master test T
ravelling light with a tri- pod has been made a little easier by the introduc- tion of carbon fibre and similar lightweight materials. It’s not made any easier by the restric- tions on both size and weight applied by airline operators, and the occasional crisis at security checks if you need to carry this ‘weapon’ in cabin baggage. On the right you see two tripods. The larger one is actu- ally a very small tripod, the Gitzo Traveler 6X in its now- discontinued GT1550T form with a very small magnesium ball and socket head. This is more or less a £500 travel accessory and has been the standard copied by Chinese brands.
The shorter one is the Velbon
UT43D which costs under £150 in most stores complete with a slightly more substantial QHD- 53D ball and socket head using a DIN-type quick change insert, and with two spirit levels. What you can’t see easily from the Velbon photo is that the centre column is telescopic, and the legs conceal five sections just like the separately clamped sec- tions of the carbon-fibre Gitzo but all released and locked in any position using just one twist of the big rubber foot. Despite the much more substantial head and quick-lock camera mount, the Velbon’s alu- minium and plastic construction comes in at 1170g versus 1025g, and all the extra weight is in the head. As for length, when folded it comes in at under a foot – 29.5cm – which officially makes it OK to carry on board flights. When extended, its 156.5cm camera height above ground is 7cm short of the Gitzo’s maximum but for most people this is still a comfortable eye level. The Velbon centre col- umn makes up more of the final height in proportion, the Gitzo’s ‘shoulder’ being 17cm higher. Both tripods have low-level modes via three different leg angle positions, but the method for accessing these is very dif-
MASTER PHOTOGRAPHY 14
photography_
The Velbon UT43D, left, collapses to under 12" where the Gitzo Traveller is slightly over 14" – a critical difference
Intro2020’s Velbon UT43D tripod is a worthy competitor to the classic Gitzo Traveler 6X – at a very modest price.
Above: £150 versus £500-plus, 145g difference in weight but 55mm difference in collapsed size. Below: the narrow DIN-fit camera shoe works well with tilting rear screens, and the locking mechanism is automatic, snapping to when inserted.
folded away. Low-level shooting is possible, but not as versa- tile as the Gitzo which allows the ball and socket to mount without the centre column and also allows this column to be reversed.
Which would I travel with?
Well, I love the Gitzo – and I very nearly lost it for good to an Italian airport security official in Bari in May. He only relented on confiscating it when I said it was worth 500 euros and was made in Italy (part of Manfrotto now) specially for travel. So for the next trip I used
ferent. The Gitzo legs are set separately by holding a catch as you open the leg out. The Velbon has a preset slider for each leg, which once positioned
allows that angle to be reached quickly. A spring-loaded col- lar carrying these slider stops is lifted and turned to move between working position and
the Velbon, and with its handy carrying bag it proved every bit as useful. I don’t mind risking £150-worth in hold baggage either. The narrow quick mount allows tiltable rear LCD screens to tilt down in waist level posi- tion, which many heads prevent. – DK
See:
www.velbon.co.uk Á
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