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Tripod – Triopo GT3232X8C + ball head NB-3S
I bought my first tripod and after many searches on internet I decided I wanted a Carbon fiber tripod. Carbon fiber tripods are light weight which is good when you are walking a lot and do not want to carry heavy tripods.
I saw a offer on Triopo GT3232X8C where I got the professional ball head Triopo NB-3S for free. It cost me 2299 Swedish kronor ($332 or €249). So I thought that was a pretty good offer. I have not heard of Triopo before but I was willing to give it a chance.
I got it delivered today and here is some pictures of it.
The folded size of the tripod is about 48 cm. The tripod can become 190 cm, that is really high. It is good if you want to be able to take pictures over everyone’s heads. It is really light weight, it only weighs 1.4 kg and can have a max load of 15 kg. I have read in some reviews about this tripod that they have a hard time folding it into the bag. I have tried it without any problem. So it works to have both the ball head and the tripod in the bag if you know how to turn the legs 180 degrees. That its what the first picture shows, it is folded with the ball head.
At the end of the legs you can turn the rubber feet and the spikes will come out. The spikes are good for outdoor photography when you need extra grip on the ground. Make sure to keep the spikes hidden in the rubber feet when you are indoor to not damage the floor. One leg can bee screwed off and use as a monopod.
The camera plate is having a smart function where you do not need a tool to screw it into the camera. There is already a handle that you can turn easily.
There is a smaller bar included for example when you are taking macro shots. It means you can spread out the tripod legs and use the small bar to get as low as 28 cm from the ground. You can always turn the camera upside down and use the bigger bar as well. There are lots of options with this tripod.
There is another function as well and that is the hook. You can use the hook to put some weight on the tripod to make it even more stable when you are in a windy place.
The ball head I got in the offer is called NB-3S. It is Triopo’s very own professional ball head. So I did not have to worry about if it would fit the tripod. It weighs 0.57 kg. This ball head can take 12 kg, so it is good for bigger lenses. I will be able to use my Tamron 150-600mm on it without any problem. It does not have the quick release button that many ball heads have. This one uses a screw to open and remove the camera plate, it makes it slower but it does not matter to me. It goes pretty fast to screw the plate on place too. The ball head is smooth and easy to use.
I have not tried it outdoors yet but I will write about the tripod when I have tried it out more and give a full review.
Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment and I will answer. If you have used Triopo what is your experience from it? Do not forget to like my page on Facebook to keep yourself updated with the latest news. You can also follow this page so that you get the new articles.
Copyright©2014 Expressive Photos
Think Tank – Glass Taxi bag
I was looking for a small bag to fit the Tamron 150-600mm mounted to my Canon 60D. I had seen the review with Jared Polin for this bag. He was able to put in lots of pro lenses in that small bag. He was very surprised by how good the bag was and was saying it was light weight. So I thought I have to try the bag to see what the fuss is all about.
I was checking it out in the store and I also had my camera and the Tamron 150-600 mm lens with me to try it out.
First thoughts of this bag was that the lens and the camera fits in the bag! That is a good start.
When the padding came into the picture, the issue started. The shop keeper and I tried to build it up so that you would be able to fit the camera house mounted on the big Tamron 150-600 lens and still have some lenses on the side of the big lens. That was not easy.
The good thing about Glass Taxi bag is that it has a option where you can choose to only have a big lens in the middle of the bag but then there will be no space for any other lenses. See the picture above to understand what I mean.
As you can see from the picture above you can fit lenses on the side if the big lens is straight. The problem with the Tamron 150-600 mm lens is that it is not straight and that makes it little harder to fit in this bag. The Tamron lens becomes wider in the end of the lens. That puts the camera house in a strange angle in the bag and the padding does not fit then. I am not saying it wont go, but I am saying that the camera bag is not built for the Tamron 150-600m mounted on a camera house.
This is what you can use the bag for:
- Holds up to a 500mm f/4 lens.
- Holds a 300mm f/2.8 with DSLR
- Holds a pro DSLR
Technical Specifications:
- Interior Dimensions: 8.3” W x 16.3” H x 8” D (21.1 x 41.4 x 20.3 cm)
- Exterior Dimensions: 8.5” W x 17” H x 9.5” D (21.6 x 43.2 x 24.1 cm)
- Weight: 2–3.7 lbs (0.9–1.7 kg)
Glass Taxi can be used as a backpack or a shoulder bag. You can attached a monopod or a middle size tripod on the side of the bag. With the speed/skin belt you can attached even more components on the belt, if you want that.
Another thing I noticed with the Think Tank Glass Taxi bag is that the side of the bags are very thin. This means if you happen to drop the bag your lenses and camera equipment can take damage. That is the reason I did not buy the bag. To bad Think Tank, other wise it would have been a nice bag. I am not willing to take a risk with this bag.
It does not matter that the padding in the middle on the inside of the bag is thick because there are no padding on the sides of the bag. This is something Jared Polin forgot to mention when he did his review and praised this bag.
A good advice is to always try out the bag in a store before you buy it. If you order the bag online you will not notice these things until you open the bag and then it might be to big of a hassle to send it back.
The price is right now around 159 US dollars. The pictures are from Think Tank’s site.
©2014
Expressive photos 