Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I purchased this mainly for portraits while traveling abroad.It is light weight but stong,no wobble and the legs extend and retract very quickly and smoothly. I did however replace the ball head with a Manfrotto 496RC2 Compact Ball Head with 200PL-14 quick release plate. With this ballhead I leave the plate atached to the camera and it quickly snaps into place without the hassle of having to screw the camera onto the tripod every time I use it. It also will fit into the gitzo compact travel bag with the head attached. I ended up using the included tripod ball head on my gitzo monopod for a sony nex 5 camera set up.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

Best strength to weight ratio available.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

This is simply the best tripod. It is light, sturdy and easy to use. It is expensive! I know I shall get years and years of excellent use.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

Considering its tiny compact dimensions when folded and light weight, this tripod is superb because it is also extremely sturdy, wobble-free and steady. Its robustness belies its modest proportions making it a complete joy to use. The fitted ball-head is an efficient, small package that the legs wrap around but it is less easy to use than a more substantial and multi-directional head. In the end, I upgraded to a QR head with pan and tilt separate controls. The tripod exudes quality that more than makes up for the investment. I like the screw nodes instead of levers for extending the legs: there is nothing to catch or protrude and it fixes firmly.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I use the tripod for long exposures and for portraits so that I am released from the camera and can interact freely with my subjects. It is light, amazingly small when folded, a snap to open, easy to set up and sufficiently rigid. I use it with a Leica M9 and a full line of lenses. The ball head is adequate and it takes a moment or two to attach and level the camera by using the camera's view finder and a horizontal landmark. A better ball head with a build in level would improve the product but add weight and size...and unless you need to move, reposition, etc. during your session, it may not be worth the trade off.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

This tripod is lighter and packs up smaller than I expected. Despite this, it is tall enough and very stable. The ball head included is extremely compact and lightweight, but I've decided that I prefer having a quick-release plate. This tripod is way too expensive but better than all other lightweight tripods I've bought over the years. And, unlike the others, using this Gitzo gives me a warm buttery feeling inside. Materialistic bliss...

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

It gets really small and light when folded. You can take it virtually everywhere. This amount of space is usually easily available in any backpack. Nice feature is the hook, where one can hang a bag to make it really stable. Standing alone it is bit wobbly. Drawback is the price, that is the reason for 4 rather than 5 stars. Do not expect to use it with long telephoto lens. Thereis a very useful pounch included, I wish it had a pocket for a remote and lever.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

Sturdy carbon tripod, opens at any angle, folds to a small size and absorbs vibration well. Compact head is basic.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I can't imagine a sturdy tripod lighter and more compact than this one. The legs lift up (sic) around the tiny bundled ballhead, which tucks between them when the unit is folded for travel. Legs and ballhead lock in place very securely. Quite stable, even fully extended, but because of its low weight a stone bag would be advisable in heavy wind. Suitable for a 35mm film camera or DSLR with a moderate telephoto lens, but nothing heavier. No quick-release plate on the ballhead, but the trade-off for portability of two or three seconds to fasten the camera was worth it to me. (You can attach another ballhead, of course, but if you do you will no longer be able to fold the legs up around it for travel.)

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

This is a carry everywhere tripod that will hold a digital body with a lens like a 70-200 zoom or a 300mm. I use my tripod with a Nikon D3s and a 70-200 zoom on assignments without any issues whatsoever!

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I was immediately intrigued by the Gitzo 1550 Traveler carbon fiber tripod, when I saw it at a photo shop. It's compact, lightweight, well-constructed and stylishly designed. My immediate reaction was, "I've got to have one of these," which lasted until I saw the price tag. I asked the sales clerk if that was the model number or some sort of stock number, but, no. That was the price.

The price is definitely discouraging, but I remained intrigued. I wanted something for travel. I have a Matthews M25, which I like, but sometimes it's more tripod than I need and I already have excess baggage charge issues. But also I wanted versatility. The Gitzo's legs can be spread wide and the center column removed, allowing a minimum height of 8.7" and it's light enough to use as a hand-held boom jib, making it a viable alternative to the Barber Tech models.

