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That's definitely the way it operatesOriginally Posted by Snpsht
But like I said, it sucks you in, but then lets you down(a little).
The description above is why I mentioned that quality of material and ease of handling and stuff .. all excellent.
If you do landscape stuff ..
As for the Gitzo tripod .. maybe mine was just a bit of a dud, but a few things have broken on it that have 'put me off Gitzo a bit'.
Same deal as with the BH-55. It's still a good product, but don't believe the hype that it's up there with the best showing others how it should be done!
Save yourself some $s and get the equivalent sized Benro .. and the dollars you save I think can be close to 50% too! If it's a solid heavy gear tripod you want, I'd suggest the Benro 4570T. Not a portable 'travel' sized set of legs, but impressive quality.
The one thing that's always annoyed me with the Gitzo has been the little flip out thing you need to move before you open out the legs. They're dinky lil things and you can easily get a finger pinched in there too.
Gitzo's similarly operated lil flip things are a much better design, and (from memory) you have to deliberately try hard to get any finger pinched in moving it(which obviously you wouldn't do).
Gitzo has been rock solid for that macro stuff mentioned earlier. but the mechanism on the top plate that holds the column tight on mine broke. No reason for it to break, I was just tightening it up and it then kept spinning the column. So I can tighten the column, I can still get it to spin(or rotate).
Not particularly impressed by that fault.
I've been meaning to get a replacement top plate for it .. a company(Kirk maybe) make a better looking top plate(where the column issue originated) but it's low on the list of priorities ATM.
Note tho that my comments don't mean that you won't be happy with either of those two branded items. They have been extremely durable considering what they've been put through. I don't abuse them, but I don't baby them either.
Obviously the Gitzo has it's column issue, but nothing has broken. it hasn't worn down like my aluminium manfrotto lens have(in terms of the finish).
With the Gitzo you do get black hands after a while of operating or holding it. not sure if this is carbon residue(don't think so) or just that it attracts dirt/dust more readily.. but you do need to clean it more often than an Al tripod that I can think of.
I would still only ever get carbon again tho ..
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