p.1 #1 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Feisol just introduced a brand new model - CT-3441T. Kerry from Really Big Cameras
requested a travel tripod for taller than average photographers. It's nearly 7" taller
(column down height) than the CT-3441S. The folded length is 2" longer than
the CT-3441S, but at 18.9" it's still compact enough to fit in a carry-on size bag.
Since it uses a one-piece center column, in place of the two-piece column
of the CT-3441S, it only weighs 3/4 oz. more than the standard CT-3441S.
Legs come from the Tournament CT-3442 and the spider is the same as CT-3441S.
I've had a great experience with Kerry and a PC-33NS Photo Clam ballhead
I got from him - you can check out my short review here:
As I was looking for a tripod, which would be as tall as possible, but still very compact
for travel, I decided to try the new Feisol. Got it yesterday.
I already have two Gitzos - 1541T for a compact travel tripod and 1540 for everything else.
1541T is great but really short. 1540 is wonderful, but quite long when folded down.
Here you can see the difference between those three tripods and a MacBook Pro 13"
The CT-3441T is only slightly longer and larger than a super small Gitzo 1541T.
Much smaller than 1540 (1540 is identical to 1541).
Next picture shows CT-3441T side-by-side with Gitzo 1540:
You can see how much taller it is and how much more solid. The legs are much thicker.
So you would think Feisol must be much heavier? Well, it's the opposite!
The difference is not big, but you can clearly feel Feisol being lighter than the small 1540.
Of course the world is not perfect, so the Feisol doesn't have an anti-rotating system
of folding down the legs. But it's a very well made rotating system - pretty much
identical to the older Gitzos. If you have any experience with 1258 or other similar Gitzo,
you know how Feisol operates. If you remember the order how to turn them, you're fine.
The legs are the Tournament version, I don't see any seams and it's coated with some
clear protective coating.
I have to say I'm very impressed. It supports more than 1540, weights less
and is much shorter folded down. A very solid product with a great support from Kerry.
I'm gonna keep my smallest Gitzo, it is still lighter, so when I need to really limit
the weight, I'll take Gitzo 1541T with me. Combined with the Photo Clam PC-33NS,
it's a great setup.
But I'm gonna replace my 1540 with this new Feisol. There is nothing like it
in the entire Gitzo line. If I want taller, I'd need to get something like 2542L which
is not a traveler kind, so very long while folded down.
I'm also gonna get another Photo Clam for it, probably PC-40NS. All the Photo Clam
ballheads are designed to fit a traveler tripod perfectly, the knobs are spread out
the way one leg easily fits in between.
I highly recommend CT-3441T. BTW, it's only $319 for a clearly superior product.
p.1 #2 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Really nice looking tripod. I was talking to you on the other forum about it, so it's nice to see some pictures of this one.
Definitely does look like it uses the legs from the CT-3442, but the base from the 3441s. I just don't like how you can't remove that centre column. Easy work around is flipping the legs around 180 degrees (or whatever).
You'll definitely be happy with the PC-40NS though. Mine is still going strong.
p.1 #3 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
MrGreen wrote:
Definitely does look like it uses the legs from the CT-3442, but the base from the 3441s. I just don't like how you can't remove that centre column.
Hi, I like that short center column as that little bit adds a bit of height without extending it...
And if I need to, I have an option for some extra height. Doesn't make the tripod
longer for traveling neither. I like the tripod a lot. I was really surprised it was lighter
than my very small Gitzo 1540...
p.1 #4 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Looks interesting. However, it was the Gitzo 1228 that had rotating legs. The 1258 was the first version with ALR.
Do you have the specs for this 3441T - especially interested in the weight of the tripod and it's height when legs are fully extended, but the column is not extended.
Also, if one goes to the Really Big Camera website there is no contact information and the eBay store has nothing in it. Any idea what's up?
J.
Oct 09, 2009 at 03:47 PM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #5 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
I'm glad to see that Kerry got somebody to take over the promotion/advertising for his shop Fred and the moderaters have to stop him from doing it himself that last year
p.1 #6 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Lars Johnsson wrote:
I'm glad to see that Kerry got somebody to take over the promotion/advertising for his shop...
Look, two weeks ago I didn't even know about him or stuff he's selling.
I was just packing for a trip and got tired of dealing again with my Markins Q3T not fitting
Gitzo 1541T as it should. I specifically bought it to fit that tripod and I asked Markins
if the fit and the knob position was any problem. They told me "no, it's designed to work
with the Gitzo 1541T". Obviously it doesn't work. So Markins kind of lost me.
Good products, but bad information.
So I started looking around and found out about Photo Clam. Never heard about them before.
I think the product is great and it deserves a little word.
The same about the new Feisol CT-3441T.
p.1 #7 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
JohnJ80 wrote:
Looks interesting. However, it was the Gitzo 1228 that had rotating legs. The 1258 was the first version with ALR.
Do you have the specs for this 3441T - especially interested in the weight of the tripod and it's height when legs are fully extended, but the column is not extended.
Also, if one goes to the Really Big Camera website there is no contact information and the eBay store has nothing in it. Any idea what's up?
J.
