Tripod recomendations for a Nikon 600mm f4 lens and Wimberley Head

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Neil Williams
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Looking for a light sturdy tripod to use mainly with a large telephoto 600 mm lens and gimbal.
All feedback much appreciated.

Neil
 
Minimum would be the Gitzo 3 series( or equivelent). I have a 5541LS for my 600 but even though its carbon its still quite heavy due to the size of the thing but then its never been an issue and i know i can rely on it to dampen vibrations. A lot of money but well worth it.
 
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"light" and "sturdy" don't really go together ... as above carbon fibre is the way to go but make sure you have a good section diameter, particularly on the smallest section, or stability will suffer. Personally I use a Feisol CT 3472 which uses large diameter sections and is rock solid but easily portable.
 
I just looked on B&H and the 5541LS is no longer available.............does anyone have the similar model number
 
Can't see any section sizes for Gitzo tripods.
 
For stability it is awesome (the 5542) - but just heavy... - I borrowed one but found the 3 series was good enough for me & portable enough to take up the side of a mountain (with wim 2 & 400 2.8 + teles)..
 
For you Neil ;) you might fancy Really Right Stuff http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/Shop/Carbon-Fiber-Tripods/ I've never used one, never even seen one actually, but while I'm sure they're gorgeous, it's hard to think that they're significantly better than Gitzo in any practical sense.

Personally, I wouldn't get a tripod without a centre-column, they're just so damn useful for small adjustments, despite the theoretical downsides. Gitzo Systematics are sold sans centre-column, but they're available as extras and it only takes a few seconds to drop one in the top. The geared centre-columns are great to use, but heavy. Fine for studio, though maybe the 'fast' non-geared columns are better for carrying around.
 
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