which gitzo would be for me?

[BuDWiZe]

so im looking to change my now broken 190 aluminium series manfrotto(rusted out bad lol ) with a gitzo
ill be doing some hiking on occasion and some seascapes/landscapes
ill be putting a manfrotto 804rc2 ballhead on it.

ive looked at the series 1 travelers and while nice and light seemed a little to light and unstable.
im using sony a99 and 85mm prime on occasion for studio which is about 1 kilo and 16-35 cz which is about same weight which ofcourse will be landscapes

problem is thier are just way to many choices, and many choices of the same model type is see to.
i was thinking something in the 25xx series will be good as still light and more sturdy. just wondering others thoughts

i wouldnt mind going low ( seen some of the 25xx series can go down to 6cm )
my height is 6 ft 1
just wondering if someone more experienced with tripods can help me narrow the selection down :)

[arthurking83]

Traveler series seemed to me to be way too flaky for use as a solid support.
Other will disagree, but in comparing a traveller tripod to a series 3(and above) you would know what I'm talking about.

I guess that the series 2 tripods are nice and light and cost far less, but in my opinion a Series 3 and above(eg. 3532 model) would be the minimum for a good balance of light weight and rigidity.

I used to hike with my 3523 without issue(that I can remember) ... in general using it as a walking stick(with one leg extended to a good height, and the camera+lens mounted) and it balanced well for use a a heavy hiking stick. Great for those arduous climbs and descents with a dodgy knee at least.

If I had my time and money again tho, I'd rather have got at least a 4xxx series, 4542 has good specs as a good travel pod with a 62cm closed dimension, or better yet a 5 series for their monster leg diameter and hence solid support.

As for the low down ... as long as it doesn't have a centre column, it can get basically ass low as the ground itself, and your head will be the height determinant.
But!..... even with a centre column Gitzo has this system for removing the centre column so that the centre column will not be a limiting factor in terms of low height.
It's tool less in operation, is actually quite quick to achieve(maybe 1 min) but in some ways fiddly to do.

[BuDWiZe]

thanks for the reply. i got to try 1 of the series 1 traveler and indeed its pretty flakey
im now considering either the GT3542LS or the GT3542LS as they are both still lightweight at 1.78 and 1.8 kilo.
i think i may be leaning more towards the 3 series as only 200 grams difference which is pretty negligable

[arthurking83]

Just a word of note with the 4 section 3 series Gitzo. The lowermost legs are quite small in diameter, and will be the most likely part of the tripod to cause instability issues.

The 4 and 5 series have larger diameter leg tubes all round, so not as susceptible to instability, even the 4 tubes varieties.

Of course this may only be an issue if you're using a very long lens or at macro magnifications, but for all other purposes a 4 section 3 series should give you some joy.

[Babu]

I concur Arthur. The 3541LS gives good stability with medium size lenses and is considerably lighter to travel with than the 5541LS. They both allow you to work quite low. However, the latter gives much better support for bigger lenses and macros but it is bulkier, heavier and more expensive.