My Gitzo Family!!!

sangyup wrote in post #11691336
My two hobbies that my wife hate due to being so expensive is photography and home theater.

You and I would get along well

I have the 1541T, 3541LS, and 5541LS (for sale locally though) as well as an SVS PB13 Ultra (piano black) and a Klipsch THX Ultra II setup.

Never understood the tripod obsession.

irishman wrote in post #11694840
Never understood the tripod obsession.

I didn't either, until a fresh 3541LS landed at my house.
I'm glad I drank the kool-aid. Life is good in Gitzo land.

irishman wrote in post #11694840
Never understood the tripod obsession.

irish, do you own a gitzo? the gitzos are so pretty...

hammer418 wrote in post #11695637
I didn't either, until a fresh 3541LS landed at my house.
I'm glad I drank the kool-aid. Life is good in Gitzo land.

Heck yeah, congrats on the new tripod! I'm really liking how small it is folded up compared to my 3530. What head are you going to put on it?

Rezolution wrote in post #11694229
You and I would get along well

I have the 1541T, 3541LS, and 5541LS (for sale locally though) as well as an SVS PB13 Ultra (piano black) and a Klipsch THX Ultra II setup.

Rezolution, that cool that we share the same hobby other than photography. SVS subs are really nice. When I was in the market for a new sub, I was actually looking between SVS and HSU and out of nowhere I read about av123 and ended up getting their sub. Klipschs are nice too.

sangyup wrote in post #11695779
Rezolution, that cool that we share the same hobby other than photography. SVS subs are really nice. When I was in the market for a new sub, I was actually looking between SVS and HSU and out of nowhere I read about av123 and ended up getting their sub. Klipschs are nice too.

I had a pair of MFW-15's. Great subs. I had a problematic amp but mine were from the first batch. They are out of business now right?

Rezolution wrote in post #11695807
I had a pair of MFW-15's. Great subs. I had a problematic amp but mine were from the first batch. They are out of business now right?

OMG I didn't know av123 closed down...and a quick google search shows that the owner was indicted of fraud...how sad.

sangyup wrote in post #11695767
irish, do you own a gitzo? the gitzos are so pretty...



Heck yeah, congrats on the new tripod! I'm really liking how small it is folded up compared to my 3530. What head are you going to put on it?

My research is on-going, but I'm leaning heavily towards the Markins Q20.

hammer418 wrote in post #11695875
My research is on-going, but I'm leaning heavily towards the Markins Q20.

Mike, it seems that many people on this forum favor the markins over the other brands. The markins ballheads are really nice. When I was in the market for a ballhead, it was between the rrs bh-55 or markins m20. I literally had to do a coin toss to decide. As you can see in the picture, I ended up buying the rrs bh-55 and it has been great. My new ballhead for the 1541T will be a markins q3t though since those two go so well together. Well good luck with the ballhead.

sangyup wrote in post #11695767
irish, do you own a gitzo? the gitzos are so pretty...

I'm not a big tripod user but I find them valuable for some shooting. What's so good about the Gitzos? I can't justify the price for Manfrotto cf legs. Why are Gitzo so much better?

hammer418 wrote in post #11695875
My research is on-going, but I'm leaning heavily towards the Markins Q20.

I owned the RRS BH55. It was a fine ballhead.

I tried a friend's Markins 20 and decided I liked it slightly better so sold my RRS and got the Markins.

One, the Markins is about a half pound lighter.

Two, the Markins drag control is slightly better, which is an important consideration at least to me.

Three, the RRS has two indents to drop the camera into portrait mode. The Markins has only one.

The Markins has one less control also, as it does not have a small know that tightens the drag. The main knob controls that.

Otherwise, when you're dealing with the very high quality both companies make, you can't go wrong with either.

mark

As to subwoofer sound, I've had a number of separates. I find the Definitive subs in the towers to be superior than all but the most expensive separates.

First, they take up zero room. Second, they are incredibly coherent and offer great detail. And there's two of them, so that is worth the price of admission alone in my book.

mark

^^^ Thanks for your input, sir ! ^^^

hammer418 wrote in post #11695875
My research is on-going, but I'm leaning heavily towards the Markins Q20.

I also recently bought a 3541LS and I currently have a Linhof Profi ballhead temporarily sitting on it. However the Linhof is even outperformed by my Markins Q3T so after doing a fair amount of research my choice came down to the Arca-Swiss Z1 or the Markins Q20. Long story short I chose the Z1. The main reasons had to do with the ball on the Z1; it has a 54mm diameter compared to the Markins' 48mm, and it's asymmetric in shape. It's just incredible to see that asymmetrical ball in operation, you push the camera off-axis and it starts to tip over ever so slowly...

Other more incidental niceties with the Z1: The scale on the inside of the main knob that allows you to set a minimum friction setting for your lightest rig then use that setting along with the scale for your heavier rigs so you only ever need one friction setting for everything. For what it's worth, a load rating of 130 lbs vs the Markins' 110 lbs. A 5 year warranty vs. Markins' 3 year warranty. The incredibly smooth ball-locking knob, which locks the ball approx. 1/3 of the way to tightening it fully. If you think the Markins knob is smooth you should try the Arca-Swiss.

The only thing I don't like about the Z1 is the Arca-Swiss clamp, so I bought a Markins clamp and I'm getting it machined to fit the key on the top of the Z1 ball stem. The best of both worlds! Seriously though, I think the Z1 deserves your consideration, if for no other reason than the ball size and shape.

I shall check out the Z1, Peter.
Thank you for providing that information.

I use the Z1 with Kirk plates, it all works very well.