Doctorbird Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Peter, Jerry, etc. Thanks for your interest and comments.
Not trying to proselytize anyone here, just sharing my own experience and of course willing to hear your opinions too.
First, 20 lbs of gear isn't all that heavy to support. My CF windsurfing boom was more than sufficient to support my own body weight plus the dynamic forces associated with vigorous sailing. You can tell from the image in the original post that there is very little visible flex in the legs of the tripod. It looks spindly but it's stiff. And the hinges and locking joints so far seems solid enough. I have to trust Gitzo here.
If the joints are strong enough and the CF elements stiff enough, the actual geometric configuration of the support is irrelevant as long as there is enough footprint to support the rig provided that the center of mass (the important parameter) of the camera/lens setup is affixed properly. Even a pole fixed into a large enough flat base plate with a tripod mount on top could conceivably work as a support - like a pole lamp. A tripod configuration of course is more advantageous on uneven surfaces.
I found this setup quite useful when locking onto a bird and waiting, sometimes much longer than I can handhold, for it to do something interesting before I take the images, as in some of the examples here.
There may or may not be more sensitivity to body interaction as compared to a 'hefitier' setup but this is not usually an issue in daylight at the usual high shutter speeds, and invoking the lens IS will also help in this regard. Certainly more stable than hand holding in the same situation.
Of course for BIF's hand holding is more effective, and I usually dispense with the tripod in this situation.
I haven't tried it for long exposure shots but I see no reason that it won't work provided one take the usual precautions - mirror lockup, cable release or delay shutter , etc.
As far as wind disturbances and the like, perhaps a bit more of the same preventative measures as a 'normal' sized tripod is in order but it does not preclude its use in these situations. Note that the GT1544 provides the usual hook at the bottom of the center column on which to hang a stabilizing ballast.
As I mentioned a not too insignificant downside is the slightly smaller footprint of the tripod (but the less to kick and trip over) which hasn't proved disastrous - so far. And again, even with a normal size tripod I try to always use the neck strap as a further prevention against a catastrophic event.
And aside from the weight advantage, the size also matters when packing for air travel.
Db
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