I was with you until the price comment at which point my Gitzo friends became rather useless to you
What about the Giottos MTL9271B or CF variant the MTL8271B. I've used other Giottos kit and it's pretty good so would have no reason to doubt that the build on these wouldn't be as good. The aluminium one is about £100 so maybe a bit more than redsnapper but you get the height albeit with column extended
That first one looks like a good deal. Maybe the same price as a Redsnapper was being optimistic
but £100 or so isn't bad value in reality. To be truthful, I'd discounted Giottos - for some reason, I had it in my head its stuff was mega-pricey
A bit more money than the RS but I use a Manfrotto 055XProB, 178.5cm with the centre column up, 140cm down.
Alternatively depending on weight there are sometimes big old tripods on ebay, things like old Gitzo Studexs
I know Manfrotto - I had a 190 a few years ago that went missing at work, which is when the Konig came into my possession. Will check that out too
I'm 6'3 an have a Giotto MTL9351B & if I plonk my gripped D700 on it when its at full height then I would need a box to stand on to see thru the viewfinder.....
Unless your +7ft tall then it wouldn't be of any use to you
Ha ha
I'm 6' 4" but having that extra height is useful nonetheless. I was doing some stuff the other day on a serious incline and the two front legs were probably 30cm below the rear leg, so I lost a lot of heigh effectively. The extra height would be useful in that situation to bring the camera backup to eye level
There are several options - if you don't mind balancing your gear on a wobbly central column. For me that always seemed a silly idea. Why pay a load of cash for something stable, then ruin it at the very top.
However, tripods to fit normal-sized people (over 190cm) aren't cheap. I bought an Induro CT313 and I don't need the central column at all. And I'm 6'5".
Nice tripod, nice price. Don't think my boss would see the logic in spending that much on a tripod... he'd just tell me to bend down
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Thanks for the pointers guys - at least i know there are options out there and it's given me something to work from.
One of the things I'm going to Focus2012 to look at (aside from camera gear) is a tripod and who knows, there may be a deal or two to be had. It'll be nice to see things in the flesh too, although it's more the height and not the weight I'm actually bothered about.
Pat