I rarely use a tripod for still shots, but I wanted a unit that would support my DSLR. The Gitzo is only rated for 2 kg and my camera with lens is a little heavier at 2.5 kg. But other reviewers indicated the tripod would support cameras with telephoto lenses with no problem.

I shoot low-budget, scripted language instruction videos and often it is helpful to have footage from a second camera at a different angle to facilitate editing out rough spots. The Gitzo isn't a video tripod, with swings and tilts and variable drag. It doesn't even have a leveling bubble. But I can do all that with the Matthews and I don't need or want to have camera movement from two angles. And a little acrylic leveling bubble that slides into the hot shoe solves leveling issues.

After looking at a lot of spec sheets and reading a lot of reviews on many different models, I ordered the Gitzo.

One feature that really impresses me is that the Gitzo is really tight. It may loosen with wear, but there is no wobble or wiggle room. I'm not running a test lab, but I wanted to see whether it would actually support my DSLR. I mounted my heaviest lens, the 70-200 mm, and took a couple of test shots with long exposures. I focused on a shelf of DVDs from a distance of about three meters. I did not use a cable release, as I don't own one. There is a hook at the bottom of the center column for a sandbag for added stability, but I did not use this either. At a third of a second with available light, the images seemed fairly sharp. Dimming the lights and extending the exposure to 25 seconds at a 200mm focal length, the images were less sharp. One had noticeable camera movement, probably from manually clicking the shutter.

The tripod will support a full-frame DSLR with a telephoto lens in the sense that it doesn't collapse under the weight. In normal circumstances I'm sure it offers a big improvement over hand-held shots. If you need a really long exposure for nighttime images or multiple shutter releases, you probably want something heavier. There are other heads that easily attach and have other features such as leveling bubbles and two-axis adjustments, but the tripod doesn't fold into as neat a package. The legs support more weight than the supplied head.

But it's a great little tripod. I love it. It's lightweight, so I can take it anywhere. I can lock it down for a second angle if I'm shooting a motorcycle jump. And I also plan to use it as a support for PowerPoint presentations, using an Aaxa pico projector. It's small enough to put on top of a conference table and much sturdier than the cheap little mini tripod they ship with the projector.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I've only had this tripod for a week, but it's been great. I need a tripod I can travel/hike with and I agonized between this and the GT-1541T. The smaller collapsed size of the GT-1550T won me over, in spite of concerns about stability, and I'm very glad it did. I've been out shooting in a local wetland area at dawn and I couldn't be happier.

The only down side is the ballhead that comes with the tripod. It's designed for a very light weight camera and doesn't have a quick release. I've replaced it with a Markins Q3-Traveler and, even though the legs don't fold quite as close to the body now, I love the combination. I wish I could have bought the tripod without the Gitzo ballhead and saved a bit of money.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

This tripod is perfect for travel or every day carry. Superlight at around a kilo and super compact, folds to around 35cm long and 9cm diameter so fits easily in to hand luggage or for every day carry. Exceptionally stable for its weight and has a hook to hang a weighted bag is quick to unfold and pack away and has a reasonable height when open 147cm. The whole thing has a nice robust feeling about it even the skinny bottom leg feels robust. The only down side is the cost but I compared this to the Benro travel angel series and It just felt and looked better constructed/finished although the travel angel is not far behind. Final thing is you can get spare parts from Gitzo easily so if you do manage to break it all is not lost.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I bought this Tripod for it's lightweight and compact size, travel use mainly. Don't let it's size fool you, it's a well built sturdy tripod. It's a great companion to my little G10 for travel, and easily handles my 40D w/ 70-200L. I did change the head to a RRS BH-25, but the Gitzo head is well made and much stronger than it's rating IMO. I find I'm using this tripod more than I ever expected, well worth the money.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I did a lot of research and finally decided to get the GT-1550T. This tripod has a load rating of 9.9 lbs (pls do the math and u will notice that this will hold a 1Ds Mark III with a 300mm F2.8 Prime lens). It is rock solid. Dont be fooled by the thin last leg - Its very sturdy inspite of it having 5 segments! My regular set up is a 5DM2+580EXII+24-70 2.8 (or) 70-200 f2.8 IS. This will take it all and still have room for me to load the set up. BUT - you have to take off the ball head that comes with this set up and use another sturdy head that can hold 9.9lbs. I decided to use the Novoflex 30 - which makes this set up sturdy and perfect. This tripod is so light and matches well with the Novoflex head. All legs will fold flat. I can use the notch in the Novoflex head, and let the 70-200mm mounted on my 5DM2 with flash attached 'drop' though the notch at 45 deg angle, and not have the set up creep or sway in the wind. I was worried that it will not hold my set up - but am so plesantly suprised to report that the Gitzo engineers have done a great job. It has more height that the 1541T. The height that 1550T gets to is just perfect for my set up - I am 5'10" and I dont have to bend down and shoot at some ones nose when making a portrait. Hey and it does have lifelong warranty! - thats in case u are scared that the tiny last leg would break : Trust me it will not. These carbon fiber materials are very strong.

I dont recall making any pictures without the tripod since I have bought it. It is so useful and just the right size that there is no reason not to take it anywhere I go - Professional shoot or vacation.

Its my humble opinion that you dont need the 1541T becasue it rated for 16 lbs and u dont need that as your set up would way over rated. As it is there is so much overhead that the engineers load into the rating of these fantastic tripods.

So loose the weight. Pick the right size that you can live with for life (these aint cheap), choose this 1550T and have fun in life. Ur pics would be so much better with a tripod than without one.

Cheers.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

Small lightweight and very portable. Only problem is that the head that comes with it doesn't support as much weight as the tripod and has no quick release plate. I set it aside and bought another lightweight head. [...]

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I bought this for an extended overseas trip with lots of hiking. It fits beautifully into my backpack, but I'm not impressed with the ballhead, whose only good feature is it's small enough to allow the tripod to fold upon itself. My solution is to remove it and replace with a larger better ballhead. Even without folding it upon itself it packs up small enough so isn't an issue, just disassemble completely for air travel.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

This is a fantastic little tripod that is very compact and lightweight. Expensive, but built with high quality. It comes with a small ballhead attached. However, the ballhead has no quick release mechanism. You can change out the ballhead for one of your favorites, but be prepared to sacrifice some weight as a result. Bottom line...it's a really nice tripod.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I required a tripod that is compact, light, and fast to setup and this tripod delivered. It takes only about 30s or less to setup and doesn't really add too much weigh on my photo bag. Should've bought this a long time ago. One thing I don't give a 5-star is because the head is not a quick release type. This is going to be on my next shopping list to replace the head with a QR ballhead. This is a good tripod for medium weight camera and lenses. I tried it with D80 and 70-200/2.8 without any problem, but I don't think it will hold the same lens attached to a D3 though.

Comments about Gitzo GT-1550T Traveler 6X Carbon Fiber Tripod with Ballhead:

I shoot video and stills, so I own several tripods, and this is one of my absolute favorites. If you own this, you will have no excuse for not carrying along a tripod wherever you travel. Maybe they should call it the -- wait, it IS called the Traveler. I use the Traveler for timelapse work with still cameras, and for compactness, light weight, speed of setup and stability (for its weight), it wins high marks. Two drawbacks-that-aren't-drawbacks: it's so light you'll wonder why it costs so much (but isn't that the case for a lot of things); and it folds up so small that it is easy to misplace. You probably won't even have to bother with the 180° folding-up option, as it's small enough already. If they made one that didn't have that and shaved off [$], this would be a lot more popular.