Tech Tuesday: Tripods For All with Gitzo's Very Light Mountaineer Series

Traveling light is a well-intentioned goal, but one that’s not always easily attainable. There’s always one more piece of gear that’s either necessary, will make life easier on a shoot or serves as a back-up for those “what if” situations.

Gitzo‘s carbon fiber tripods and monopods certainly fit in the travel lighter category and earlier this month, the company announced some updates to the latest models in its Mountaineer tripod series.

For the new Mountaineers, tubes are more rigid and diameters are better optimized. These Carbon eXact tubes use High Modulus (HM) carbon fiber for increased stiffness and, for example, the thinnest section of the “0” series model (the lightest weight of the Mountaineers), the thinest section is 40% larger than its predecessor.

Leg locks have also been redesigned, both externally and internally, for easier operation. Additionally, Gitzo promises that the new design helps prevent dust from entering the system.

For faster and easier low level shooting, the Ground Level Set has also been redesigned with a simple unlocking ring to quickly remove the center column so the tripod can be lowered closer to the ground.

The new Mountaineers are available in four sizes and load capacities:

0: $650
51.97-inch maximum height, 2.35 lbs. weight, maximum load capacity 17.64 lbs. (lightweight cameras/lenses)

1: $778
62.2-inch maximum height, 2.93 lbs. weight, maximum load capacity up to 200mm lens

2: $900
65.46-inch maximum height, 3.68 lbs. weight, maximum load capacity up to 300mm lens

3: $1,017
63.39-inch maximum height, 4.14 lbs. weight, maximum load capacity up to 400mm lens

Kits with a ball head are available from $1,112-$1,445
www.gitzo.com