Sirui tripods and ballheads

Is there someone on this forum that has experience with Sirui tripods? I was thinking about getting the Sirui T2204X with the K20x ballhead. Do you think this setup will be able to hold my gripped 450D with a Canon 400mm f5.6L?

I have never heard of that brand and probably would not consider it because of that.

How tall are you? That tripod is only four feet high without the center column extended, and you never want to use the center column extended except under rare circumstances because that significantly reduces the rigidity of a tripod.

Where would you buy spare parts and accessories from? You can typically get Manfrotto parts and accessories, for example, at most good photo stores around the US and Europe.

I live in Belgium, there is a shop in the Netherlands, in Germany and in Poland that offer these tripods and their accessories. Manfrotto is not an option for me, I want to be able to use it in the water, the clips of the Manfrotto do not really like water I think :P
I read about this brand on the internet, in Asia it is considered very high end, comparable with Gitzo
I am 175 cm high, I measured it with my old tripod, if I wanted it at eye level, I need a tripod that goes up to 145 cm with the ballhead. That tripod goes up to 123 cm without the center column. With the ballhead that is 123+8 cm= 131 cm. I would have to extend the center column 14 cm. Is that that much of a problem? When dealing with long exposures, I have no problem with bending over just a little, I use live view most of the time with long exposures anyway...

Do any of you know Feisol? These seem good as well. But I am having a hard time finding the difference between the CT-3401 en the CT-3442, there is a price difference of 90€...

i have a t2205x with g20, which usually pairs with 5d2 and 17-40. never had a problem. it is pretty popular around southeast asia. unfortunately, i never owned a telephoto lens so can't help you much because i have no experience of using tele lenses with it.

I believe these are similar to Benro tripods, which are great. If so, the Benro holds a 5d II, 70-200, 580EX II without issues.

And how about Feisol?

Basically for me it is Feisol vs Benro vs Sirui. I have the possibilities to buy these 3 brands at a comparable pricepoint.

The German site http://www.traumfliege​r.de/ has reviews of Sirui ballheads in a comparison with many others ... and they scored well ...

http://www.traumfliege​r.de …op/ballhead/bal​lheads.php

Maxdave

Maxdave wrote in post #12932154
The German site http://www.traumfliege​r.de/ has reviews of Sirui ballheads in a comparison with many others ... and they scored well ...

http://www.traumfliege​r.de …op/ballhead/bal​lheads.php

Maxdave

I have alread seen that one, thank you I am certainly getting a Sirui ballhead, it's just the legs I am not sure about yet