The review for the Feisol CT-3442 is up and can be found here. The test results can be found here.
3 thoughts on “Feisol CT-3442 Review Posted”
I’m very curious to know how the
CT-3342 (3-segment legs) would perform.
Another interesting thing to try
might be adjusting how tight the
setscrews around the systematic plate
are, and seeing if that affects the
yaw stiffness of the tripod.
I am curious as well. I would expect the 3 leg segment version to perform better, but at the moment I can’t really guess how much. I made sure the setscrews were tight before testing the tripod, but didn’t try to vary the tightness. I did see someone suggest widening the leg angle by either filing down the leg angle stop, or adding a spacer to the one above it. Unfortunately I have already sold this tripod, but will certainly do those tests when I get a chance to test the 3 segment version.
I have had excellent results from the
Feisol CT-3442 tripod, but agree with
the review’s impression that the
tripod at the 20 degree leg angle is
somewhat “tippy” under windy
conditions. Yes, fishing out the
screw-in hook, installing it, and
hanging a carabiner’ed 750 ml or 1 L
water bottle or two off the hook
helps stability at the narrowest leg
angle. It seems a bit much to expect
to have the tripod at 20 degree leg
angle support kit that weighs
significantly more than it does and
has its center of gravity
considerably off-axis. This is not a
tripod for supertelephoto use, either
(well, duh!). It does make an
excellent landscape / macro tripod
that suitable for long distance /
significant elevation hiking, and is
perfectly capable of the 10 to 30
second long landscape
astrophotography exposures I do. The
ability to use without a center
column is helpful for ground level
macro, and if necessary one can splay
the unlocked legs on the ground (I
photograph mushrooms), though a
“ground pod” or table-top pod would
also be useful in those
circumstances. There is an optional
short center column and long center
column kit, but I haven’t used it. So
this is a good everyday tripod for my
uses, paired with a small ballhead,
Arca-Swiss p0 (legs fold around head
for compact-ish carriage in the
provided bag). The tripod you always
carry is a lot better than the beefy
tripod that you are tempted to leave
behind. I happen to have the CT-3472,
Arca-Swiss Z1, and a Custom Brackets
side-mount gimbal (like the Wimberley
Sidekick, it attaches to ball head)
if I need to use the 400 mm f/5.6,
but frankly, most of the time it is
overkill for short macro and landscape.
I’m very curious to know how the
CT-3342 (3-segment legs) would perform.
Another interesting thing to try
might be adjusting how tight the
setscrews around the systematic plate
are, and seeing if that affects the
yaw stiffness of the tripod.
I am curious as well. I would expect the 3 leg segment version to perform better, but at the moment I can’t really guess how much. I made sure the setscrews were tight before testing the tripod, but didn’t try to vary the tightness. I did see someone suggest widening the leg angle by either filing down the leg angle stop, or adding a spacer to the one above it. Unfortunately I have already sold this tripod, but will certainly do those tests when I get a chance to test the 3 segment version.
I have had excellent results from the
Feisol CT-3442 tripod, but agree with
the review’s impression that the
tripod at the 20 degree leg angle is
somewhat “tippy” under windy
conditions. Yes, fishing out the
screw-in hook, installing it, and
hanging a carabiner’ed 750 ml or 1 L
water bottle or two off the hook
helps stability at the narrowest leg
angle. It seems a bit much to expect
to have the tripod at 20 degree leg
angle support kit that weighs
significantly more than it does and
has its center of gravity
considerably off-axis. This is not a
tripod for supertelephoto use, either
(well, duh!). It does make an
excellent landscape / macro tripod
that suitable for long distance /
significant elevation hiking, and is
perfectly capable of the 10 to 30
second long landscape
astrophotography exposures I do. The
ability to use without a center
column is helpful for ground level
macro, and if necessary one can splay
the unlocked legs on the ground (I
photograph mushrooms), though a
“ground pod” or table-top pod would
also be useful in those
circumstances. There is an optional
short center column and long center
column kit, but I haven’t used it. So
this is a good everyday tripod for my
uses, paired with a small ballhead,
Arca-Swiss p0 (legs fold around head
for compact-ish carriage in the
provided bag). The tripod you always
carry is a lot better than the beefy
tripod that you are tempted to leave
behind. I happen to have the CT-3472,
Arca-Swiss Z1, and a Custom Brackets
side-mount gimbal (like the Wimberley
Sidekick, it attaches to ball head)
if I need to use the 400 mm f/5.6,
but frankly, most of the time it is
overkill for short macro and landscape.