The performance is excellent, especially for the folded size and weight. Its performance is nearly the equal of the top tripods from RRS, Gitzo, and Promediagear, at a significantly lower price. Note that the Feisol is a four section tripod, while the similar tripods from the top brands are all three section, so the comparison isn’t entirely fair.
The damping isn’t quite as good as the stiffness. We typically except significantly better damping from a systematic tripod. I believe that the main difference is the lack of a plastic/rubber pad on the top plate. This pad provides a lot damping, and the Feisol just has a bare metal platform on which to mount the head. The damping here is acceptable for most purposes, but
| Yaw Stiffness | 995 +/- 3 Nm/rad |
| Yaw Damping | 0.189 +/- 0.019 Js/rad |
| Pitch Stiffness | 3508 +/- 17 Nm/rad |
| Pitch Damping | 0.474 +/- 0.047 Js/rad |
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. The tripod is measured at full height, with the center column down.
Recommended Gear Limit
The performance of allows for wide range gear to be used in a wide range of conditions. This tripod is going to be appropriate for any size camera with lenses up to telephotos. Once you get into the super telephoto range (300mm F/2.8 and above) though, you are going to appreciate the better damping characteristics off the competitors.
Example Test Data
The following data is example raw data from the stiffness and damping measurements. The relevant information with regards to the tripod performance is entirely contained within the stiffness and damping figures presented above. The plots below are solely present so that the tested stiffness and damping figures are believed. Each plot and the corresponding Fourier frequency space plot correspond to one of the ten trials done on each axis to obtain the test results. For a more in depth discussion on the meaning of these graphs, see the methodology section and the understanding the test results page.
Example data for yaw oscillations about the vertical axis of the tripod:
No problems here. Sharp resonance, everything looks good.
Example data for pitch oscillations about the radial axis of the tripod:
The data is a little noisier here, but there is still no doubt about the resonance frequency.