The Feisol CT-3442 Tournament is an intriguing tripod. It breaks the typical mold of tripods in this height and weight class by not having a center column, and by having an unusually narrow leg opening angle of only 20 deg. The result is that thetripod is incredibly lightweight for its maximum height. However, the narrow leg opening angle causes the tripod’s axial stiffness (horizontal camera movement) to be quite poor for a carbon fiber tripod. Conversely, the radial stability (vertical camera movement) is very good. However, no amount of radial stiffness can make up for the lack of axial stiffness. I find this design decision somewhat mystifying. If they had simply made the leg angle the standard 25 deg., The tripod would only have been two inches shorter.
| Name | Feisol CT-3442 Tournament |
|---|---|
| Class | Travel |
| Stiffness About Vertical Axis | 360 +/- 3 Nm/rad |
| Damping About Vertical Axis | 0.248 +/- 0.025 Js/rad |
| Stiffness About Radial Axis | 2027 +/- 4 Nm/rad |
| Damping About Radial Axis | 0.789 +/- 0.079 Js/rad |
| Retail Price | $420 |
| Weight | 2.54 lbs (1.152 kgs) |
| Manufacturer weight rating | 88 lbs |
| Maximum Height | 55.7 in (141.5 cm) |
| Minimum Height | 6.8 in (17.3 cm) |
| Center Column | No |
| Base Diameter | 2.64 in (6.7 cm) |
| Folded Length | 19.0 in (48.3 cm) |
| Folded Circumference | 14.7 in (37.3 cm) |
| Folded Volume | 327.0 cu. in. (5.4 liters) |
| Leg Material | Carbon Fiber |
| Leg Sections | 4 |
| Primary Leg Angle | 20 deg |
| Leg Locks | Twist |
| Top Tube Diameter | 28.0 mm |
| Second Tube Diameter | 24.9 mm |
| Third Tube Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Fourth Tube Diameter | 18.9 mm |
| Exchangeable Feet | No |
| Foot Type | Rubber |
| Bottom Hook | Yes |
The stiffness and damping data are the averages of 10 trials for each measurement. The reported error is the standard error, except in the case of the damping data. I have set the error in the damping at 10% as the standard error metric does not appropriately capture the error in fitting to the data. All of the reported specifications are measured, with the exception of the weight rating.
Example data for oscillations about the vertical axis of the tripod:
There are a couple unexplained blips visible from the accelerometer. Not sure exactly what is going on there, but it doesn’t negatively impact the fit.
Beautifully clean data. Low stiffness and damping tend to produce this kind of result.
Example data for oscillations about the radial axis of the tripod:
The oscillations are at a high enough frequency that it is difficult to see the exact fit on the webpage, but the peaks of the fitted curve and actual data do line up nicely.