Test Results
The test results for the LN-324C are shown below. These stiffness figures are merely okay. Among the systematic style tripods I have tested, this one is the weakest, by a significant margin. If this were an all-purpose tripod, there results would be quite decent, but the weight and style firmly eliminate it from that category. The damping is very decent, but not outstanding.
| Yaw Stiffness | 712 +/- 3 Nm/rad |
| Yaw Damping | 0.349 +/- 0.035 Js/rad |
| Pitch Stiffness | 2372 +/- 15 Nm/rad |
| Pitch Damping | 0.666 +/- 0.067 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
This sort of stiffness should comfortably support a camera with a telephoto zoom lens such as a 70-200 or 100-400. After that, the tripod will begin to feel inadequate. As always though, this is highly dependent on technique and conditions.
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 vertical axis of the tripod:
Beautiful set of data, fits very nicely to the model. Stiffness isn’t that great however
Example data for oscillations about the radial axis of the tripod:
Good damping makes for poor looking data. The spikes in the data are due to electronic noise.