Tripod on the way. Finally pulled the trigger

Yay it's a tag team finally! The legs are great. I see now how I could use that extra 7" as it would put it real close to my eye with the column down, but I still can't justify the huge cost difference.

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robscomputer wrote in post #10002165
Guess what I'm saying is it matters to the photographer on the total height of the legs how they use it. I tend to believe that you shouldn't extend the legs more than needed to reduce any vibration, or chance that it will fall over.

You're right in that different people have different priorities. When I use a tripod, I don't even deploy it right away. I first determine the optimum framing, hand held, for the composition I want. Then I set the tripod and ball head up to hold the camera there. For any given shot, the framing I want might be ankle level. It might be eye level. Or any level in between. A general use tripod should cover these situations, while being high quality enough to be stable even at its full extension.

I don't want to bother with a tripod that compromises my photography, unless I need one for a very specific reason such as travel. This goes doubly true if I'm going to shell out the big bucks for a Gitzo. IMO, of course.

hyt wrote in post #10000269
I don't think anyone knowledgeable about the importance of a good tripod can ever fault you for choosing to buy a Gitzo. But at 6'5", you almost definitely bought the wrong model, and would be even worse off with a Traveler unless you like to shoot on your knees, or carry a stool around with you all the time (as if schlepping a tripod around wasn't enough of a pain in the rear already). I'm just saying this as an ex-owner of a GT2541, who is 5 inches shorter than you - AND I'm still relatively young and fit. Maybe it'll work out for you, but don't throw the box and tags away until you're sure.

UPDATE: I took your advice. While I would have been mostly happy with my purchase forever, I couldn't help but think how insignificant $130 for 7" more and less neck/back strain over the life of this tripod would be. I'm RMAing this one back to B&H and already purchased the GT2542L.

My initial gripe was that now I couldn't put it in a carry-on bag, but I think I'll survive and if it really becomes a problem, I'll buy a traveler in the years to come.

I think you'll be happy with that decision. Let us know how it goes!

i finally got my GT2541 and aesthetically, it's not that special at all, it does bend too when you put some body weight to it. I'll see how much the functionality of this legendary tripod this saturday and will find out if its really worth the $700 I paid for. On the other hand, I have an Induro AB1 with Photoclam 33NS which is pretty sturdy. $1300 vs $300 hmmm very big difference in price but is it a very big difference in performance as well?