New Ball Head and Tripod to Lighten the Load a Little

[RecalcitrantRon]

I currently have a Gitzo 1325. While it has been indestructible for almost 20 years, it weighs in at 4.4lbs, is 58" tall fully extended; 26.4" when collapsed and does not have anti-twist leg locks. Atop the tripod sits a RRS BH55 which weighs in a 2lbs. I used this setup for both landscape for which it is overkill and until recently with a Wimberley Sidekick for wildlife. I have since purchased a gimbal head for the wildlife and want to reduce the weight on the landscape rig. The camera is a Z8 and the primary lens will be the Z 24-120 f/4 and a 70-200 f/2.8 VR I. So far I am considering the following products:

Ballhead: (all of these options shave at least a pound)

RRS BH40: 15.7 oz ($465)
RRS BH30: 11.2 oz ($355)
Acratech GXP: 16 oz ($560)
Acratech GXP-SS: 13.6 oz ($530)
Colorado Tripod Aspen Ballhead: 15.52 oz ($330)

Tripod: (I'm not a fan of center columns and I'm 6 feet tall so I am not interested in anything under about 55" tall fully extended without a center pencil thin flexy legs need not apply)

Leofoto LS-324CX Ranger: 3.09lbs; 55.5" extended; 20" collapsed; comes with a center if I want to use it; three leg locks; smallest tube is 22mm ($339)
Leofoto LS-323CX Ranger: 3.13lbs; 60" extended; 25.6" collapsed; two leg locks; smallest tube is 25mm ($279)

If you have any experience with any of these products (I am already aware of the allegations about Leofoto replicating designs) or have any suggestions for others, I would greatly appreciate your insight. Thanks.

 

[ButlerKid]

If you don't have really large lenses, the RRS BH50 and 30 are great options.

I have the RRS TVC 24L (tall) tripod and love it. It is about 3 lbs. and goes with me everywhere, even Europe and international birding trips with my 600mm f4. But it is a lot more $$$ than the Leofoto ones.

 

[RecalcitrantRon]

If you don't have really large lenses, the RRS BH50 and 30 are great options.

I have the RRS TVC 24L (tall) tripod and love it. It is about 3 lbs. and goes with me everywhere, even Europe and international birding trips with my 600mm f4. But it is a lot more $$$ than the Leofoto ones.

Thanks Karen. I'm sure it is a great tripod. Weighs in at 3.7lbs so not much weight savings though.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

Curious with the Gimbal head what are you shooting? BIF? Maybe leave the gimbal at home and and use a Flexshooter Mini that would handle those lens easily.

 

[RecalcitrantRon]

Curious with the Gimbal head what are you shooting? BIF? Maybe leave the gimbal at home and and use a Flexshooter Mini that would handle those lens easily.

Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. Weighs in at a hefty 11.25lbs. I'm looking at getting my landscape kit lighter. The Flexshooter Mini weighs in at 1lb so it could work for the landscape kit but I don't see it working too well with "Captain Shtarker" (that's what I call the 600). Thanks. Part of my problem is nobody near me carries any of this stuff so I can;t try it out.

 

[Palouse]

(tall) tripod

Tall, really?

 

[Thern]

First of all, first rule of thumb, the more legsections the less stability.
So I’d opt for the 3-sections Leophoto anyhow. (Unless I’d emphasize the shorter collapsed length for travel)
Then: I don’t have any personal experience with Leophoto and use Series 5 a 4 tripods and monopods.
I looked up the specs of the tripods
Payload capacity
Gitzo 26 pounds Leophoto 44 pounds
Fully extended
Gitzo 58.3” Leophoto 59.8”
Collapsed (somewhat indicating the length of the uppersection)
Gitzo 26.4” Leophoto 25.6”
Weight
both tripods are made of CF so more weight should net you better stability unless the quality is less which will be the case with the Gitzo given its age and the evolution in CF layering.
Gitzo 4.5 pounds Leophoto 3.13 pounds (most likely in this very comparison of no importancy regarding stability, dampening and rigidity)
Leglocks
Gitzo no ALR, Leophoto ALR

Everything considered, I’d really expect you’ll get a better, sturdier and lighter tripod with the Leophoto

 

[dabhand16]

I currently have a Gitzo 1325. While it has been indestructible for almost 20 years, it weighs in at 4.4lbs, is 58" tall fully extended; 26.4" when collapsed and does not have anti-twist leg locks. Atop the tripod sits a RRS BH55 which weighs in a 2lbs. I used this setup for both landscape for which it is overkill and until recently with a Wimberley Sidekick for wildlife. I have since purchased a gimbal head for the wildlife and want to reduce the weight on the landscape rig. The camera is a Z8 and the primary lens will be the Z 24-120 f/4 and a 70-200 f/2.8 VR I. So far I am considering the following products:

Ballhead: (all of these options shave at least a pound)

RRS BH40: 15.7 oz ($465)
RRS BH30: 11.2 oz ($355)
Acratech GXP: 16 oz ($560)
Acratech GXP-SS: 13.6 oz ($530)
Colorado Tripod Aspen Ballhead: 15.52 oz ($330)

Tripod: (I'm not a fan of center columns and I'm 6 feet tall so I am not interested in anything under about 55" tall fully extended without a center pencil thin flexy legs need not apply)

Leofoto LS-324CX Ranger: 3.09lbs; 55.5" extended; 20" collapsed; comes with a center if I want to use it; three leg locks; smallest tube is 22mm ($339)
Leofoto LS-323CX Ranger: 3.13lbs; 60" extended; 25.6" collapsed; two leg locks; smallest tube is 25mm ($279)

If you have any experience with any of these products (I am already aware of the allegations about Leofoto replicating designs) or have any suggestions for others, I would greatly appreciate your insight. Thanks.

