Gitzo 1157 tripod....any personal experiences?

I'm planning on buying this tripod for my four-day hiking excursion into the Grand Canyon beginning next weekend and wanted to find anyone who has had experience using this tripod. I'd love to hear feedback, both positive and negative, before purchasing. My main interest in this tripod is the max. load capacity to weight ratio (9.9:2.3) and it's collapsed height. thanks in advance to whomever responds.

Link to product page

I own this tripod. It is an excellent tripod. I prefer its three sections to the four-section I had previously. It also features anti-rotation legs, which makes it easier to tighten and loosen.

It doesn't fold down as small as the four section, obviously, but that's fine with me. It is also lighter than the previous model.

What ball head are you considering with it? I have the RRS 55, but their new 40 is very attractive.

mark

I was debating on the ballhead. i have the gitzo 1177 ballhead which has enough weight support, but I'm not sure if I really want to spend a ton on a ballhead right now. I might wait on the ballhead until next month when my cashflow is a little bit better.

Only caveat to that is the new 40 series ballhead by reallyrightstuff is so popular, it can be back ordered by a month or two. Just keep it in mind.

mark

meh.....not in any hurry....i'm still saving up for a 1DMk2n or 5D first

well it has arrived. so much fun holding it in one hand and my amvona in the other! unbelievably light. I'm a little concerned about the legs getting scuffed up, but i'm sure that concern will subside soon. i'm going to get photos posted later today.

I bought the 1157 recently specifically for its light weight, strength and solidity. I'm interested to hear your opinions on heads before putting up serious money. From what I've read it seems the RSS40 & Markins Q3 are the most favoured. I'm using the much cheaper but very serviceable Benro KS-0 in the meantime and am finding this works very well holding an EOS 400D, battery grip, EF 70-300mm DO IS USM lens & 500D closeup lens (about 2kg all up and much less than the rated 8kg of the head). The KS-0 weighs 410g. Its actions are very smooth and its easy to operate. the quick release works nicely and has a handy safety catch. I paid US$110 from HK.

i have been putting off getting a nice ballhead, so I've been using a Gitzo 1177M Ballhead that I got for dirt cheap. It works well enough, but it doesn't allow for independent horizontal and vertical movement which gets annoying for panoramics or just simple panning. i've heard a lot of great things about the RSS40 and plan on getting that whenever I end up paying off all of my debts, but that won't be for a while (note to self: avoid spending $7k on camera gear right out of college when you still have student loans to pay off).