Since Gitzos are out of range for me, I was tossing between Benro and Feisol CF tripods but leaning towards the Feisol CT-3371 or the CT-3471 because of the absence of the center column and very close to the specs of the Gitzo 1325 / 1348. Any other CF tripods out there in the market within the same range that I have not looked yet? My plan is to use it mainly for birding and mate the tripod with maybe a Manfrotto 393 / Bogen 3421 gimbal head. I don't have a very long lens yet. (eyeing the Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 :biggrin: ) Just the AF-S 300mm f/4 coupled with 1.4x, 1.7x or 2.0x TCs on my D2Hs. Thanks.
I very rarely use a monopod so rather than order a Gitzo, I ordered a Feisol. It is made extremely well, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of their tripods.
Fiesol 3401 user here, no probs. Just don't shove down hard in snow. For mono-pod, use Giottos. A large aluminum ball bat of a device and no probs.
My only criticism of my Feisol is that the foam rubber on one of the legs developed a slight tear very soon after delivery which has expanded considerably. I'm at a loss as to how to repair it and shipping it back to Taiwan for repair isn't really much of an option. The American importer doesn't do repairs. The rest of the tripod is very well made.
I bought the 3471 at Rex's reccomendation to suppliment my Gitzo 1348. I have been most impressed with it.
I bought the 3371 (one of the first preorders). I got a great deal, even came with a leveling base. I'm not really happy with the way the legs spread though. The first position is too narrow, and as a result the tripod is not as stable as it should be despite having very beefy legs (thicker/heavier than the Gitzo 1325, in fact). You can of course go past the first position but the next locking position is _too_ wide, and if you use something in between there's nothing to keep the legs from slipping and spreading further out. I'm also not happy with the twisting leg locks, they are _much_ slower to operate than the lever-locks on my smaller Velbon CF tripod, which I really liked. It's a shame everybody seem to be moving to the twist locks, I just really don't like them (even Feisol new larger tripods use the twist locks).
Thanks for the reply Dave. If you had to do it all over again, would you have gotten the Feisol instead of the Gitzo? Stability wise, how does the 1348 compare with the 3471?
Do you mean the black foam padding / leg wraps? I think you can get them replaced with those pipe insulation tubes or go with the more expensive option which would be to get Legcoat from the same people who did the Lenscoat?
Thanks Jeff for the info. I'm told that the 3371 or 3471 tripods acieve their advertised height with that first unstable locking position. Can you measure the height of the tripod when the legs are locked at the next position? I don't like the twist lock either. But I guess no choice since Gitzo and the higher end Manfrotto / Bogen also uses the same locking mechanism. :Sad:
There monopods are great I sure love mine. I also have the Gitzo tripod and think it's tops but I sure would be interested to see how the high end Feisol would stack up to it.
I have the 3471 and think it does a great job at a great prive. A Markins m10 or m20 ballhead is a nice compliment. PaulC
I'm pretty sure all manufacturers quote the height based on the first leg position, and that's certainly the case for the feisol. I don't have the tripod handy at the moment (it's in my trunk, and alarm is already amred for the evening), but you lose a _lot_ of height using the second lock position. Like, 2 feet or so. Plus at that point the legs are spread very wide, so much so that you may not have room depending on where you're trying to set up. Yeah, it's a shame. No twist lock (even the new gitzos) will ever match the simplicity of the lever locks on my Velbon 631 (great tripod BTW, I still use it when I don't want to carry the larger/heavier feisol).
Does anyone use a RRS head on their Feisol? Just wondering if the RRS BH-55 is too wide for the feisol.
I placed one of the first orders for the Feisol CT3371 tripod and have been very happy with it. It is well built and very stable.
Gordon, I've been trying to search through threads to find peoples opinions on Feisol Tripods and ballhead’s. After going through a couple of dozen threads the only complaint's I've found was one person with a problem with the twist locks and the one person in this thread saying his tripod was too unstable at the 1st leg lock spread. Did you encounter either of these issues? Thanks
