Bob, I haven't done the math or even very much comparison shopping of late,,, I guess that's why others who have, may have valuable insight. I have a Gitzo (2541 I think). Costs about $600 USD unfortunately. But goes from a little over 1" up to at least eye level (if I remember). I'm 5' 10"... if I remember... :-)
Under 5 lbs... if I remember... The 8 & 10 lb Manrottos are rotting away upstairs... if that's what they weigh... if I remember... :-) I understand where you're coming from. If you're too tired out by the time you reach your destination, it's unlikely you'll have the focus to produce excellently composed photographs. Tom On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 1:20 PM, Bob W <[email protected]> wrote: >> I am thinking abot getting a carbon fiber tripod. My >> current one is too heavy, so I rarely use it (always makes me >> think that standard tripods are a "guy thing" -- i.e. lots >> of upper body strength to lug around). >>t >> Want light, want one that goes fairly tall (I am tall), and >> one that collapses to a fairly short length. >> >> And I want to keep it around $300 max. >> >> Don't want a lot, do I? ;-) >> >> I've been looking online and the Velbon El Carmagne seems >> doable. My hesitation is that I have a Velbon non-carbon >> fiber now and don't like it much (admittedly it was only >> about $70). I mean it's okay and workable, but the pan and >> tilt head moves even after I have it clamped all down and I >> have found that highly annoying. I don't like ball heads much. >> >> Anyone have experience with it or some other that they can recommend? > > No experience with this, but some comments. > > You should be able to get the head separately from the legs, and choose the > head you want. You have to spend a bit more to get a pan/tilt head that > doesn't shift slightly when you tighten it. At the price you're looking at I > would expect to be able to choose the head separately from the legs. > > The legs you're looking at have 4 sections, and this can be a bit of a pain > to put up and down. It also tends to mean that one of the sections my be a > bit thin and weak. I prefer to have 3 sections because it's easier to handle > and stronger, although longer when folded. > > Bob > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.

