Test Results

The Killarney exhibits excellent stiffness.  It among the top of the All-Purpose style tripods I have tested, and quite well overall.  This is directly a result of their use of large fat carbon tubing and machined aluminum parts.

The damping however, is quite poor.  Once vibrations get induced into the Killarney, they tend to stick around for awhile.  For lighter setups, this isn’t going to be much of an issue.  For large telephoto lenses however, this lack of damping will be a problem.  This is particularly odd as Jobu seems to cater more exclusively to users of long lenses than most tripod manufacturers.  If using the telephoto lens on a gimbal though, this lack of damping will hardly matter and you will most just appreciate the weight supporting qualities of the excellent stiffness of these legs.

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.

Bonus Data:

Rubber and Spiked Foot Damping on the Jobu Killarney

Recommended Gear Limit

The exact gear limit is highly dependent on the external conditions such as wind, and technique, such as the use of a cable release.  Under perfectly still conditions using perfect technique, sharp images can be obtained using any tripod

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.

Yaw

These figures are one of the most perfect sets of data I have seen, and clearly show the properties of the tripod as a harmonic resonator.  This is largely due to the lack of damping in the system.

Pitch:

Again, very nice data set.  The tripod shows much better damping characteristics in the pitch direction.