Shop Tried Selling Me A Tripod, But It's Not Manfrotto...

68lbs

68lbs

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...which in itself is not a problem. Except for the fact that I have been debating the new tripod thing for months now and was all resolved to go and buy an 055 when I am offered something different.

The 'pod in question is a package for £170...

Velbon 645 Pro Carbon Legs
Giottos 1301 Ball Head

The weight of the legs is amazing compared to the 055 XProB and positively featherlike. The seem to extend reasonably high, but also get down very low (I reckon about 3" plus head) which is exactly what I want for landscape work. The head is Giottos so presumably good from my understanding of the brand. A static ball head or something? You can move it, but it won't slip. Seems ok, anyways. The only thing the legs don't do is have that swinging centre column like the Manfrotto. But then, I can't see that I'll need to 'lean over' too much.*

Has anyone got any experience of any or all of the above? Any comments to make for or against before I spend my money?

Many thanks.

* Note: I have just thought where the swinging centre column could be useful. Such as positioning the camera just above a wall/fence to look along it's length.
 
Ffordes have a Gitzo ex-demo sale on just now, might be worth a wee look at their website ;)
 
I have a Velbon Sherpa Pro 645 Carbon and it's great. I have used it both in studio and outdoors and had no problems :thumbs::thumbs:

I have the Velbon PH157Q and a PHD-51Q heads, which are great for landscapes. The only Giottos head I have is a MH7002 Series 1 ball head, but I only use that on a monopod - never used it on the 645.

I'm 6ft and it does me fine. It can also go very low by removing a section of the centre column and splaying the legs out. You can also reverse the fixing head and place the camera on the bottom of the centre column if you wish.

I don't now if they still do, but mine came with a Velbon shoulder bag, centre column bottom hook (:eek: - you know what I mean) and a stone bag if you need to add weight for stability out in the field. But to be honest with you, the column hook and my kit bag do the job perfectly in outdoor situations.

Big :thumbs: from me.

Re the horizontal centre column thing - thats the only thing it won't do, and I don't believe Velbon do a model (or attachment) that can do that yet. Horses for courses...
 
I'm not sure about the ball head so can't comment on that. I have the Velbon Sherpa Pro 645 Carbon legs and PH157Q head combination too. Its a great setup, very light yet extremely stable. I use mine for mostly landscape work. The thing that swung it for me was the type of leg release. These I find easier and quicker than the twist type.

Andy.
 
RGB in Boro by any chance?

My wife got a Giotto head from there and it's really good IMO, went in wanting a Manfrotto but came out with that (and Manfrotto legs as she's into macro) and she's more than happy with it, easy to adjust and rock solid.
 
I've got a Manfrotto 055/486R2 ball head combination and also spent an age looking at the various tripods available before buying it.

It's certainly a weighty beast but solid as anything even in strong winds.

The swinging centre column has come in handy quite a few times (including for over/along walls) and also allows you to get right down to ground level when you want to. I quite often have to clean grass etc. off the end of the lens!

Being able to move the camera to one side of the tripod also comes in handy when you are shooting at the extreme wide end of things and don't want your tripod legs in the bottom of the shot!
 
68lbs said:
...which in itself is not a problem. Except for the fact that I have been debating the new tripod thing for months now and was all resolved to go and buy an 055 when I am offered something different.

The 'pod in question is a package for £170...

Velbon 645 Pro Carbon Legs
Giottos 1301 Ball Head

....

Has anyone got any experience of any or all of the above? Any comments to make for or against before I spend my money?

Many thanks.

....
Click to expand...

:woot: Giottos 1301 Ball Head fan-boy, reporting for duty :D!

OK, so it's the first "pro" quality ball head that I've ever owned, but it's one heck of a piece of kit for the money. Really well made, very easy to use and utterly, utterly "slop-free". It pans, it has variable resistance when used in "unlocked" mode and so you can easily balance the weight of your camera/lens against it and move it freely without it falling forwards all the time. The double locking catch on the QR plate is a nice touch too.

I really don't know (although I'm sure somene's about to come along and tell me ;)) how a more expensive ball head could possibly be any better, unless it was significantly lighter :thinking:. In fairness, the Giottos 1300 range are fairly hefty (once you get to the bigger sized models).

70 quid well spent, IMHO ;).
 
Naboo32 said:
Really well made, very easy to use and utterly, utterly "slop-free". It pans, it has variable resistance when used in "unlocked" mode and so you can easily balance the weight of your camera/lens against it and move it freely without it falling forwards all the time. The double locking catch on the QR plate is a nice touch too.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for that. You sound exactly like the guy in the shop. Have to confess, it did seem pretty cool.

I've had a thought though... never owned a ball head, and am wondering how do you get the camera into portrait position? The ball won't move that far, surely?
 
68lbs said:
I've had a thought though... never owned a ball head, and am wondering how do you get the camera into portrait position? The ball won't move that far, surely?
Click to expand...

They have a slot which allows the ball to fall over in to a portrait position.
 
Figured it was looking through your flickr photos a whole lot of local landmarks in there :)

Had great service from RGB everytime I've used them.
 
MisterE said:
They have a slot which allows the ball to fall over in to a portrait position.
Click to expand...

Indeed! Piece o' cake to use, too ;) ...

d4be917c.jpg


(Sorry about the blurry picture, I couldn't use my tripod to take the picture of my tripod :p. Maybe I should have used a mirror :thinking:).
 
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