Reader's Comments - Index of - Free

Tripods
want to meet my needs.
-- Andy Watts, February 11, 2000
Hello there !! I've been using Gitzo 345,226 and Velbon 640 with Arca Swiss B1
and medium (screw in type)Kaiser ball heads..Although the Arca is an excellent
ball head(and you expext that),I personaly preffer The Kaiser medium ball head
which is excellent for the 35mm equipment as well as for the 21/4 medium format
with shorter lenses.....Precision, smooth operation and reliability are the main
characteristics that anybody can expect from the Kaiser ball heads... Sincerely,Jan
-- Jan Senko, February 13, 2000
JTL Studio Systems has a line of tripods that are built to exact specifications as
Bogen. I recently bought one and am quite happy. They cost about 25% less than
Bogen and come with a head(ball or pan/tilt),strap,tool to tighten the leg locks, and
carrying bag. The alumunum seems to be a little stronger and the leg locks are
much better than those of the Bogens.JTL can be reached at jtlcorp.com.
-- Dan Westland, March 6, 2000
I hike quite a bit, and am a tall man. For what it's worth, the Manfrotto 190QC
(mini-pro) tripod is quite adequate for my needs. I have it with the 352RC (midi)
ballhead, which is inferior to the Slik 800 ballhead (which I tried out, but didn't
buy, recently) but quite adequate.
This combination is also quite reasonably priced: 150$CDN (or about 100$US),
plus $20 extra for the Manfrotto shoulder strap. I would consider this combination
a strong one for hikers and other photographers for whom weight (and price) is a
consideration, or those choosing a first tripod. Or both, for that matter.
-- Marco Anglesio, March 13, 2000
I personally opted for a Velbon 630 with the medium Giotto head from Kirk
Enterprises for my light weight setup. It is a true delight to use. This combination is
extremely light (just over 4 pounds), but will easily support my Pentax 645 solidly.
The legs are strong enough to support my Wisner 4x5, but the head is a bit light.
I have a Arca B-1 on order to hold the 4x5 camera and my 8x10 on my Zone VI (a
beast of a tripod). I am seriously considering a Gitzo to replace the Zone VI, which
is kind of on the heavy side.
-- Peter Wright, March 21, 2000
http://www.photo.net/equipment/tripods/philg (34 of 53)7/3/2005 2:21:13 AM