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A tripod is big and heavy and therefore often left at home. Sad but true. A tripod is THE accessory to improve your pictures. TRUE. Not only does it help to get sharp pictures at all focal lengths and shutter speeds it also helps a lot in composition. It slows you down and with long focal lengths it is the only chance to get the precise frame you want. IS or VR do little help if you try to handhold a lens longer than 300mm because it only compensate your movings but it can´t prevent that you change the cut off every second. Closeup-photography is impossible without a tripod. Gitzo 1340 MkII with Magicball and Miniconnect. First: The legset The most important part of a tripod. It is responsible for its sturdiness and flexibility. There is no such thing like a lightweight and small yet sturdy tripod. Big is better. The 1340 is big enough that I don´t have to bend down to take a picture. Why is this important? 1. Comfort 2. If you bend down you also cant a little. The result: You tilt your camera and tilt the horizon. The picture of a leaning lake were you think that the water will start pouring out of the picture. I know this problem well - I shot hundreds of them. Bigger tripod - problem solved. The 1340 is 1,54m high without head weight is 2,93kg. Flexibility: No centerpost. Why? 1. Sturdiness, a tripod with extended centerpost is not sturdy enough so you better don´t extend it ( if you don´t extend it why buy it? ). 2. Low-level positioning ability. The Gitzo 1340 goes down on the ground completly flat if needed. This is needed in a lot of macro shots or if you take pictures of small animals like squirrels. Why not Carbon fiber? Beside the price difference it is a matter of taste. I prefer metal because I think it is more solid. But don´t forget the legwarmers! Optech made some tailored for all sizes. The Gitzo is a extremly well built tripod which is rock steady in any position and real value for the money. It is pricey but it is a once in a lifetime investment. Cameras and lenses will change over the years as technology improve but your tripod will be the same.
Second: The head The magicball is a special design ballhead from Novoflex ( a german company ) I looked around a lot for the right ball head. I prefer ballheads because they are faster than pan/tilt-heads. Big is better. Because they are better to lock and can be locked in any position. The designer of the Magicball tried something new. He turned the head upside down, the ball is connected with the tripod and cameraplatform is moving on top of it. Result: The head is lighter. The head comes in three different sizes: 920g, 610g or 330g. I have the big one because I like the better handling. There is only one grip to lock the ball ( friction can set on the same grip ). If the ball is unlocked it allowes absolutly free movement whereas with normal ballheads the freedom of movement is limited. You can track animals - even birds in flight with your lens mounted on your tripod. On my old tripod the head accidentally locked when following a moving animal. You can point down the lens in every position. The price for all this freedom: You have to be careful. As there is no limit in movement you can crack your lens if you don´t lock the head all the time. Imaging this: You are standing behind your tripod, a heavier lens like a 300 or 80-200 is attached on it. You bend down to search for a filter in your backpack and exactly in this moment the camera-lens combination starts to move forward, first slow than faster - bang! The lens hits the tripod leg. It happed to me but nothing was broken and I learned. Always lock the head firmly. Beside this the head is perfect. To make a good thing even better a added two parts. The miniconnect ( a quick release from Novoflex ). Instead of big plates it works with little, round devices with the size of a dime. It is awkward to have a big plate on the vertival grip of your camera. Solution: You remove it and put it on if you shoot with your tripod. If you have to put it on again every time you use it on the tripod it is no longer a quick release. The miniconnect is so small that you can leave it on all the time on all lenses and cameras and it is strong enough for everthing up to 2.8/300mm. The panoramahead ( also from Novoflex ). Why a seperate panoramahead? There are heads with integrated panorama. If you try to shoot a panorama you have to level you camera. With a ballhead with integrated panorama function this means - first level your tripod ( this is not an easy task ), than level your camera on the ballhead. With the panoramahead right under the camera you don´t have to care if the tripod is leveled out. Just level out your camera with the ballhead. Done in seconds. Conclusion: The result is a 4,16kg heavy super flexible tripod that goes from ground level to 1,70m. Links: http://www.novoflex.com/html_d/index_d.htm
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