MrGreen
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| p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Review: Feisol CT-3442 tripod, Photoclam PC-40NS ballhead | |
Hello fellow FM'ers,
I'm not sure if reviews exist for these or not, but if so here's another opinion anyways.
I recently purchased a new carbon fiber tripod and ballhead after many months, and months of research online and trying some out in stores. I came
to the decision of purchasing a Feisol 3442 carbon fiber tripod, and I went with a Photoclam PC-40NS ballhead. I also bought a used Kirk L-plate for
my XTi off eBay.
The tripod and ballhead were bought through Really Big Cameras in the good ol' US of A: http://www.reallybigcameras.com/
How I came to deciding this was the right combo was a combination of a few factors. I hike a lot, so I needed an extremely light weight combo that I
wouldn't notice on my backpack. I'm also not short being 6'4", so the height was a major factor as well. Most tripods out there that are tall
enough for me are too heavy to consider taking hiking. Manfrotto is a perfect example. Sure they're nice, but not hiking tripods, even their carbon
fiber models are heavy in comparison.
Anyways, I've been VERY happy with my purchase and have had a chance to get out and use it a few times now. I'll break this into sections for now to
make it easier to talk about one thing.
The tripod: Feisol CT-3442 Carbon Fiber legs with the CT-3442CC centre column kit.
It's very light, being under 3 lbs with the centre column kit.
Strong holding 22 lbs max load, and handling telephoto focal lengths quite well even in windy conditions. I recently was shooting the sunset on a
windy night at the beach and got sharp shots at 105mm focal length. This was with no extra weight to stabilize the tripod, but the legs were not
extended at all, and it was quite low to the ground.
Extending the legs is fairly quick, and 9 times out of 10 they will unlock just fine. Every now and then you wont be able to twist the lock free
because the leg is rotating, so when that happens you need to tighten the previous lock above it to stop this. Honestly, this doesn't bother me at
all. I know some people whine and complain because certain tripods don't have Gitzo's "famous and wonderful" G-lock system, but it's really a
non-issue. I tried out a Gitzo in the store and I couldn't for the life of me see why it would be worth so much more. The Feisol is equal in
quality, strength, and ease of use, so nothing justified the whopping extra cost to me.
Now, as for the length - both folded and fully extended - it meets my requirements just fine. As I said previous, I'm tall, but fully extended this
tripod will go higher than I can even see through the camera. With the legs fully extended and the centre column down all the way, I can almost see
through the camera without bending over. To me, this is just fine.
Tripod fully extended - column down |||||||||||||||||||| Tripod fully extended - column up
  
If you want to get low to the ground you have a few options. You can retract the legs and extend the centre column up a bit, like this:
You can unscrew the plate at the end of the centre column and slide the tube out, reverse it and feed it through from underneath. This takes a bit
of time however, so I prefer to just reverse the legs by folding them backwards - basically turning the whole tripod upside down like this.
Now mind you, if you do this the picture will be upside down too, and you'll have to get down low to see through the viewfinder which is not
comfortable. I really wish I had Live View for stuff like this!
Being able to fold the legs back in a reverse position is handy for packing it up too. If you want to stuff it in a suitcase it's quite small if you
do this. Also, this will allow it to fit in the supplied carrying case EVEN with the ballhead attached.
  
=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Ballhead: Photoclam PC-40NS
Here's a video showing the ballhead in use. If you can get past his goofy accent, it's a decent video!
First off, probably the best feature about this ballhead is that it's fully Arca compatible. Meaning, you can use L-plates from Really Right Stuff,
Kirk, or some other companies that may or may not exist. Also, that gives you MANY more plate options and in my opinion is a better system than the
crappy Manfrotto plates.
Here's a picture showing the profile of the clamp, and with my L-bracket/camera attached too.
  
Not much else to say about the ballhead really. It's a fairly simple piece of equipment so no need to ramble on about it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Conclusion of the pair:
Overall, I couldn't be happier with this combo. The two are definitely worthy of being called professional, as they are extremely well built, and
perform very well. I would recommend this combo to anyone looking to save money over a Gitzo, but still get something just as good.
Here's a few more pix to show the tripod, ballhead, L-bracket, and my camera. These illustrate a few things I talked about earlier, and hopefully
help you visualize what they look like together.
Close-up of the legs with centre column, column twist lock, ballhead.
Showing the column fully extended. As you can see, it's not going to be nearly as stable as it would be down, but it IS surprisingly more stable
than anything I would have expected. It's completely useable to me so long as there isn't a strong wind.
  
Here's a final picture showing all the stuff that you get with the tripod: optional screw-on hook for the centre column kit, flat plate that
normally comes with the tripod, tools to install the different plates, tighten screws on the tripod, etc.
Edited on Apr 01, 2009 at 06:07 PM · View previous versions
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