[Sigmoid]

Hello, members and guests-

Does anyone in the forum have direct personal experience with the current wave of low(er) cost carbon fiber tripods from companies like Benbo, Fancier, and especially, Feisol?

I need something super steady for a 600mm FA* mounted on a Wimberley gimbal head. The combined load on top of the tripod will be between 11 and 12 pounds depending on the accessories used with my K10D. The primary usage will be nesting birds but any other "subjects of opportunity" will be fair game, too.

The Feisol 3371 looks, to my inexperienced eye, like a terrific buy at $320 for the legs only, because it has 38mm upper legs (among the largest available in a portable tripod) and it doesn't come with accessories I don't need, such as a center column. This tripod is rated to support 26 pounds, although I understand that there is no uniform way of establishing these capacities in the tripod industry.

Anyway, if anyone has experience with this or a comparable tripod, please post your views here.

Let me also say pre-emptively that the standard reply, "Buy a Gitzo--Why try to save a few hundred dollars with a cheap tripod when you've got thousands invested in your lenses and bodies?" can be answered easily...I'm not inclined toward a HD Gitzo or Bogen/Manfrotto BECAUSE I've spent all my money, and more, on my lenses, bodies, etc.

Thanks,

Sig

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Last edited by Sigmoid; 11-03-2008 at 08:48 AM. Reason: clarification