The test results are excellent for a tripod at this weight, height, and price. This is directly the result of using decent quality carbon tubing, four leg sections as opposed to five, and eliminating the center column. The stiffness is significantly above average for a travel tripod. Stiffer ones do exist, but at significantly higher prices. The damping is only mediocre, but this is okay. On travel tripods we don’t expect to be using the massive telephoto lenses that necessitate having much higher damping constants.
| Yaw Stiffness | 479 +/- 1 Nm/rad |
| Yaw Damping | 0.152 +/- 0.015 Js/rad |
| Pitch Stiffness | 2320 +/- 9 Nm/rad |
| Pitch Damping | 0.364 +/- 0.036 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 largest camera/lens combination I would use on the LS-284C is a DSLR with a 70-200 F/4 zoom, or equivalent.
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:
This isn’t the cleanest set of data we have ever seen, but it is still clear we are hitting the resonance. The interesting note is that the initial damping is very good, but once the magnitude of the oscillations gets small that behavior dies out and we get very little damping. This is an example of non-linear behavior.
Example data for oscillations about the radial axis of the tripod:
In an unusual twist, the radial data is much better behaved than the axial data.