the tripod! The 443 was quickly relegated to birding for the following reasons. The centre column quickly became stiff in its collar and difficult to raise and lower. It became increasingly difficult to tighten the locking screw enough to prevent the centre column moving. Consequently the brass thread stripped on the locking screw housing. This was fixed at a local precision engineer who installed a steel helicoil in the brass housing for the princely sum of £2. This tripod is not up to hard use. Since then the fitting at the base of the centre column detached itself and was lost. I have used metal Manfrottos professionally for 16 years with very little trouble. In fact my studio tripod, a large, heavy 075 is 16 years old and still going strong. Stick to metal. They are much cheaper too.3:-)

[Steve G]

Hi Hanno,
I would strongly recommend Gitzo carbon fibre tripods they are light, resilient & perfect for mounting a scope or large telephoto lens. The Gitzo G1327 is an ideal model & the centre column has a robust hook on which you can hang a heavy counterweight (plastic bag + rocks) allowing it to cope with strong winds.
Check out: www.gitzo.com
best wishes,
Steve

[Hanno]

Dear all,

Thanks a lot for all your input. Seems like it is a toss-up between the Gitzo and the Manfrotto carbons.

Cheers,

Hanno

[eric s]

I wanted to add something else to the mix. I have the Carbon One myself (440). I like it quite a lot. Here are 2 comments born out of use.
1) I thought I'd prefer the Gitzo leg locking better. I am wrong. The Gitzo legs use a grip and turn system, not a lever which you flip (my description isn’t very good, I would suggest looking at pictures of the two brands. With the right picture I should be clear.) The Gitzo’s are smaller (which is nice) and can’t catch on anything but I've since heard they are harder to grip with gloves on. I am finding that the flip lever clamp system on the Manfrotto is easier to use than I though and its simple to tell when they are locked or not. If the clamp lever is sticking out, it’s open!

2) Tripod height. I use it about 1/2 the time with a camera and half with a Swaro’ ATS-80 HD. Since it is angled, I don’t have it raise the tripod up that high. This works great. But with the camera I have to hunch over to look through the viewfinder, but my neck can take it. The real problem is with the view. You look at a scene from a standing position. You see something you want to photograph or look at through a scope but that is lower down (on the tripod.) When you are looking over reeds in a marsh this doesn’t work. My head might be over the reeds, but the tripod is too low and isn’t. My next tripod will be sure to have long enough legs that I don’t have to bend over to look through the camera.

Eric