carbon fiber tripod for a tall guy?

I am 6'5" tall and am having trouble looking for a quality cf tripod. I would love a RRS 24l tripod, but I can't afford it.

This one should work up to about a 500mm lens and camera:

http://www.adorama.com/GZGT3542L.html

Or if you need a really tall, strong tripod, this could be an option:

http://www.adorama.com/GZGT5562GTS.html

Joe

Not a fan of Gitzo at all. My recommendation would be to look at Induro you will have no trouble finding a tripod that suits your needs and save money at the same time. Induro Gear

I would recommend strongly a gitzo 3542XLS for taller people. XLS stands for extra long.

http://www.naturescapes.net/store/gitzo ... ripod.html

Contact me and I will give you a sweet deal on the above tripod...greg@naturescapes.net

Most of the time you would use it as a 3 section tripod but with the ability to extend the last section when you need extra height or are shooting up or on an incline etc.

I will say this: I have tried every tripod, Gitzo, RRS, Induro, Sirui, etc. and taken most of them apart. Gitzo is in my opinion still by far the best. Even the RRS tripod has flaws. The Induro is decent but the thickness of the carbon fiber in their legs are about 40% thinner than any Gitzo and it comes at a cost in stability big time. I recently went through the same decision when upgrading and tried quite a few high end tripods. Ended up right back where I was - with a gitzo 3532LS. I sell both but know which one is better than the other You get what you pay for in most cases.

In my opinion the RRS tripod has a fundamental design flaw in the leg angle locks. All of the previous Gitzo flaws have been resolved in the newest models. Slowly over the years, they have addressed every complaint I have ever had and there were several.

the gitzo xls is my standard tripod and I like it very much. It is the tallest I know of without going to something very heavy. The weight difference between it and the next longest gitzo is not that significant to me compared to having the extra length when I need it.

Another vote for 3542 XLS, the extra height is handy at times. Only negative is it quite long collapsed which makes air travel difficult.

Gitzo XLS. I'm only 5'11" but have found myself needing the extra section when shooting from uneven or unstable ground. This tripod is awesome and well worth the extra $$. My father-In-Law is 6'5" and uses the same tripod. Its plenty tall for anything he has had to do.

You didn't ask, but an essential accessory I got for mine was a RRS leveling base. It's one of those few accessories I could not live without. Gitzo makes one too... never used it though.

Another vote for the Gitzo 3542 XLS. I get to play with most all different tripods my tours. I haven't yet found one I like better than my Gitzo 3542 XLS. Goes much taller than anything out there. Relatively light with carbon fiber. The head can be quickly removed without tools for travel. I got it from Greg here right after they came out.

Be warned you will create a long arduous cleaning task if you submerge it below the lower leg joint or collapse it wet because that puts water into the internals. If you fail to clean it internally after immersion, the unit will corrode from the inside out where the leg tops hit the tripod base.

Don't be fooled where Greg posts pictures of himself in water nearly up to the base of his Gitzo because Greg sells tripods! Just goofing. Greg is known to have taken his entire rig for a swim, oops. Learning curve.

I find for air travel I pack it in a duffel putting it on top or side. Don't put on bottom unless duffel has wheels as baggage handlers if dragging it will wear quickly through the bag and scratch the tripod almost like putting it against a grinding wheel. Flushing with fresh water is important if you have any tripod in salt water. Scuba divers flush their equipment as well and it is designed to be in water. I have the lower leg extended a minimum of 3 inches to keep the lower leg lock out of the dirt and sand. Otherwise the lower is not extended until the upper 2 are fully extended and I still need more height. If you have any reason to believe sand silt ect has gotten into the leg lock, it needs to be cleaned immediately and relubricated. The fine threads are quickly ruined by grit.

There are a few other things to consider when spending a good deal of money.

My last Gitzo Tripod Ever

bradmangas wrote:There are a few other things to consider when spending a good deal of money.

My last Gitzo Tripod Ever

Wow, that is interesting!

