D
Druid
Guest
I'm seriously contemplating buying a Gitzo Explorer, alloy version, in the near future. So I have it in time for the spring bulbs which are already shooting up all over my garden.
I can't see the point of paying an extra £250 for the carbon version if it only weighs a pound less (also the wife would cut my nuts off with a blunt knife and feed them to the cats) and I don't see any big differences between the current G2220 model and the new GT2220 that's about to become available.
I played around with an alloy Explorer a few days ago in a London shop and was really impressed by the build quality and flexibility for my purposes which are roughly 50% flora/macro 50% general photography. It's a bit of a beast, but so am I and I think we'd get on fine together.
I'd be using it with an Acratech Ultimate v1 head and a Kirk L-Bracket. Biggest set-up would be a D200 + 200/4 micro nikkor which weighs in at 2kg, with the bracket and the Novoflex Castle focussing rail maybe 2.5 kg. I'm not interested in birdwatching etc and have no plans to acquire anything heavier than the 200 micro.
I'd be interested to hear whether anyone has strong views about the Explorer.
I can't see the point of paying an extra £250 for the carbon version if it only weighs a pound less (also the wife would cut my nuts off with a blunt knife and feed them to the cats) and I don't see any big differences between the current G2220 model and the new GT2220 that's about to become available.
I played around with an alloy Explorer a few days ago in a London shop and was really impressed by the build quality and flexibility for my purposes which are roughly 50% flora/macro 50% general photography. It's a bit of a beast, but so am I and I think we'd get on fine together.
I'd be using it with an Acratech Ultimate v1 head and a Kirk L-Bracket. Biggest set-up would be a D200 + 200/4 micro nikkor which weighs in at 2kg, with the bracket and the Novoflex Castle focussing rail maybe 2.5 kg. I'm not interested in birdwatching etc and have no plans to acquire anything heavier than the 200 micro.
I'd be interested to hear whether anyone has strong views about the Explorer.