A brief advertisement for Feisol Tripods

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MikeBinOKlahoma
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Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Umm....Could it be Oklahoma?

A brief advertisement for Feisol Tripods

Post by MikeBinOKlahoma »

For a long time, I have owned two tripods, a big expensive Gitzo 1325, and a small expesive Gitzo 1028. The 1325 was great in every way except that it was larger and heavier than needed for a lot of my lighter and modest-focal-length equipment, and the 1028 was delightfully light, but wasn't really stout enough for any but my lightest lenses and fairly fast shutter speed. As I approach age 50, I find I'm becoming a real weenie about cutting the weight of my photo equipment as much as possible.

I've been hearing good things about Feisol tripods, and they have a fairly lightweight model, the 3301, that isn't expensive as carbon fiber tripods go (I paid about $230 for mine). I received the Feisol about two weeks ago, and took it as my only tripod on a trip, leaving just a couple of days after I received it.

The Feisol came through with flying colors. Steady as you could ask for with a 1Ds and lenses up to my 180mm macro (I didn't take anything heavier on this trip, which was mostly landscapes and some macro). Build quality isn't as "nice" as the Gitzo, but I have no substantive complaints about it.

I recommend the Feisol 3301 to anyone who is considering it. I ordered from their US distributors at thresholdconcepts.com, and got my tripod through the mail four days after phoning in the order. The tripod comes with an extendable center column, but I removed that and am working with just the bare tripod legs (a replacement plate for the center column was included and was easy to install).

Added later--One minor negative of the Feisol for macro work is that you can't extend the legs parallel to the ground like you can on the Gitzo. The spread out to a substantial angle, putting the top of the tripod perhaps eight inches above the ground. But I usually photography from my elbows in the sort of situation anyway.
Mike Broderick
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"I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul.....My mandate includes weird bugs."--Calvin

(reposts on this site of my images for critique or instruction are welcome)

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Ken Ramos
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Joined: Tue May 04, 2004 7:58 pm
Location: Western North Carolina

Post by Ken Ramos »

Glad you brought up the subject Mike. I too recently purchased a tripod after shopping around quite a bit. I am not a big fan of graphite and plastic but like you wieght is an important factor as I am approaching my "senior citizen" years. My mind tells me I am still a young buck but my body says otherwise. :lol:

Anyway, I settled on purchasing a Manfrotto 3001BPRO tripod w/o head and the Manfrotto basic pan head w/quick release Model 3030. The tripod is pretty much all metal with the ability to get close to the ground and a max hight of about 63." The head has large easy to grip adjustments but not so large as to be cumbersome and they are compact and out of the way.

This is a very versetile tripod and extremely stable for my uses and dispite the all metal construction it is not very heavy. Of course the only large lens I have is the Canon 100mm macro and it, the tripod, supports both camera and lens extremely well. :D

Thanks for your post Mike. If I do need another tripod or want something lighter in the future I will keep your recommendation of the Feisol tripods in mind. The cost of both the Feisol and the Manfrotto w/head are about the same, plus or minus a few buck here and there. :D
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Kenneth Ramos
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Kens Microscopy
Reposts of my images within the galleries are welcome, as are constructive critical critiques.

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