[rkbharat]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I just received my 055 XPROB early morning

Nice, I am planning to buy this one soon, can you PM me the source and damage

Though I am not sure about the head,

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I have already seen that, did not impress me. Feisol was very good. I had specific reasons to sell it: 1) Twist legs was a painful process, as each adjustment would redden my palm and take more time. You will know if you have used it already. A photowalk or a macro attempt requires constant adjustments, which is really painful with twist type. 2) Availability of parts, service etc was a problem for Fiesol as its almost not present here. 3) Want of more solid and sturdy legs as D700 with 70-200 was not easy with all 3 legs extended.

What I find interesting in Manfrotto 055 XPROB are;

1) Its heavier, capacity upto 7 kgs
2) tubes are in the 29.4, 25 and 20mm range
3) Clip leg locks, easy to adjust in any situation
4) Center column goes horizontal too, thats within few seconds !!
5) Lowest angle just 10 cms, perfect for low angle macros

And the only negative is its weight: 2.4 kgs. With the 496 RC2 ball head it will become 2.8 kg. But relief is that my CF Fiesol with its heavy horizontal column and unit used to weight more than 3 kgs !!

OT: And for the back, I got myself a 'LP-support' brand Magnetic waist support, Robinaxol as a muscle relaxant tab, hot water bag and sensor application before bed. Its better after 7 days 'easy-go' method.

For lugging around 2.8 kgs, you should have gone for the Gitzo 5541LS or the 5531S or the lighter 3 series. Same or lesser weight and a much higher loading capacity than your Manfrotto. The Gitzo G locks are much much better than the Feisol ones that require a lot more twisting and adjustment. Just less than half a twist and its firmly in place. Also the locks get stronger as you put them under more load. Also a levelling base could have done away with the the multitude minor adjustments that are usually needed.

Anyway congrats on your purchase, the 055 is a heavy duty workhorse and I have seen them take a lot of abuse and are still going strong.

My early Feisol 3301 failed last month, the mainframe broke but luckily I held my spotter in time before it could fall off. This I have replaced with the Gitzo 5541LS which is leagues better than the Feisol in usage. I got the 5541LS as I am currently saving for the 600F4 which is why I am making myself future proof

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by aburagohain

Cool angle to showcase the tripod. Keep the allen keys handy, the clips sometimes loosen up a bit after lot of use.
The center column is great in this tripod, enjoy!

Ha ha, how could we hide a full frame whenever we get a chance You meant the allen key that's hard plastic clipped into one of the legs right ? Its very handy.

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

Congrats! What ball head?

Its 496 RC2, perfect for an all round purpose. Load capacity 6kgs.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

....I've been planning (for a long time actually) for CF but let me check this one too......

Same model in CF is around 27k, which is a crazy figure for me specially when more than 90% walks are without tripod !!

Originally Posted by rkbharat

Nice, I am planning to buy this one soon, can you PM me the source and damage...

Its 10k for tripod and 3.5k for ball head from smartshoppers over the phone quote, shipping not counted as it was hand delivered to my neighbor who was travelling from Chennai to BLR, their site has a different figure. Also try TRGauba online store, their prices are very decent.

Originally Posted by SPARKled

....lesser weight and a much higher loading capacity than your Manfrotto. ....

This leg has 7 kg capacity and ball head has 6 kgs. More than double of what I would ever try on this for sure. I did not bother about Gitzo because the model I liked was above 30k.

Criteria for buying this tripod was minimum height of 10 cms (perfect for ground level macros), center column flexibility (goes horizontal within 5 seconds), 142 cms (56 inches) center column down and 178.5 cms (70 inches) center column up height.

70 inches will be perfect eye level view finder for a 6 feet guy, I am only 5' 8", so column down gives me a pleasant easy eye level view finder. I think these are things people usually ignore or forget when buying a tripod. Since this is my 3rd tripod, I was very careful about these facts.

Another point is about the number of extension legs. My previous ones had 4, which means 4 leg portions. The last one extended it feels very weak. Advantage of 4 is the shorter folded length which makes an easy carry around. 055 XPROB has only 3 leg sections, which means just 2 clip locks per leg. Its rock steady fully extended, disadvantage is a folded length of 26 inch, with 496 RC2 head its rounded to 29 inches, not a figure all would like.

Hope my post is as clear as its intended to be. Anyone else want to clarify, please PM me, as I might get whipped for converting a DSLR thread to a Tripod thread. Hmm, I can see Samurai san is searching for his sword

[tsk1979]

I spend two weeks in Europe, lugging around a 3kg tripod. Trust me, its a killer. Better workout on the shoulders and neck front.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Hope my post is as clear as its intended to be. Anyone else want to clarify, please PM me, as I might get whipped for converting a DSLR thread to a Tripod thread. Hmm, I can see Samurai san is searching for his sword

On the other hand, I have had a 486RC2 for close to 6 years, mated to a 190DB. About 3 months of using it I upgraded to my first dSLR.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...tml#post199777

This tripod+head is very good, especially head. Very easy to operate. I have carried them everywhere in Jeep or GV on all kind of bumpy roads and offroad trips. In fact, it is always in my car or Jeep. Survives everything.