You're rigth about 1228, that's the one I used to have...
the weight of CT-3441T - 1.05kg , pretty much the same as 3441S
the height w/o the center column - the box says 138cm, but that doesn't include
that little bit of the center column resting on the spider. So it's around 142-143cm.
Plus the ballhead and the camera is practically on my eye level (I'm 6'2")
You can see on my picture how much taller it is comparing to 1540
Yeah, the website is quite poor, just email him and he'll sell it to you: [email protected]
p.1 #8 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Lars Johnsson wrote:
I'm glad to see that Kerry got somebody to take over the promotion/advertising for his shop Fred and the moderaters have to stop him from doing it himself that last year
Obviously you have some sort of personal "beef" with Kerry, but either way how is this ANY different than all the other people posting about Gitzo or RRS, or anything else like that?
p.1 #10 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Lars Johnsson wrote:
I'm glad to see that Kerry got somebody to take over the promotion/advertising for his shop Fred and the moderaters have to stop him from doing it himself that last year
Is it Kerry or Feisol, I noticed the samething awhile back on a thread about their large centering colume Tripod......don't bad mouth Gitzo or Lars is gona git ya!!!
p.1 #11 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Lars is referring to a bit ago when this promotion of Feisol by someone with a financial interest (really big cameras) was getting out of hand and against forum rules.
That said, this tripod looks interesting. I might be tempted if it had ALR legs. Can't be that hard (Benro was able to do it, for heaven's sake) to design.
J.
Oct 10, 2009 at 12:54 AM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #12 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
MrGreen wrote:
Obviously you have some sort of personal "beef" with Kerry, but either way how is this ANY different than all the other people posting about Gitzo or RRS, or anything else like that?
Of course it's different. RRS or Gitzo are brands that you can recommend. So are also Feisol if you like to recommend those tripods. But Kerry_Really big Cameras is an web-shop selling Feisol. Just like many other web-shops selling tripods and heads. And he already got stopped doing his promotion and linking to his shop by the moderators and Fred last year here.
I don't mind Feisol or Photo Clam. They have very interesting products and maybe I will buy the tripod myself. But then I will buy it from Feisol and not from somebody that got banned here at FM
p.1 #13 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
Actually, I was sorry to see Kerry leave the forums. I spoke with him and found him to be friendly and helpful---no hard sell, and no, I didn't buy a tripod at the time. But I would consider a lightweight travel tripod, and yes, would buy it from Kerry (Really Big Cameras) without hesitation since he is an official distributor here.
I think the key thing is that there always needs to be open disclosure of anyone's business relationships---and that disclosure being made, allows readers to develop and weight those opinions accordingly. In the photography field, it is not unusual for "sellers" of photographic products to also be very passionate about photography personally themselves. So with disclosure, I would welcome their opinions.
I know it is frowned upon here at the FM forums, but I know it works to success in a very friendly banter among competing dealers on another forum, albeit much smaller than FM. And the great part is---the photographers are able to ask questions from the source....
p.1 #14 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
It's Fred's forum, and it's one of the best on the web for photography. Those are Fred's rules, they work, and that's that. On a lot of forums where retailers or manufacturers openly advocate it gets to a lot more like you are standing on someone's show room floor instead of talking about stuff in an open and honest way. That is what happened here last year and it was a good thing it was stopped. It was over the top whether Kerry was well intentioned or not - and it needed to stop. Fred and moderators did the right thing. Here it's controlled and it works very well.
Back to the ALR question - has anyone heard any buzz about Feisol picking up the ALR feature? I was very grateful when ALR came to the Gitzo tripods - the rotation legs just drove me nuts until they fixed that with ALR. I like the way this travel tripod looks, and think that is a big hole in Gitzo's line - they miss on the max height specs - but the lack of ALR is probably a show stopper for me.
p.1 #16 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
I'm not a moderator and maybe they can answer. There is a line to draw and it's between being helpful and clarifying vs jumping in on every thread and advocating a product you sell. Henry from B+H is on the right side of the line. Others haven't been. Seems to me the moderators have done a good job at managing that properly. It's a judgment call and it does come a bit under the heading of "I know it when I see it." The incident as I recall it last year was obvious.
p.1 #17 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
JohnJ80 wrote:
Back to the ALR question - has anyone heard any buzz about Feisol picking up the ALR feature? I was very grateful when ALR came to the Gitzo tripods - the rotation legs just drove me nuts until they fixed that with ALR. .
This is a huge thing for me as well. I was just about to buy a Feisol 3372LV, plus the leveling base, and now am treading water.
p.1 #19 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
This is also available from feisoluk.com, not just reallybigcameras. They list the weight at 1.1kg, versus 1.0kg for the 3441-S (versus 970g for the Gitzo 1541T). I don't know why Feisol and its dealers can't give precise specifications.
p.1 #20 · New Feisol model CT-3441T vs. small Gitzos
snowboarder wrote:
Feisol just introduced a brand new model - CT-3441T.
So.. you say it's taller but you don't specify how tall it is. You said how long it is when collapsed but not when it's extended. So.. How tall is it?
EDIT, NM, you said in post #7: "the box says 138cm, but that doesn't include
that little bit of the center column resting on the spider. So it's around 142-143cm."
Sorry...
BTW, it that the length of the legs, or the height when fully extended and expanded?
Fred and the moderaters have to stop him from doing it himself that last year 