I'd be willing to consider something other than gitzo but who else is making a tall (78" no center post) tripod like the GT3542XLS at under 5 lb.

Love my Induro CT 314 and the short center column. You don't even know its there! And its plenty tall for the Giants out there!

There are always opinions and you will always find posts such as Richard's link above but his experience is not the norm. I understand Richard's frustration and some of the things he has claimed to happen to his tripod seem odd (like the angle adjusters falling off - I have never had that happen nor have I seen it happen), but frankly he didn't say which tripod he thinks is actually better and consider that some of what happened may have been from sheer abuse and lack of care and maintenance - who knows. Do Gitzo tripods ever have problems? Sure. I've owned 3 gitzos in the last 15 years - I sold the first one to upgrade - and the only reason I bought the second one is because I wanted a second one. They are both still in perfect working order but I have had to maintain them just like anything else that is mechanical and gets used.

I've been at this for a long time - don't you think I would want to own the best tripod my money can buy? Trust me when I say I have tried them all. I've been given a lot of tripods to demo and I have no brand loyalty - we sell 3 or 4 brands in the store all of which I have been given a demo of the largest model. I ended up with what I think is the best. I've tried RRS too but would never own one because if the fundamental flaw EJ spoke of.

Is Gitzo perfect? No. Neither is Lexus. Is the company perfect - um far from it in fact is IS frustrating getting repairs and parts if you need them (that's why we suggest people call us - because we know who to call and how to get them to answer.) But at the end of the day no one has showed me a tripod that is anywhere near on par with a gitzo. The RRS is the only one that comes close but again with a fundamental flaw that is ready to fail at any moment. Induro looks good but it is made with inferior materials in the carbon fiber. Surui is decent but the same issue as Induro. Benro, Vangurd - forget it. All the Chinese knock offs skimp on the thickness of the carbon and other materials and the ONLY way you can see that is to take it apart or use it extensively. You can however feel it in the stability when side by side with a gitzo or RRS. And no, none of them go up to 78" that I know of at least not without a wonky column...

Steve is right - I have taken my tripod for many swims. The only time I need to take it apart and clean it is if I take it into salt water. It's not that hard to do but yes salt water will pretty much each up any tripod if left uncleaned.   Below - a gitzo about 12 years ago - I still have the tripod

That photo was taken with a Gitzo

Someone else recommended an Induro and I'll second that. To those who have had a gitzo forever, I envy you. I've had three and all three had problems that accumulated as a result of travel and extreme temperature changes across the years of their use. The last was a Mountaineer 1325 mk ii. I had a leg that came loose in 2011 and sent it to Gitzo for repair. It took over 4 months to get the set back. This last year, the same tripod had a second leg fail. I was told that the expected repair time was now 6 months. Rather that waiting for a repair and the inevitable 3rd leg to become problematic, I purchased an Induro CT313 for about half of what the equivalent Gitzo would have cost. This tripod has been to Costa Rica twice now and suffered through one of MN's most intense winters. I've had it set up in lakes, on snow and in the ocean with not problems. As far as I can tell, with the addition of a short column, the Induro should be as functional and last as long as the Gitzo at half the price.

good luck...
bruce

In all fairness, a 1325 is 4 generations behind the current ones and had none of the problems addressed that current tripods do. Making a judgement about today's Gitzo tripods based on a model that came out in the late 1990's is not fair.

I agree with E.J. I have tried many times on these forums to explain that to people who were saying that the 1325 and similar were good tripods. Those are old models without the features and functionality of newer models. You can't compare them to the latest models.

Joe

I had a 1325 for many years and served me well till I upgraded to a 3542 XLS. Regarding trouble with Gitzo's just about any product you name will have some bad reviews when you check online review sites, like maybe 1 or 2 bad revies along with 50+ 5 star reviews. All you can do is read a sampling and make a judgement of whether the ratio of good to bad reviews is enough to convince you to spend the money.