Share on Facebook

I was about to stop blogging altogether. But yet again, I am back. The main reason you ask? Well me and the guys from TimeCatcher have decided to make it more interactive to Celebrate TimeCatcher’s 6th Anniversary. The problem with being part of a Team like TimeCatcher is, all of us are extremely busy trying to make ends meet with our own photography so to ask anyone to find the time to update TC also was getting way too much for us to handle so we came up with this solution. If all of us manage to update our personal blogs and we each syndicate our blogs to TC then everything will be updated automatically with no extra effort from our part. Our viewers & followers will now have the luxury of knowing exactly what everyone is up to without having to visit all of our sites respectively.

I am still sceptic about the power of a blog. I personally think that the best way to reach a bigger audience is without a doubt via Facebook. There is something about it that makes people want to stay there and not even leave the website. For me to have the same about of followers here that I presently have on my Facebook Page is merely impossible but now that we are all jumping on the bandwagon for that new TimeCatcher Blog, this gives me a wonderful reason to start all over again.

Hope you will enjoy what me and the crew will contribute to this great blog.
Live with Passion
Patrick Di Fruscia

Share on Facebook

Just Got myself a brand new Gitzo Traveler tripod Finally time to throw away all the Manfrottos I purchased in the past. What a difference…3 times the price but worth every penny.

The Gitzo GT1541T is arguably the best travel tripod currently on the market. This tripod offers the best in terms of weight and folded length out of any tripod currently on the market.

The GT1541T is constructed from 6X carbon fiber. This type of carbon fiber manufacturing results in much more rigid carbon fiber. Rigidity is vital when it comes to tripods. Tripods that are not rigid will allow more vibration to reach the camera. Vibration is a very big deal if you are shooting with lenses of a long focal length (200+mm). The reason is that any slight bit of vibration causes a clear degrading of image quality. This is why it’s so important to have tripods that dampen the vibration as much as possible – the image quality can vastly be improved through the use of a stable tripod like Gitzo.

Gitzo tripods are usually constructed from carbon fiber. The GT1541T is no exception. Carbon fiber helps to dampen vibration – a quality that other materials such as plastic or aluminum don’t have. Carbon fiber is also resistant to cold – it takes much longer for the material to become cold – useful if you are using the tripod in cold areas.

The GT1541T features gravity lock technology. These are basically specially locks around each tripod leg extension that become more rigid as more weight is places on them. In layman terms, the heavier the load, the more rigid your tripod becomes. And more rigidity means more stability and resistance from vertical vibration.

Any photographer who has used a tripod in the field knows how much of a hassle it can be to extend the tripod legs. With normal tripods, you will need to untwist each individual leg section – a process that can take 20 to 40 seconds. Now this may not sounds like a big deal, but if you are trying to get that quick picture with your tripod, it’s easy to miss the perfect picture because you are fiddling with your tripod legs. The AWL twist grips on the GT1541 make it a breeze to extend your tripod legs. You simply put your hand on each leg and give it a twist and the tripod legs falls out fully extended. You do this 3 times and your legs are extended – this takes a couple seconds, vastly speeding up the time it takes to set up your tripod.

The GT1541T has the ability for the tripod legs to fold over backwards over the center column. This makes it possible to decrease the size of the tripod when the legs are contracted. By folding the legs over the center column, you can cut down the size of the tripod by a good two to three inches. This makes the tripod WITH the ballhead from bottom to top about 16 or so inches! This tripod is so small that you can fit it in any small bag or suitcase without problems. The tripod itself is ultra light, only 2lbs but can support pretty much any camera setup, with the exception of the giant zoom lenses. You may want to consider pairing up the Gitzo GT1541T with a Markins Q3T ballhead – this ballhead is custom designed for the Gitzo 1541T so that the legs can fold back over the ballhead without sticking out at all.

The Gitzo 1541T is the best travel tripod on the market right now in terms of the weight it can support, the folded size, and the features it contains. The only issue is that if you are very tall, the tripod may be a bit too short – even with the tripod center column fully extended. If you are under 6 foot, you should have no problems. But consider a different Gitzo model if you are taller.

I have to be fair with Manfrotto. I have used Manfrotto since day one, and it permitted be to take all my images until today. To be honest I cannot really compare both because I usually got the basic model which retails at approx $175 and now I got a Gitzo which is way more expensive ($600). I am sure Manfrotto have tripods just that good if I paid the same amount for one of theirs. I am just excited because it is so lightweight that it will make it more enjoyable when traveling and hiking…Now the real test will be when I am out in the field testing it under various extreme conditions ( saly water, Snow, Rocks, Sand, etc etc).

Share on Facebook