John, thanks your advice was really helpful. Since I am going to be using this tripod for 100% landscapes, I was thinking a 3 way might be better, but I don't know. I'm using a 3 way now and it is solid and good for landscapes, but its just more time consuming to use. I don't know if I want a ball head or 3 way.
Glad to help.
3 way - no way (IMO). If you are going to be taking landscapes. The control knobs, when strapped to your pack, mean that it will hang up on every branch, vine etc... that comes along. Too, it will be hard to cover up the head to protect it from dust/dirt etc... without being bulky. I think you will be much happier with a ballhead for landscape shooting.
Additionally, the ballhead is faster to set up than the 3 way. You use one control to set it where you want it instead of 3.
I do think the 3 way might be better for studio and macro (neither of which are my thing, others are better able to comment than I).
The absolute lightest set up I can think of is one of the Series 0 or Series 1 tripods from Gitzo plus the Really Right Stuf BH25. If you want to do panos (and money isn't an object), then add the PCL1 panning base to clip into the TOP of the BH25. I think with that set up, you would have a very, very lightweight rig, that would also be very stable and very portable. However, it won't be cheap but it will also outlast you.
J.
