Lightweight/Traveling Tripod

[Kayaker72]

I looked up the Markins, and lost interest when I saw the Phillips head screw used to stop the plate from sliding. Maybe I am wrong but my first thought was "cheap".

I finally came across an image with the screw. Looks like an old website (the newer websiteseems to be markins.com/4.0/…) and I haven’t seen the screw in any other plateimage nor heard it mentioned in any of the threads I’ve read on ballheads. Thus I doubt it is part of thecurrent design, if it ever was, but here it is:

http://www.markins.com/2.0/eng/feature_01.html

Everything I can tell is that Markins is a favored brand, andperhaps the "top" pairing with the Gitzo traveler series. This may be more of the case with the 1541T, 1544T, and 2542Tas the head could actually fit within the legs. The design changed with the1542T as they extended the center column to get some additional height and nowthe head is either just beyond the feet with the column fully extended, or, withinthe feet but the center column sticks out the other side. To keep the most compact set up, this designchange, which many do not seem to like, favors shorter ball heads for the 1542Tvs narrow ball heads on the 1541T. For example, the RRS BH-40 is shorter but wider than the Markins Q3T. So, for the 1542T, without modification, the BH-40 would likely result in a more compact final collapse travel kit.

Here is a picture of the GT1542T without a ball head-- http://www.flickr.com/photos/chub84/5838235248/and the GT1541T with the markins Q3T http://www.flickr.com/photos/jerryart/3386113601/. Actually, I wonder if I they are phasing outthe GT1542T in favor of the GT1544T, which again seems to have room for theball head within the legs. But I amworking on a fix for the the GT1542T. Seems the center columns for Series 1 tripodsare interchangeable, so I’ve emailed Gitzo to see how much a “replacement”center column for the GT1541T would cost. First I have to decide how important it is to have the head between thelegs.

Some of the more interesting links regarding Markins I’vecome across:
http://www.hossedia.com/reviews/gitzo-traveler-markins-q3t/(later-- lost the tripod combo and replaced with RRS BH-40 and legs-seecomments—preferred the BH-40)
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=538298
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-999885.html
http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/non-nikon_articles/markins/index.html
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/610121/0
http://photo.net/filters-bags-tripods-accessories-forum/00YCLS
http://adaynotwasted.com/2010/08/the-perfect-travel-tripod/
http://www.wilsonism.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&EntryID=19

It may seem that I am trying to sell, myself or you, on Markins, I am not. They simply kept coming up in my searches, even for RRS, and I hadn’t heard of them before and, from what I can tell the Markins Q3T and RRS BH-30 were the only ball heads designed for the Gitzo traveler series with most people I can find selecting the Q3T between the two.

[HDNitehawk]

Actually, I wonder if I they are phasing outthe GT1542T in favor of the GT1544T

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but, I think the 1,2 and 4 digit are the release dates. The GT1544T being the newest and replacing the older models. This may be why the GT1542T is $484 and the GT1544T is $739.00, the cheap price is probably a clearance price. I looked at the GT1542T last summer before I went to yellowstone, I thought it was priced over $700 at the time.

I think I would still stick with the RRS head because of reputation. The other brand may be great, and sometimes I am the last to move on a great new item. I tend to let others be the test subjects. But I read many good reviews about the RRS head, and honestly this is the first time I have ever even looked or heard of Markins.

[Kayaker72]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but, I think the 1,2 and 4 digit are the release dates. The GT1544T being the newest and replacing the older models. This may be why the GT1542T is $484 and the GT1544T is $739.00, the cheap price is probably a clearance price. I looked at the GT1542T last summer before I went to yellowstone, I thought it was priced over $700 at the time.

I think I would still stick with the RRS head because of reputation. The other brand may be great, and sometimes I am the last to move on a great new item. I tend to let others be the test subjects. But I read many good reviews about the RRS head, and honestly this is the first time I have ever even looked or heard of Markins.

Rick, I think you are dead on, the 1, 2, and 4 are the sequence that they were released. What I want to know is what happened to the GT1543T? I can only find a reference to it in old ebay sales. Must have been pretty short lived.

Regarding Markins, I've convinced myself that even though I've never heard of them before, that they are one of the established high end brands. That is one of the reasons that I posted all the links. I am preparing another post on the ball heads (waiting on RRS website to work again), but I'll steal the following from it:

I did a quick survey of the GT1542T reviews on BH to see what it was paired with and the Markins Q3T came out on top. Of the 44 reviews, 19 people identified theirball head:

1. Markins Q3T: 6
2. RRS BH-40: 4
3. Arcatech GP-s: 3
4. Different Manfrotto: 2
5. RRS BH-30/Gitzo/Kirk BH3/Markins M20: 1 each

I did a similar search through the BH comments on theGT1541T:

1. Markins Q3T: 7
2. Gitzo 1780QR: 4
3. Misc Gitzo: 4
4. RRS BH-25: 3
5. One each for Markins Q3E, RRS BH-30, and KirkBH-3

Ok, as I was finalizing this post, my GT1542T just showed up. Oh, first impressions are very good. It is so small and light, yet, fully extended, it is much more solid than my old tripod.

As for the ball head...I am going to test a few things with the tripod, but where I think I am at is BH-40 if I don't replace the center column and Q3T if I do so that it can fit within the legs. I am also toying with the idea of buying both and returning the one I don't like.