Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Jayanand, I have used and abused many tripods, both still and video over the years. Personally, I have owned 3 still tripods, a Star D that I got in college, which was quickly mangled and stripped, a Gitzo that I purchased shortly after that (which I used for 30 years) and a new Gitzo that I bought a couple of years ago to replace that Gitzo. Buy a Gitzo if you want to buy only 1 tripod. Gitzo doesn't make it easy to buy a tripod without looking at them. I wound up buying a g1224. It is not carbon or basalt. You may not want a carbon. They might be too light for you. I found them to be a bit "tippy" and am glad that I didn't buy one. Ball heads. Don't buy them. Get a good sturdy simple head. No quick release. Since you will be mounting your lens to the head and not your camera, you don't really need a quick release. I have a gitzo 2270<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/339483-REG/Gitzo_G2270M_G2270M_Magnesium_Pan_Head.html>. The trick on Gitzos is to decide how short you want it to be and how tall you want it to go and how big you want it to be when you travel (that helps decide the number of leg sections). Mine fits in my suitcase (check in, not carry on) with the head taken off. Do you want a crank up center column? Do you want a short or long center post? Sand and dirt is the killer of tripods so you want to make sure that whatever you purchase can be easily taken apart for cleaning. Have fun! Leo Wesson Photographer/Videographer 817.733.9157 www.leowesson.com On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 10:27 PM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at gmail.com>wrote: > I have almost decided to invest in a carbon fibre tripod and quality ball > head to maximize the potential of the Nikon D800e which I will buy as soon > as it is available here. It must be compact as well for easy packing on > photo journeys, and as light as possible. I have no idea about > tripods/heads/QR Plates, so any suggestions? The profusion of different > models leaves me dizzy... > Cheers > Jayanand > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >