Which tripod?

[Great Red Spot]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a tripod that can safely hold about 35 pounds of weight (mount + OTA). Can you please recommend me a good one at a good price, preferably one that is available locally?

Thanks in advance!

Alvin

[orly_andico]

Gitzo GT3542LS. They aren't cheap though. I would avoid the Benro and Sirui copies, my experience is that they overstate their capacity by a huge margin.

What specifically is your use case? maybe a used surveyor tripod would fit your needs.

You could also try ordering a Berlebach Report from http://www.berlebach.de - they are quite reasonably priced (1/3 the price of a Gitzo, even including shipping from Germany).

To give an example, I ordered a Berlebach Report that was customised (shortened legs so that it fits inside an airline suitcase), with Takahashi EM-11 adapter (normally not available with the Report, but only with the Uni), special-size tray (to fit the shortened legs) and Vixen shoe clamp. Came out to around 700 SGD including shipping (the customizations increased the cost quite a bit). But this is still less than 1/2 the price of a Gitzo, the Report is 55lb rated and weighs about 5lb, so very comparable to a carbon Gitzo.

e.g. here is the stock Report 172 - http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=detail ... he=english

55lb rated, 4.85lb weight, 24" transportation length. 243 Euro + 88 Euro shipping to Singapore.

since you have 19% discount on the MWST that is 285 Euro total or about 430 SGD. You can't even buy a Manfrotto locally with a 55lb rating for 500 SGD. And the Gitzo's are well over 1000 SGD.

[Great Red Spot]

Thanks a lot, Orly, for your advice. The Berlebach option looks good. But I notice there is a thing sticking out of the mounting head (in the 2nd pic of your 2nd link). Do you happen to know if it is removable?

Thanks again.

Alvin

Updated: I think I got the answer. I will need this (http://www.berlebach.de/?bereich=detail ... he=english)

[orly_andico]

The second pic with the thing sticking out, that's the azimuth adjustment stud for Vixen GP mount. You can order Berlebach tripods with different tops. In this case you'd order it with the 3/8"-16 top, which is cheaper than the Vixen GP top.

It's very similar to the Gitzo Systematics setup where you can change the tripod top for different loads.

I must confess I became enamored with Gitzo and was planning to get a GT3542LS, because they are darn gorgeous. Then I remembered Berlebach, which is very reasonably priced (and I already have their second-largest model, the Planet).

[rlow]

If you consider the Gitzo GT3542LS, why not check out the GT5532LS?

I happen to look at both of them today in the shop. I tested the 3-series tripod and there is a bit more flex. I have the Benro flat clone of the 3-series, but it is more for my DSLR & travel scope use. I wouldn't choose 3-series based on stated payload 25kg because our scopes are loaded laterally, off-centred. The 5-series will probably be more steady for your 35lbs OTA and mount, if that is important for you.

I am using the Benro clone of that 5-series for my TMB/APM 152/1200 triplet apo & Inox mount, about 18kg (almost 40lbs) in total weight for the OTA and mount. In spite of the long moment arm of the OTA, and with the tripod legs fully extended, this setup is very steady for planetary observation even at magnification of 300-450x. For my infrequent use and not under adverse weather conditions, the 5-series 3-section clone serves me well enough, it is as steady but lighter than my Velbon video tripod (which incidentally worked just as well). Hence I do not feel the need to pay about 3x more for the 5-series.

Of course if budget is not an issue, I would prefer the premium quality of the Gitzo BTW, the wooden surveyor tripod is probably a good low-budget alternative.

Just my opinion, and your mileage may vary.

[orly_andico]

Richard, Gitzo indeed are very well made, but the 5-series are eye-wateringly expensive. In fact they are about twice the price of the Rob Miller Tri36L when it was still available, and the Rob Miller tripod is 125kg rated (of course the RM doesn't collapse and weighs 5kg).

I'm over my Gitzo phase now. Berlebach is good enough for me..

[Great Red Spot]

Thanks, Orly and Richard for your recommendations. Having blown quite a bit of money on a Half Hitch FTX mount, my budget for the tripod is rather limited. Thanks to Orly's poison fangs, I have placed an order for the Berlebach 112, which is rated for 55 pounds payload. The FTX mount is designed such that the scope will not be overly off-center, so I hope the Berlebach tripod will perform sufficiently well. The Berlebach tripod also has the advantage of being small and light, which serves my need for a portable set up. And, personally, I think the Berlebach tripods are very good looking!

[rlow]

Thanks, Orly and Richard for your recommendations. Having blown quite a bit of money on a Half Hitch FTX mount, my budget for the tripod is rather limited. Thanks to Orly's poison fangs, I have placed an order for the Berlebach 112, which is rated for 55 pounds payload. The FTX mount is designed such that the scope will not be overly off-center, so I hope the Berlebach tripod will perform sufficiently well. The Berlebach tripod also has the advantage of being small and light, which serves my need for a portable set up. And, personally, I think the Berlebach tripods are very good looking!

That will be a fabulous setup, it should work well. Please show us once you get it in place. Has Charles started the next FTX production run? I had considered it last year when the 1st production FTX was just started.

Btw, I used to observe at 450x with my Mewlon 210 on Astroslew I using an aluminium surveyor tripod and it already gave a fine performance.

[orly_andico]

I just received my Berlebach Report. It works fine for my EM11 and is very very light. But.. I think it would be overtaxed by a Mewlon 210. The Uni would be a better choice and only costs slightly more but with a large weight increase.

[Great Red Spot]

Hi Orly, actually I received my Berlebach Report 112 tripod last last friday. Shipping from Germany was surprisingly quick. It is very small and light at only 6 pounds. The lightest UNI unit is about 6kg, which I find to be on the heavy side for travel. But I will consider getting one next time for a more stable set up.

I tried mounting the tripod with the Mewlon (20 pounds) on the Half Hitch FTX (8 pounds). The set up is obviously top heavy. But damping time was surprisingly good. Even at 483x pointing at Jupiter, the damping time was below 1 second. I was using ortho and supermono eyepieces, which aren't ideal for manual tracking, but I found them to be fine.

My only worry is that the tripod looks really small. I'm a bit afraid that the thin wooden legs may break .... If this is something I shouldn't worry about, then the set up is actually very good.