Tripod for Arca Swiss that you can fly with...

[Acheron Photography]

I have an old style Arca Swiss which is currently sitting on a Gitzo 1410 tripod with an Arca head. The tripod is wonderfully stable and all I could wish for. But it's also heavy, and the Gitzo does not fold particularly small. This wasn't a problem in the past, but now airlines have started charging significant amounts for checking more than one bag, so I am thinking about getting a tripod that will fit in a suitcase. Do members have any suggestions for tripods that will hold a reasonably heavy LF camera (my standard lens is 150mm HM, which doesn't help), not blow over too easily, and fit into a standard sized suitcase? I am guessing that the lightest possible tripod is a mistake, and so one might be better off not going with carbon fibre. In an ideal world I'd like to spend less than £350, but I'm prepared to hear that that is not sensible. Any advice would be most welcome.

David.

[Emmanuel Bigler]

Hello from France

Carbon fibre tripods are a mature product and there is a harsh competition among manufacturers.
This pushes the honourable GITZO company to maintain high-quality carbon fibre products with improved performances on its catalog.

However, so far I've resisted the carbon fibre appeal, and besides a solid #3 Classical Aluminium Gitzo Tripod, for backpacking I use with great pleasure a wooden Berlebach, 3 sections ref. 8013. No centre column, just plain, in combination with a B1 A/S ballhead.
The Berlebach Nr. 8013 weights only 2.2 kg and checking the official specs it is rated by the manufacturer for 10 kg (22 lbs). max height however is limited for the 8013 to 127 cm, 4 feet two inches, but since I'm using the binocular reflex viewer quite often I cannot actually use much higher that that....

[jennym]

I would have thought that the CF tripods are perfect for flying with if you can afford one- light, strong and durable. The 4 section tripods are shorter, and will pack more easily and I haven't found a problem with them being less stable. If you are on a budget, it is worth investigating the Feisol tripods which are good value if a little more bulky that the Gitzo counterpart.

Good luck with your search. Maybe Santa will be feeling generous....

[gary mulder]

I use two tripod's with my linhof tech. If there is no problem with the size, a large gitzo. If I need a small one, my GT1540T with a G1177m head. It has its limitations but gets the job done. The centre column is can only be used with times shorter than 1/30, Weight less than 1,2 kg head included, folds shorter than 40 cm

[Acheron Photography]

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I ended up getting a Gitzo GT3531S, which is carbon fibre, and I am very impressed with it. It does not have a centre column, but it does have a handy hook at the base of the platform that I can hang a bag from to stabilise it in wind. It's really light, folds small enough to put in a suitcase, and seriously rigid. It was a little over budget (about £400 total) - but compared with buying a Ebony to travel with, surprisingly economical.

Of course, the real weight saving if you can bear it is to do without the head. Now this sounds very limiting - and it is _somewhat_ limiting, but not nearly as much as you might think given a full range of camera movements and the ability to rotate the whole tripod. It takes longer shooting that way, but if it makes the difference between not going out with the camera and going out, then it is worth considering.