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Gitzo 1541 & 1780QR

Wendy Thurman

New member
As I mentioned in Fahim's thread below, I recently purchased Gitzo's 1541 legs along with the 1780QR ball-head. Initial impressions, after one night out and about:

The legs are four-section carbon fiber. Very lightweight, solid and sturdy for their size, and easily handled. The head is magnesium alloy, which is lightweight as well. I noticed a bit of creep when used with a D700 and the heavy 14-24/2.8 Nikkor in the vertical. However, the lens and camera combination were below the rated load so I am a bit disappointed with the creep. I plan on setting up in a more controlled environment with a variety of lenses in order to determine if the creep was operator error or overloading of the head.

I am very pleased with the tripod. The jury remains out on the head. However, this remains a very lightweight package that travels extremely well.

Wendy
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Wendy,

Is the creep just in the head or in the legs too? generally I'd replace the Gitzo heads with something from Really right Stiff.


RebelXTonBH40-G1227.gif


Have you thought of using an L bracket so you don't have swing over your camera on the head? An L-plate tutorial is here. There's one just perfect for your D700, I'm sure!

Asher
 

Wendy Thurman

New member
Asher-

The legs are fine. I am very impressed with the engineering, quality, and material of the legs. I have an old Gitzo set of aluminum legs and the carbon fiber set isn't in any way a degradation of quality. As I mentioned, I need to test the head carefully; when I first used it the Mistral was blowing, it was dark, and it was my first experience with the equipment.

The L bracket looks to be a useful piece of gear as does the pictured head from Really Right Stuff. The ball head I have will probably be fine with lighter lenses but if it proves to be creep-prone with lenses within the listed weight range (which the 14-24 is), it will be something of a disappointment.

Wendy
 

Mike Shimwell

New member
I've a set of 3 section Gitzo leg and they are great. I've also use L brackets to mount the dslrs to the head (Kirk and Really Right Stuff).

A less expensive, and still well engineered, ball head is made by Markins. I've got an M20. In europe they can be bought from Nikon Pro Shop.

Mike
 

Alain Briot

pro member
The other advantage of the L Bracket, besides what Mike mentioned, is that when you go from horizontal to vertical, your camera stays in the same location and the lens axis in the same spot.

Otherwise, when you tilt the camera with ze ballhead (French accent, sorry) it goes off to the right, or the left, and it is now lower, then you have to recenter, redo the composition, raise the tripod, and waste valuable time.

No camera should be without one (L bracket) if available.
 
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