The stiffness test results show that this is a good tripod, but not exceptional. The marketing material on Induro’s webpage makes the claim “Grand Induro Tripods. For those seeking the highest level of stability. Period.” Well, as we can see from the systematic tripods ranking page, this isn’t true. The GIT304 is simply outclassed by the tripods from RRS, Gitzo, and PMG. This is not to say that the Induro is bad though. The stiffness is better than every ‘travel’ tripod I have tested and better than all but two of the ‘all purpose’ tripods. The damping is poorer than expected for a systematic tripod, but not unreasonable. As long as you aren’t using long telephotos, this won’t be an issue.
| Yaw Stiffness | 954.1 +/- 2 Nm/rad |
| Yaw Damping | 0.211 +/- 0.021 Js/rad |
| Pitch Stiffness | 2959 +/- 18 Nm/rad |
| Pitch Damping | 0.346 +/- 0.035 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 (if applicable) down.
Recommended Gear Limit
For this level of stiffness and damping, I recommend using any format camera with a lens up to a telephoto zoom, such as a 70-200 or 100-400. Even then, with such lenses expect to have problems in windy conditions. While the GIT304 will easily hold the weight of a much larger telephoto lens, the demands placed by such a lens will make you greatly appreciate the better stiffness and damping of a higher end set of legs.
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 oscillations about the yaw axis of the tripod:
Perfect reasonable looking data. No complaints here.
Example data for oscillations about the pitch axis of the tripod:
Well that is one of the uglier acceleration traces I have posted on this site. There is an electronic issue with the measuring device causing some the spikes shown. However, the frequency domain chart shows that there is no uncertainty as to the resonant line.