Perhaps even more important than the legs is the head. I found the Acratech
ball head to be noticeably more stable than the Bogen 3030 (and a couple
other Bogen heads that use the same quick release plates). The Acratech is
one of the lightest and uses the Arca Swiss style quick release. It appeared
to me that the quick release plates of the Bogen were adding noticeable
movement when using big glass. It's somewhat surprising that Bill didn't
point out something similar since the Kirk uses the Arca Swiss style quick
release clamp and he also uses the Tamron 400/4 with tele-extenders. I guess
as always YMMV. I'm sold on the Arca Swiss style quick release.
http://www.reallyrightstuff.com has a biased but good discussion about
tripods and heads in the pdf catalog.
http://acratech.net/prod01.htm for a look at the acratech ball head
-jeff
----- Original Message -----
From: NSURIT@xxxxxxx
I have the Gitzo Explorer which is fine for most lenses, however for the
really big glass it is a little on the light side. The feature I most like,
that you don't find on many other tripods, is that it goes flat so you can
get down on the ground. They are a little pricey (as are many of the other
good tripods). I went with the aluminum one rather than the fiber as the
weight difference was about 8 ounces and the price difference was about
$200. There is a Kirk ball head on top of it, which I find very useful.
The Tiltall for the price can not be beat. If one wants a rock solid tripod
to hold and elevate there OM, this is fantastic. I also have a Manfrotto
3228 with a 3030 head which is a good general purpose tripod at about 1/3
the cost of the gitzo/kirk combination. I'm still looking for a heavier
tripod for my big glass, however haven't decided to jump for it, yet. Bill
Barber
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Royall" <james@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> A subject I know very little about. The short question is what type of
> tripod is best to get?
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