Carbon Fiber Tripod

Anyone have any suggestions? I need a small carbon fiber tripod. I've
looked on the net and found the usual:

Bogen, Gitzo, Slik, and one i've never heard of, Feisol I found on ebay. I
need a light and sturdy tripod for taking out to the far reaches of the
desert. I'm leaning towads the Gitzo.

thanks,
--
David
dba Full Moon Media- "The Full Solution to Your Image!"
owner and creator of www.VirtualBigBend.com - An Interactive Virtual Tour of
Big Bend National Park - Winner of 3 Gold Web Awards!

For a small tripod the weight difference between aluminum and carbon fiber
may not be very much. The leg locks on the carbon fiber tripods are a
significant part of the weight. Consider looking at a good light weight
tripod head with aluminum legs if you want a small tripod. The Acratech ball
head is very nice and possibly one of the lightest available.

The aluminum Gitzo 1126 for instance only weighs 3 lbs, is very compact when
stored, and is quite stable. For more stability the smallest leg segment can
be left un-extended and the center column only partially extended. I like to
carry it when I want something compact and know it won't have to look over
fences, bushes, and tall weeds. I often carry in around cities.

If you have a light weight full size tripod you will probably prefer it when
you don't know what to expect. I am more likely to take the carbon fiber
Gitzo 1227 which weighs 3.4 lbs but gives much more height when I am in the
wilderness.

The avid bird photographers generally use sturdier tripods but I find both
of these work well with a 400mm f4 lens with 1.4x tele-extender. The tripod
head is an important part of the stability.

-jeff
(wish my pictures were as good as yours)

"David" wrote in message
...
Anyone have any suggestions? I need a small carbon fiber tripod. I've
looked on the net and found the usual:

Bogen, Gitzo, Slik, and one i've never heard of, Feisol I found on ebay.
I
need a light and sturdy tripod for taking out to the far reaches of the
desert. I'm leaning towads the Gitzo.

thanks,
--
David
dba Full Moon Media- "The Full Solution to Your Image!"
owner and creator of www.VirtualBigBend.com - An Interactive Virtual Tour
of
Big Bend National Park - Winner of 3 Gold Web Awards!

From: "David"

Anyone have any suggestions? I need a small carbon fiber tripod. I've
looked on the net and found the usual:

Bogen, Gitzo, Slik, and one i've never heard of, Feisol I found on ebay. I
need a light and sturdy tripod for taking out to the far reaches of the
desert. I'm leaning towads the Gitzo.

I've used three non-CF Bogens (3001, 3021, 3036) and my wife and I now have
three Gitzo CF's (1228, 1325, 1348). No question the Gitzos are much better
tripods, but then they cost about 4x more. If you have relatively light lenses
the 1228 or the smaller 11xx model (don't know the exact #) are fine. We use
the larger models for 500 mm f/4 lenses.

Be careful about using them in the "far reaches of the desert". I got caught
in a sandstorm on a trip to Coyote Buttes and for 2 hours was pelted with fine
grains of sand, which got into the threads of my 1325. A real bear to get the
grit cleaned out. I had to replace one of the connectors and re-lube
everything after stripping the grease out.

Bill

cool..i allready have an aluminium bogen that works just fine, I just need
to lighten my load and thought I lighter tripod might help, but I think
you're right, the head is probably my problem....that's a heavy
sucker.....i"ll look into your suggestion.....

thanks to all for the response!

david
"Jeff Keller" wrote in message
...
For a small tripod the weight difference between aluminum and carbon fiber
may not be very much. The leg locks on the carbon fiber tripods are a
significant part of the weight. Consider looking at a good light weight
tripod head with aluminum legs if you want a small tripod. The Acratech
ball
head is very nice and possibly one of the lightest available.

The aluminum Gitzo 1126 for instance only weighs 3 lbs, is very compact
when
stored, and is quite stable. For more stability the smallest leg segment
can
be left un-extended and the center column only partially extended. I like
to
carry it when I want something compact and know it won't have to look over
fences, bushes, and tall weeds. I often carry in around cities.

If you have a light weight full size tripod you will probably prefer it
when
you don't know what to expect. I am more likely to take the carbon fiber
Gitzo 1227 which weighs 3.4 lbs but gives much more height when I am in
the
wilderness.

The avid bird photographers generally use sturdier tripods but I find both
of these work well with a 400mm f4 lens with 1.4x tele-extender. The
tripod
head is an important part of the stability.

-jeff
(wish my pictures were as good as yours)

"David" wrote in message
...
Anyone have any suggestions? I need a small carbon fiber tripod. I've
looked on the net and found the usual:

Bogen, Gitzo, Slik, and one i've never heard of, Feisol I found on ebay.
I
need a light and sturdy tripod for taking out to the far reaches of the
desert. I'm leaning towads the Gitzo.

thanks,
--
David
dba Full Moon Media- "The Full Solution to Your Image!"
owner and creator of www.VirtualBigBend.com - An Interactive Virtual
Tour
of
Big Bend National Park - Winner of 3 Gold Web Awards!