Photography Thailand Forum

[Chris Savery]

I wish I had found some reviews of Giottos before deciding to try out one of their rather low priced tripods. I did do some googling and checked a few forums for reports.

Well, I bought one today and I have to say that on the first use tonight, taking some shots of the Democracy Monument with the light display, it has already failed! I really could not believe it but on the very first take down and close up of the legs one of the collars stripped. One leg now slips and clicks as you try to tighten it up and the leg is slightly wobbly now. Yes, after the first use (not counting I set it up in the store).

I'll be taking it back tomorrow and seeing about what I can do about it. Tried their web site and they have an email address that I sent off a complaint to about poor quality. Will report back if they even answer. I see they have no listed distributor in Thailand.

Isn't that totally unbelievable? I mean, yes, I expected it was not goign to be that great for the price. I thought maybe I'd get a year out of it and have to buy something better. First Use!

So I'm posting this as a warning to all others because I did not find such a warning. You are wasting you money on this product. Maybe they're not all this bad but even so, if they are anywhere near as bad as this then it's still a waste of money.

Buyer beware.

Chris :)

[mahonyWeb]

http://www.benro.cn :)

[Chris Savery]

Yup. I looked at them too. But I wanted to save money and at the same time I thought maybe this one is good too. Well, it sure looked good. It actually looks pretty nice and has all the goodies. And honestly if it had stripped after, say, 6 months I would have thought "you get what you pay for". But in this case it seems you don't even get that. Just some details to show how much of a cheapskate I really am: Model MT9261 2 collar/leg 28mm Aluminum cost 3100 baht. I checked earlier and the Benro equivalent was about 3900 baht at one place and over 4000 at another. But I really did not know that the Benro would be the better unit. For sure there are more of them around town. :P I think the idea tomorrow would be to change the Giottos for a Benro.

BTW I looked at the Benro ballheads and they did not look good at all. The Giottos ballhead is quite nice. The tension knob actually adjusts tension and the lock knob clamps down quite easily. And my fingers are crossed that it lasts longer than the legs.

 

[Chris Savery]

Oh, and Giottos sounds so Italian too. ha ha ha. cough cough.

[mahonyWeb]

If you like Italian, then how about the Manfrotto 410 JUNIOR GEARED HEAD?

http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfrotto/cache/offonce/pid/2344

It's a little heavy, but a cracking head - highly recommended :)

[Chris Savery]

That actually looks pretty nice. I can see having some nice fine tuning knobs would be very workable. Now if they just had it with a swiss arca plate I may be tempted. But for now I'm probably stuck with this Giottos ballhead unless it totally breaks right away too. I used it tonight and it worked fine. I have a couple low-profile very light aluminum swiss arca type plates I had sent from USA already mounted on the body and my 70-200/2.8. I like them. As usual if I'd not been so thrifty I'd also have ordered an L-bracket but I stopped short and suffer for it now.

I know what is the right gear but I'm just too cheap.
With money to burn I'd buy the Kirk BH-1 and Gitzo legs and a RRS L-bracket, and, and, well you know.
And I'd already have a 5D...

Chris :)

[Marc Schultz]

Agreed on the Manfrotto 410 JUNIOR GEARED HEAD. Its the one I use almost all of the time.

[Chris Savery]

I'm curious now. When you turn the knob on the Manfrotto, lets say a 1/4 turn, does it just slightly move or is it quite a noticeable shift? So if you setup a shot do you have to make a bunch of full turns to get it right or usually a little 1/4 turn tweak in each direction?

[Marc Schultz]

The gear knobs are meant to only give slight turns. You can also release the gear knob and then move the head freely. If I want to move it a far distance I usually release the gear knobs and move it most of the way that way. Then I tweak it with the gear knobs after.

Its a solid piece of hardware, but it does weigh a bit. I think we discussed this head in detail on the Forum before:

http://www.photographythailand.com/Forum/index.php?topic=913.0

Hope that helps...