The ball head has an advantage that I can keep the ball loose and use the tripod as a support while moving the camera freely, like a poor man's Wimberley.

[ruchirtnt]

Amid confusion of buying a Canon 100D 2 lens offer and Nikon D3100, i finally bought my Nikon D3100, Loving every bit of it, i got a standard 18 -55 lens, my next purchase will be a 55- 300 lens shortly, but only after some play with the existing lens

[C300]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Same model in CF is around 27k, which is a crazy figure for me specially when more than 90% walks are without tripod !!

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I spend two weeks in Europe, lugging around a 3kg tripod. Trust me, its a killer. Better workout on the shoulders and neck front.

Prices for some of the CF Tripods are just crazy.
There are two brands Benro (China) and Horusbennu (South Korea) which offer light weight and compact CF/Magnesium alloy Tripods without breaking the bank. I purchased Benro A1691TB0 recently. It weighs 1.6kg with max load capacity of 8kg. One leg is detachable and can be used as a Monopod. Adorama is quoting at $256. On ebay, its around $200.
Its a poor man's Gitzo

[ruchirtnt]

I have also got a Nikon Neutral Color filter with my camera and changed my 4 GB card with a 8 GB one, i suppose NC filter will serve the purpose of first level protection

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I spend two weeks in Europe, lugging around a 3kg tripod.

It was worth every gram when our mind and soul feast on those images

Originally Posted by Samurai

On the other hand, I have had a 486RC2 for close to 6 years.......head has an advantage that I can keep the ball loose and use the tripod as a support while moving the camera freely, like a poor man's Wimberley.

Good point there, looking at the friction knob, I thought of that potential, thanks for confirming.

Below image shows 2 knobs, right (down) is for position control and left (top) is for friction adjustments.

[NFS2024]

Can someone suggest a good all round lens for my 550D (15-85, 17-85, 18-200 etc?). I have played sufficiently enough with the kit lens now and want to upgrade to something better. However am looking only for an all round lens and do not want to lug around multiple lenses. Image quality being one of the main criterias.

[kaush666]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

Amid confusion of buying a Canon 100D 2 lens offer and Nikon D3100, i finally bought my Nikon D3100, Loving every bit of it, i got a standard 18 -55 lens, my next purchase will be a 55- 300 lens shortly, but only after some play with the existing lens

Cheers to you mate. I jumped into the DSLR bandwagon today with the purchase of my Nikon D3100 with kit lens. Its HUGE bang for the buck. Am looking at the Tamron 70-300 and still contemplating whether to go for this one or the Nikon 55-300. I also have a UV filter and a class 6 Lexar 8 gig card along with a standard class 6 4 gig card which comes as complementary with the camera. Overall set me back by 27400/- INR. Not bad eh? Happy clicking bro.

Cheers,
Kaushik

@NFS2024 - You can look at the 18-200. Don't expect great image quality from a lens like this. Remember, it may be the jack of all trades, but it is master of none. You could read some reviews of this lens to find out how well this performs at the wide angle and telephoto end. Saves you the trouble of swapping lenses every time you wanna go wide angle. Pretty good choice IMO. Keep us posted on what you have bought and give us a few images to feast on as well

[shajufx]

Accompanied my studio friend for his shopping today and I ended up buying a Elinchrom FX-200 Ri Kit, considering it as gifting myself enough light to the future on the occasion of this festival of lights . Oh I need to make some pocket money using these to survive further !!

Kit contains:
FX-200 lights x 2
Light stands x 2
66x66 cm Portalite soft-boxes x 2
EL Skyport transmitter speed
Carry bag for two lights
Carry bag for two stands

This is produced by Elinchrom as medium PRO category.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by NFS2024

Image quality being one of the main criterias.

EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. Look for the best deal in price.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by shajufx

It was worth every gram when our mind and soul feast on those images


Good point there, looking at the friction knob, I thought of that potential, thanks for confirming.

Excellent tripod . smartshoppers dont have 496 RC2 listed , they have 498RC2 . Is this better than 496 ?

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by black12rr

Excellent tripod . smartshoppers dont have 496 RC2 listed , they have 498RC2 . Is this better than 496 ?

Call their number, many things are not listed in the site, but it would be available. Happens when someone wants to push all the electronic/home/electric gadgets into a single site. And one head better than other, it depends on what weight capacity and features you want based on your equipments. Always check the technical spec of the item.