Field Sticks!

The Gitzo 1380CF seems bomb proof. For such a light tripod, it is quick to set up and features reasonably smooth movement and stability. It is also priced low enough to risk losing to damage on particularly tough assignments.

The Gitzo 1380CF’s carbon fiber legs are topped with tough powder-coated hardware, which includes an extra bubble level, and the 75mm leveling bowl. The 1380 head is also powder coated and has a bubble level, recessed drag knobs and the arm can be mounted on either side.

The 1380 head can be balanced (rudimentary, but clever) for a variety of different camera weights by simply changing out the color-coded springs (they come in a supplied set of 6) inside the head.

The balancing, preload spring is easily installed.

Gitzo even supplies the tools for installing the head springs.

The Gitzo legs can get a camera very high up or way down low, but they can also adjust to odd placements, since they don’t rely on a ground, or mid-level spreader for stability. The Miller Solo functioned in much the same way. The sticks have rubber feet that can be rotated to expose spike tips for grabbing the earth. Just make sure they are tight, so they don’t shift or "roll."

The Manfrotto 526

I found that the drag settings on the Manfrotto 526 were a little heavy. On a smooth surface the #3 position (the max drag) actually slid the tripod a little while I was panning. My guess is that after breaking it in a bit more, the hardware will loosen up.

Manfrotto sent us its newest head, the 526, which worked better than any head I have seen from the company. It can support and control a wide range of camera weights and sizes. The 3193 legs are Manfrotto’s finest. The leg locks were strong, but I would have liked to have tested a unit with an above-the-ground spreader.

The Sachtler DV 4 II system was a nice budget-minded rig. I really liked the sticks a lot. This two-stage tripod was stable and easy to set up, and had the same spiked feet with stirrup floor pads that its big brother the System 18 has.

The Sachtler DV4II panned and tilted with smooth resistance, but just not enough of it. There are also only two settings for tilt or pan. Overall it’s a nice, light rig, with a great set of sticks. The head, however, could use a little more operational flexibility.

The Sachtler System 18 Plus was a joy to use. I had fun setting it up on oddly shaped surfaces. The leg locks work in a similar fashion to the Miller leg locks (a system I like) with only one point of adjustment for either stage of the legs.

I liked the dual-spike tips of the Sachtler legs, and the rubber floor feet are held securely with a stirrup-like sling. Interestingly, on crooked surfaces I found you could undo the stirrup and adjust the foot, to match the ground contour, and then re-attach the stirrup and it would hold fast.

The Vinten Pro-6 system was a nice product. It has clean lines and it functions well. I liked that it had a lighted bubble level, unusual in its class

Balance adjustment for a variety of camera weights was easy on the Vinten Pro-6 with a twist of the knob under the camera plate section of the head

Vinten uses similar locking mechanisms on both of the tripods I tested. A simple twist unlocks the leg and, by varying the pressure on the knob, one can add a little drag to hold the leg in place while adjusting setup on the terrain.

The Vinten Pro-6 worked great with the middleweight JVC GY-HD100U ProHD camcorder I was using. Though I found nothing to complain about, the Pro-6 does need an above-ground spreader.

The Vinten Vision 100 is a stable workhorse. I loved the lockable mid-leg spreader that you can position. A twist of the knob on top of the carbon fiber spreader will lock it into whatever elevation it’s sitting at. The carbon fiber legs are light and tough

Like other high-end tripod heads, the Vinten Vision 100 has a wide variety of settings for pan and tilt drag. The Vision 100 also boasts "perfect balance" with a twist of the rear knob and a few tilts. I was able to get my heavy Betacam dockable camera balanced and ready to shoot in about 40 seconds.

I loved the pan/drag adjustment ring on the base of the Cartoni Gamma head. It has seemingly infinite and repeatable levels of smooth fluid drag for panning.

One of my favorite features of any tripod I tested has to be the feet of the Cartoni two-stage tripod that came with the Gamma head.

The legs on the Cartoni Gamma grab well on uneven surfaces that would normally not be conducive to a tripod placement at all. And the foot is holding fast and stable.

On the back of the Cartoni Gamma head is an illuminated bubble level and an easily accessed balance adjustment knob.

Like its bigger brother, the Cartoni Focus also sports the fluid-drag adjustment for panning in a ring on the base of the head. The tilt drag is with the rubber sealed knob on the side.

The Focus is probably my favorite camera head, simply because of how well it worked for the price. For medium-to-low weight cameras, you can’t lose.

The Cartoni Focus head is very reasonably priced considering it performs better than many high-end heads that cost three times as much. Above, the easy quick-release lever opens to adjust the camera position.

I was very pleased with Miller’s Arrow 30. I own a much older "System 30" from Miller and it is still rock solid, but the head does NOT compare to the Arrow 30. The DS10 Solo (right) is a modestly priced unit that will appeal to event videographers

Millers leg locks are set at the same point, so you can adjust either the upper or lower stage without having to move the hands or stoop down to the lower leg. Very nice.

The Miller Arrow 30 head is a dream to operate and a single finger can create smooth pans and tilts that can hardly be seen starting or stopping when watching the footage. I loved it.

The Miller sticks set up faster than any I have used, and the feet articulate quite a bit, allowing for variance in the ground. The feet come off with a pull of the stirrup to expose spiked tips for the earth

I liked the Miller Solo tripod a lot. Like the Gitzo, this model would do well where you need some bombproof sticks to take a beating and still be stable.

The leg locks on the Miller Solo work very well with a simple twist. This tripod was easy to set up and had a nice range from tall to short on different terrain. But I had a hard time getting the right angle for the legs on really uneven terrain, like rocky ground.