keep it or ditch it

[dawg]

howdy light workers

have a Gitzo gt2542l series 2 (not mountaineer) cf tripod and want to consider something cheaper

ditch the Gitzo and get a 400$ unit ?

I have a Benro and its good but alloy a tad heavy

need something light weight and no vibes, something the Gitzo has that's impressive compared to quite a few tripods I've tested..

any suggestions for current newish tripods

[jim]

Hi dawg. That's a great tripod you've got there. How much do you expect to save by selling it and replacing it with something inferior?

[Nick Cliff]

Dawg you may be able to get a good Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod second hand the reason being you can get replacement parts for Manfrotto tripods.
A Sirui 40X ball head I was given to replace a Three Legged Thing ball head under warranty has been very impressive.
I gather Sirui tripods are not too bad either going on some comments from other forum members in the past. You could get a good second hand version or possibly get one from B&H online during their Black Friday sales at a very fair price I would imagine.

cheers Nick

[Nick Cliff]

Dawg the Sirui W 2204 tripod is available for $350 Aus from B&H, this seems to be their top tripod if the reviews have not been edited,

cheers Nick

[dawg]

the reason for ditching maybe is that tripods are waaaaay better than 10 year ago
seen some in store and have to say they look darned good for the buks

things are catching up for "peanuts"

seen 700$ 2nd hand for Gitzo so 450 clams @ B&H seems good, then again might go 2nd hand this time..

cheers

[Tannin]

There is seldom any point in selling something to buy something else, unless the new one is considerably better in some way. It's just a way to burn money.

A tripod, when all is said and done, is just three stiff legs with a knob on top. A ten-year-old Gitzo should be as good or better from a handling point of view as anything you can buy today bar (maybe) some very expensive things. So scratch handling. Is it too heavy? If so, you will want a carbon fibre something - quite expensive. Otherwise, the replacement will probably weight much the same. And the only way you will get something stiffer and more stable than a ten-year-old Gitzo is, again, carbon fibre, and not a cheap one.

All that said, if you still want to get rid of it, you might look at something like the Benro one I bought a few months back. It was the Benro C3770TN. (I wanted one without a centre column.) Apparently it's practically impossible to buy spare parts for Benro products (or for nearly all the other brands) but Gitzo/Manfrotto (same company) will sell you absolutely any spare part you want. However, their markup on spares is so high that you'd probably just buy a whole new tripod instead if you ever needed a part. Having parts available is one thing, having them at a price anyone in his right mind would consider paying is another thing. In any case, I have never yet actually needed a spare part for any of my various tripods. Just buy the one you want (if you actually need one at all) and worry about spares when you break it, which you probably won't.

[Brian500au]

Not sure I really understand the reason you want to ditch the Gitzo?

[dawg]

Not sure I really understand the reason you want to ditch the Gitzo?


original idea was 700$ ditch + spend 400$ new = 300$ spare


did a review 7 years ago on a Gitzo 1542L and Triopo GX1128 a 200 clam tripod

there are 400$ tripods that work as good as the Gitzo here for my current photo needs, that's pretty much it..

and yes the Gitzo is brilliant

now watch me :oops: after realising I shoulda kept the Gitzo