Mark Denny is using an Aspen ballhead. It weighs around 15 oz.

Aspen Ballhead

Each Aspen ballhead is CNC machined from a solid block of aluminum and its unique design allows for dramatically increased range of motion. The Aspen ballhead is ultralight and is easy to use.

coloradotripod.com

No idea if the weight rating will suit you.

With regard to tripods, the Kingjoy range has IIRC extra long tripods available (XL might be to special order) and I've seen an independent review where a guy was hanging his full body weight under it! The standard length is 70 inches I think. They even do tripods with the carbon fiber is in camouflage colours!

Kingjoy Tripod UK

Kingjoy Tripods UK is part of Specialist Photo Network. Kingjoy Tripod UK photo and video tripods offers the ideal combination of strength and weight without compromising stability.

kingjoyuk.com

Apparently they make most of the branded tripods too.

 

[ButlerKid]

Tall, really?

Yep! It makes up for my 5'3" stature...............!

 

[Calson]

The best landscape tripod I have encountered is the Gitzo 2531LVL that has an integrated quick level mechanism. It is no longer being made but other companies are making similar tripods. I use the Gitzo with the Arca-Swiss D4 GP head that is super fast to adjust for level and has micro adjustment capabilities as well. The D4 GP head weighs 2.1 lb and supports a 66 lb load.

My Feisol CT-3472 is by far the most versatile. In seconds I can add their leveling base and have a quick level setup for landscapes and video. There is also the Feisol center column kit that can be added and it has a large diameter shaft so no flexing at all. Even with a 15 lb 600mm f/4 and D5 camera it is rock solid when elevated by 6 inches.

Quick leveling is a real time saver when shooting outdoors on uneven surfaces.

 

[Flemming Morgan]

I have both of the Acratech models and I am really, really happy with them. I would thoroughly recommend them. Engineering is superb. I am not 6feet tall so happy with my peak design ultralight tripod.

 

[Travisinthe307]

I recently traded out a Leofoto LH-40 ballhead for the CTC Aspen head. That was a nice weight reduction. I have also just sold my CTC Centennial tripod and preordered the Leofoto LS-323CX Ranger that you are inquiring about. I am 6'4 so I understand your height requirements. Anyway I do not have the tripod yet as it's a preorder expected to ship this month. I wanted to reply here to say I think your choices are on the right track and I will try to get back and give you an opinion once my tripod is here.

 

[RecalcitrantRon]

I recently traded out a Leofoto LH-40 ballhead for the CTC Aspen head. That was a nice weight reduction. I have also just sold my CTC Centennial tripod and preordered the Leofoto LS-323CX Ranger that you are inquiring about. I am 6'4 so I understand your height requirements. Anyway I do not have the tripod yet as it's a preorder expected to ship this month. I wanted to reply here to say I think your choices are on the right track and I will try to get back and give you an opinion once my tripod is here.

Thanks Travis. Please do let me know what you think of the Aspen and the tripod when you receive it.

 

[Travisinthe307]

Thanks Travis. Please do let me know what you think of the Aspen and the tripod when you receive it.

Hey Ron,
I've had my Aspen Ball head on my new Leofoto LS-323 CX for about a week now. It's a very nice set up.
Total weight comes out to 4.92 pounds this is after I wrap the legs in handle bar cork tape and add a
Leofoto QS-70 quick link set between the tripod apex and ball head. This tripod is comfortably at eye level for
me at 6'4" when its maxed out. I am finding the pan knob on the Aspen ball head to have more wiggle than i like
but I don't often do pano's so I usually lock that up and just use the ball tension. I really like the large tension knob to release the ball.
its super tactile and easy to operate in the dark. I love this set up for Astrophotography.

 

[RecalcitrantRon]

Thanks so much Travis.

 

[Anjin San]

Might want to consider a fluid head. I have used a FlexShooter Pro for several years but swapped it out for a Smallrig fluid head for about 120 bucks on top of a LeoFoto leveling base…its much lighter and solved the issue with the FlexShooter of 15 degree max elevation. It’s sort of a cross between a ball and gimbal and for me the lighter weight than a gimbal overcomes the slight improvement of a normal gimbal over it. Weight rating is 22 pounds and works fine with Z8 or Z9 in combo with 600PF, 180-600, the TC with either, and anything lighter. I’m not going back to the FlexShooter. I don’t use a tripod enough to make the heavier gimbal worth it and the combo worked fine in CR with elevations used up to about 40 degrees. Mine is mounted on Induro Carbon legs and I see no reason to get anything else. There are more expensive options but I’m not sure that for most of us they’re actually worth the extra cost for improvement beyond getting a more famous name…but that’s just my better is the enemy of good enough philosophy.