peter_n Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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killersnowman wrote:
My buddy refuses to post here but has been asking me for advice on tripods. He shoots a MF Mamiya setup as well as an assortment of 4x5 gear. He doesn't have a lot of money so he needs some advice. I would say a gitzo series 3-5 or a rrs 3 series but these are $$$
I was thinking about Feisol, as everyone seems to think they are nice for the price, but i need to know what model would be good for this sort of weight and size camera gear.
I agree on the Gitzo or RRS 3-series as a first choice but as you say, the cost. I know a lot of people really like the Feisols and I saw and handled a number of them recently and spoke with the manager of their customer service (which is very good BTW). They are nicely finished and very light in weight. To me, they look to have a sharper leg angle to achieve their max height spec, and I wonder how that affects stability. The only thing I don't like about them is the short collar on the leg joint hardware and I did talk to their service manager about it and he was, shall we say, equivocal on the matter. There have been breakages there.
Many here also like the Induros but Induro doesn't make a systematic type tripod, they all have center columns. I shoot MF (Rolleiflex and Fotoman 617 panoramic) and use a Gitzo 3-series systematic, but I only bought that tripod because a double discount brought the price down below the Benro systematic I was about to buy 3 years ago. Induro is a Benro brand and some of the parts are common but the designs are different. I also use two Benro tripods, one aluminum and one CF and they are well made and durable. Benro does manufacture a small range of systematics. I suggest your friend takes a look at the Benro C3770T. It's a systematic design and there are users of the Benro systematics on this forum who can attest to them. I buy from the dealer and he is reputable; it's worth looking at as well as the other systematics in the Benro range this and other dealers sell.
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