i am looking to take the plunge on a Feisol 3442 tripod but before I do I want to make sure that a BH-40 LRII will fit on it and tha the legs can fold around it. If someone with this combo could confirm that would be great
I don't own the ball head so other suggestions are also accepted, however because Im in Aus, getting the M10 from markins and the QR from RRS is rather expensive on shipping (thus the reason for looking at the Bh-40 with LRII)
Any pics would be greatly appreciated
BTW: heaviest gear it will have to support is either a 5d II or 1ds II with a 70-200 2.8L IS (haven't bought the camera yet)
I have not used this combination, so can't help with the collapsing issue.
You might consider the smaller LR clamp, though -- RRS warns that using the larger clamp can impede ballhead movement when dropped down in the notch when used on a tripod with a large platform (like the 3442). This is likely only an issue if you don't use an L-plate, and are dependent on flopping the ballhead over for a portrait orientation.
Even apart from that issue, I prefer the smaller lever clamp for small and mid-sized ballheads. I use the LRII large clamp on my BH-55, and it's a perfect match there.
Why not the M10 with the quick release plate that comes with it? I LOVE mine (I'm in Australia too), both the QR and the ball head. Best money I've spent.
The main reason I was looking at the RRS was because of the L plates that they have and the several recommendations that I have read saying that the RRS QR is the best option
Daniel, I cannot help you with the RRS setup, but I know for a fact the Markins Q3 head allows the legs on the 3442 to wrap around for a nice compact 19" system.
I have a Feisol CT-3342 (the one with 3 legs, but should be otherwise identical to the 3442) and a RRS BH-40 with a B2-40-LR clamp.
I can't fold my legs around, and it is not the clamp but the ballhead which is the main culprit (the clamp could also be just a tad big if I had a smaller ballhead but the BH-40 is the first obstacle so...) so if you want to fold your legs the same way you can see it on the Feisol homepage you should look at a Markins head or some other stuff.
Btw, I am very satisfied with my purchase and don't miss the option to fold the legs around the ballhead.
Does the unit still fit in the bag that came with the tripod?
Or did you have to buy another bag?
Thanks
gruenbaum wrote:
I have a Feisol CT-3342 (the one with 3 legs, but should be otherwise identical to the 3442) and a RRS BH-40 with a B2-40-LR clamp.
I can't fold my legs around, and it is not the clamp but the ballhead which is the main culprit (the clamp could also be just a tad big if I had a smaller ballhead but the BH-40 is the first obstacle so...) so if you want to fold your legs the same way you can see it on the Feisol homepage you should look at a Markins head or some other stuff.
Btw, I am very satisfied with my purchase and don't miss the option to fold the legs around the ballhead.
Does the unit still fit in the bag that came with the tripod?
Or did you have to buy another bag?
Do you mean tripod + ballhead? No, the included bag is very tight fitting. But if I remove the ballhead from the tripod and put it in the RRS pouch I can put that between the legs and so the whole package fits in the included tripod bag.
But that was somewhat cumbersome to do, so I bought a Feisol TBL80 bag which is bigger and more padded and now stores tripod + head ready to go.
