Gitzo GT-2530

& Markins M20

Gitzo GT-2530 & Markins M20

The very last thing a photographer wants to do after spending thousands upon thousands of £$€ on camera bodies & lenses is to go cheap on the support system. I think a lot of photographers don’t understand why buying a quality tripod and ballhead (or any other type of head you prefer) is so important and why people who’ve been doing this for a while spend so much money on a quality tripod and head. Like most things in life, when it comes down to it, is quite simple. You can spend all the money you want on the very best lenses made and team them with a new Nikon D3, but you will end up with a terrible shot if you use a substandard support system.

This doesn’t mean you should be going out and buying the very most expensive legs and head you can find. Just like the rest of your photographic equipment, what you should be buying depends on what type of photography you are planning on pursuing. I, like many people that do this for a living, am using Gitzo carbon fiber legs but there are plenty of other makes/models that will give you appropriate support. The advantage of carbon fiber is that tripod legs made from it are more rigid and importantly for many people, including myself, is they are noticeably lighter. The newer Gitzo tripods have a new locking mechanism that is brilliant, its called g-lock in Gitzo speak, but its remarkably quick to adjust the height whilst being very secure. The largest lens I am using often is a 70-200mm f/2.8 VR or occasionally the 300mm f/4 and the GT-2530 supports these perfectly. I’ll add here that there is the 1xxx line, but in my personal opinion they should often be skipped over by most people as if you’re wanting to use a tripod you’re likely going to want to support more weight than those are ideal for - that’s not to say they aren’t great, just you may as well buy something that is going to see you through more situations than those are appropriate for. The 3xxx series are great and are capable of supporting more weight, so if you have a 200-400mm VR or similar, this is what you should be looking at. I need something that will help me whilst setting up the formals which means I’m generally not using it in harsh environments and often have a D300 and 17-55mm f/2.8 on top, so I went for rock solid support but also bearing in mind the weight as I am running around with an enormous amount of gear often.

To many, this may sound strange as people starting out will look at the price of tripod legs and almost forget about getting an appropriate head. The ballhead, or whatever head your choose, is just as and probably more important than the legs. The last thing you are going to want to do is commit the financial resources to getting an excellent tripod and then go cheap on the head as you’ve just wasted all that money. You may adjust the tripod legs a few times during a shoot, but the head you will be adjusting many more times. Like the legs, it needs to be rock solid but it also needs to be smooth when adjusted and uncomplicated at the same time so that you are not fiddling about with it and missing that perfect shot.

I love the Markins M20 ballhead as it fits all of these requirements and then some. It can hold anything I have without breaking a sweat, yet is so easy to adjust. Its made to last years and years and it holds on to your equipment like they were fused from the same core. It also comes with a quick shoe already, and importantly it is of the Arca-Swiss style which is supported by many manufacturers. I really need to stress this as I think its very important, there are many suppliers of top quality ballheads including Markins of course, Really Right Stuff, Kirk among others and the best ones support the same QR plates. Do yourself a favor and buy one that supports these plates as the best heads use it for a reason. While you can buy good tripod legs from other companies for less money, some of the Manfrotto/Bogen models are OK, I would not buy a head from a company that uses a proprietary QR plate(s) as you’ll be locked in to buying their plates so you’ll have less choice and more often than not be buying an inferior product.