Gitzo Tripod

The Gitzo GT1541T is arguably the best travel tripod currently on the market. This tripod offers the best in terms of weight and folded length out of any tripod currently on the market. The GT1541T is constructed from 6X carbon fiber. This type of carbon fiber manufacturing results in much more rigid carbon fiber. Rigidity is vital when it comes to tripods. Tripods that are not rigid will allow more vibration to reach the camera. Vibration is a very big deal if you are shooting with lenses of a long focal length (200+mm). The reason is that any slight bit of vibration causes a clear degrading of image quality. This is why it’s so important to have tripods that dampen the vibration as much as possible – the image quality can vastly be improved through the use of a stable tripod like Gitzo.

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Gitzo tripods are usually constructed from carbon fiber. The GT1541T is no exception. Carbon fiber helps to dampen vibration – a quality that other materials such as plastic or aluminum don’t have. Carbon fiber is also resistant to cold – it takes much longer for the material to become cold – useful if you are using the tripod in cold areas. The GT1541T features gravity lock technology. These are basically specially locks around each tripod leg extension that become more rigid as more weight is places on them. In layman terms, the heavier the load, the more rigid your tripod becomes. And more rigidity means more stability and resistance from vertical vibration. Any photographer who has used a tripod in the field knows how much of a hassle it can be to extend the tripod legs. With normal tripods, you will need to untwist each individual leg section – a process that can take 20 to 40 seconds. Now this may not sounds like a big deal, but if you are trying to get that quick picture with your tripod, it’s easy to miss the perfect picture because you are fiddling with your tripod legs. The AWL twist grips on the GT1541 make it a breeze to extend your tripod legs. You simply put your hand on each leg and give it a twist and the tripod legs falls out fully extended. You do this 3 times and your legs are extended – this takes a couple seconds, vastly speeding up the time it takes to set up your tripod. The GT1541T has the ability for the tripod legs to fold over backwards over the center column. This makes it possible to decrease the size of the tripod when the legs are contracted. By folding the legs over the center column, you can cut down the size of the tripod by a good two to three inches. This makes the tripod WITH the ballhead from bottom to top about 16 or so inches! This tripod is so small that you can fit it in any small bag or suitcase without problems. The tripod itself is ultra light, only 2lbs but can support pretty much any camera setup, with the exception of the giant zoom lenses. You may want to consider pairing up the Gitzo GT1541T with a Markins Q3T ballhead – this ballhead is custom designed for the Gitzo 1541T so that the legs can fold back over the ballhead without sticking out at all. The Gitzo 1541T is the best travel tripod on the market right now in terms of the weight it can support, the folded size, and the features it contains. The only issue is that if you are very tall, the tripod may be a bit too short – even with the tripod center column fully extended. If you are under 6 foot, you should have no problems. But consider a different Gitzo model if you are taller. For more information and probably the best review we’ve found online, check out PhotographyReview.org’s Gitzo 1541T Review.

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