[Chris Savery]

Thanks Marc.

[Paul Whitehead]

I just went through a tripod and head few weeks of checking stuff out also.........................

Cappa (Fortune) have the manfrotto head if you want a play with it - I was very impressed but it was too big for my needs (which usually means carrying the thing on my shoulder through a forest).

I wanted a RRS (and still plan to buy one soon on an upcoming trip) head but ended up with the cheap Benro (J1) aluminium 2  knob thing - I have to say it works like a charm, I wish I had a one knob one though, I am very impressed with it and have been trying to find the bigger (J2) one to have a look at.

I also looked at Gitzo and Benro carbon fibre tripods and could not tell much difference, except the price of course - I spluttered my way out the Thai Gitzo shop. I have to say though I ended up not buying a new tripod because for size and weight neither the Gitzo nor the Benro was more stable than my old Velbon C. In fact for the same size and weight my Velbon was actually significantly more stable for my test (put it up and then put my weight on the top and move it around). I did like the Gitzo 1345 though (Benro have no equivalent) but it was too big to carry all day.

I had checked out the Giottos but found it very heavy for my needs (well old shoulders and back). Guess I will strike them off my list all together now.

[Chris Savery]

Paul,

Where did you view the Gitzos here in Bangkok?
I saw them once at foto Hobby in Silom Complex but have not been back since.
Just curious if I wanted to look at one and see just how great it is.

The Giottos MT9261 docs say it weighs 2.2kg. That's only 300 g more than the CF version and since I don't use it too much so I'm happy with that. I really think it's an ok unit if it didn't break on first use. It doesn't do you much good when that happens.

Chris :)

[Paul Whitehead]

Chris,

Mark had kindly posted the dealer earlier:

Importer & Dealer - Elinchrom, Hasselblad, Manfrotto, Lowepro, Gitzo, Hoya: http://www.photographythailand.com/Forum/index.php?topic=156.msg385#msg385 



_______________________________

Its quite close to Fortune Tower on Ratchada, you can walk over, though follow the map carefully (actually probably ignore the map completely!) as its a bit hard to actually find. From Fortune walk down Rama 9 (towards pattaya) and then the second soi (the one with two lanes and the trees in the middle) is it. Its about 100 meters up the soi on the left. The shop frontage is dark glass so its hard to tell you have actually found it. The have a very good selection (about 15 different models).

I also noticed that Cappa (fortune) had about 3 or 4 gitzos in stock at the weekend, and Fotofile had a 1345 about two weeks ago.

if on your travels you see a Benro J2 head (the big one) let me know

Paul

[Chris Savery]

Thanks Paul.

I guess I'll have to get out that way some day soon. It's really couldn't be further away from me (almost) and still be in Bangkok. And despite being here for years I've never made it over to Fortune Tower yet. I hear they have quite a few camera stores there too.

Updating my Giottos experience: I did take it back today and exchanged it without issue for another at the store I bought it from. This was "OnePix"  in Central Pinklao Shopping centre. That happens to be just up the road from me so is quite convenient. They were friendly and said that the Giottos were a new product for them they were just trying out. I am hoping this ones lasts a bit longer now. I tested it several times open and closing at the shop to try and avoid a repeat performance.

Chris :)

[Marc Schultz]

Fotofile actually has a web site (partially in English): http://www.fotofile.net/index.php?lang=en

Good also for spot checking prices on popular cameras in Thailand.

Worth noting is that they do give the 7% VAT refund to tourists. So if you time your purchase within 60 days prior to travelling outside of Thailand by air then you will be able to get the VAT refund at the airport on departure. Just need to make sure you have the equipment with you when you depart. Also, you will need to bring your passport to the shop when purchasing so they can prepare the form for you. You can also get the refund on purchases made in their sister shop, Foto Thailand on the 3rd floor in MBK.