I am looking to buy some decent, stable support for a D800 + 200-400 F/4 lens + 1.4x or 1.7x converter.

One of the uses, although not exclusively, will be for bird photography.

So far, my thoughts are to get the RRS BH55 head and a Wimbley Sidekick.

I need a tripod to attach them to.

A lot of mention is made about Gitzo. As I try to research the Gitzos I am getting increasingly confused. They use names for series of tripods such as 'Mountaineer', 'Explorer' and 'Safari' with no explanation on their website as to what the differences are between the various series. To complicate matters even more, they have series 0, 1, 2, etc. Then they combine them with, for example, Series 2 Mountaineers, Series 3 Mountaineers, Systematic Series 2 and Systematic Series 3, etc. What does it all mean?

If the recommendation is to go with Gitzo, specifically which model should I be selecting?

Any other options that might be better than the Gitzo?

Any comments about the BH55 or Sidekick?

BTW, I am very short, so I don't need a very tall tripod.

Thanks
Ken: