Travel Tripod Advice

mrgubby said:
From what I can tell that is the length without the head attached so either you've got to carry the head separately or it's 56cm (unless the legs fold over the back)
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I emailed redsnapper and this was there reply...

"
Hi Tom, the tripod folds around the head to give a length of 46cm

Load is 8kg

Regards

Joe"

Worth checking though :)
 
Raymond Lin said:
You can't have the stability and light.

If it is light, then centre of gravity will be high which in turn will not be stable. You can't have a 6kg camera on top of a 1kg tripod with 22mm column and expect that to be as stable as a 3kg tripod with 28mm column.

There are some middle ground but as a whole that is the general rule of thumb.

I have a Manfrotto 055pro, aluminium. It is heavy, I don't deny it. That thing will support heavy gear easily, it is stable but I simply do not travel with it.

I also just purchased a Redged 525k. 1.2kg. It's so light and small it fits inside my messenger bag. However, putting a DSLR on top it will be top heavy (even if it's strong enough to take it twice over). So you are just going to have to "make do". For me, travelling with something light is better than travelling with something heavy, especially if you are walking a lot. You can always hook things under it to lower the centre of gravity or hope it wouldn’t be windy for that 20 seconds shot.

There are other tripods that falls in the middle ground which is around 1.4 to 1.6kg that are not as compact and arguably more sturdy. May be they will suit you. At the end of the day, no tripod is perfect and it depends on what you value the most. If you are travelling by car a lot then I would get the most sturdy one. If you are on foot then I would get a light compact one.
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Many gitzo are light and stable.

I got a gitzo 2 series which weighs same as yours if not lighter yet it was stable for my 5d3 and 70-200 f2.8 mk2
 
There is stable and there is stable if compare to placing it on a tripod made of cast iron.

Bets on which one will blow of first if you put it outside today.
 
Raymond Lin said:
There is stable and there is stable if compare to placing it on a tripod made of cast iron.

Bets on which one will blow of first if you put it outside today.
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But surely the point is.what is the heaviest setup someone will put on a tripod whilst traveling? Chances are it would be a 70 200 f2.8 and a semi pro body.

Again the keyword is travel and not many go traveling with a 500 f4 lens and a 1dx hehe.

Point being is the op going to put an iron camera on his tripod or even carry an iron weight gear whilst travelling? Of course not hehe. The gitzo and other similar tripods are stable for most setups
 
jonneymendoza said:
But surely the point is.what is the heaviest setup someone will put on a tripod whilst traveling? Chances are it would be a 70 200 f2.8 and a semi pro body.

Again the keyword is travel and not many go traveling with a 500 f4 lens and a 1dx hehe.

Point being is the op going to put an iron camera on his tripod or even carry an iron weight gear whilst travelling? Of course not hehe. The gitzo and other similar tripods are stable for most setups
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The trouble here is one persons stable is another persons wobbly as hell in much the same way one persons sharp enough is another persons soft as butter.

For me the key to a tripod is buy the heaviest you are willing to carry in the given situation and buy decent branded quality, beyond that it's all personal opinion.
 
a1ex2001 said:
The trouble here is one persons stable is another persons wobbly as hell in much the same way one persons sharp enough is another persons soft as butter.

For me the key to a tripod is buy the heaviest you are willing to carry in the given situation and buy decent branded quality, beyond that it's all personal opinion.
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There is a slight flaw in your logic. Why carry a 3kg tripod that u are willing to carry, when u can carry a 1.2kg tripod that is just as stable as your 3kg for the gear u will use it for?
 
jonneymendoza said:
There is a slight flaw in your logic. Why carry a 3kg tripod that u are willing to carry, when u can carry a 1.2kg tripod that is just as stable as your 3kg for the gear u will use it for?
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Dress it up anyway you like the 3kg tripod if it's a decent brand will always be more stable and sturdy than the 1.2kg. If your happy to carry the weight take it if not comprise and go lighter.
 
Because centre of gravity comes into play.

Brand names can't escape the reality of physics.

I think my redged is stable, stable for what it is.

Is it as stable as my 3kg manfrotto? If I say yes I would be lying.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
Because centre of gravity comes into play.

Brand names can't escape the reality of physics.

I think my redged is stable, stable for what it is.

Is it as stable as my 3kg manfrotto? If I say yes I would be lying.
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but thats my point.

Is it stable for your gear you use it for? answer is yes else you would not use it.

Simple :)
 
And don't forget the MeFoto RoadTrip gives you the added option of a monopod built in.
 
I have just taken delivery of a Beike 777c carbon fibre tripod and i have to say I'm quite impressed by the build quality of the unit. I bought it specifically for travelling with portability being of prime importance. With the centre post fully extended the camera view finder is perfectly at my eye level (6ft). It is perhaps not 100% vibration like that but vastly improves with weight added to the tripod. The leg twist locks seem good with a definite change in resistance so you know that they're locked or unlocked and the ball head seems to be solid, (i couldn't move it when fully tightened). My own qualm is no safety pin on the head/mount but i am likely to swap to a different head anyway. There are no burs on any of the threads and no missing paint, imo it looks great,

i think for best results it is going to work better without the centre post extension, a compromise I'm happy to make, after all its tiny and i can take it anywhere

It has now been confiscated until my birthday i'm told but if any1 has any question i will do my best to answer.

PS.

With the exception of the spiked legs on the diat i believe this tripod to be practically identical to the mefoto road trip and diat listed in the first post here.
 
Heres a few pics on the tripod i went with, shown here with a D3S, Nikon 400mm f/2.8 with a Nikon 1.4x attached as well as the Beike BK-45 Gimbal head

Got to say that im very impressed with this tripod and Gimbal head, the tripod seems to be very well made, and has quite thick 28mm legs dropping down to 19mm, vast majority ive seen are thinner 25-15mm legs, this gives me a little more confidence that it can handle the weight, the tripod also has a very good 15kg rating

Bought from Poland so no import fees etc, etc. http://foto-tip.pl/en/statyw-triopo-ge-3228x8c.html £95 delivered

hould just add that the manufacturer quotes this as weighing in at 1.27kg, ive just weighed it at home and it comes in at 1.1kg, im gobsmacked something so light can take something so heavy

Legs were a little stiff but are begining to free up a touch.
 
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Not really relevant to the thread now but i decided to rent a Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre tripod for my trip. It was very sturdy and wasn't that heavy to carry around, folded up it wasn't that small but I was very pleased with it. One thing i noticed was the quality over other tripods I've been looking at, so I'm probably going to look at getting the best i can afford now.
 
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