Toronto Photography Meetup Group

I was at DTcamera today and the salesperson had referred me to a brand of tripods that I've never heard before. Sirui. Has anyone used one before?

They're made in China and priced through the roof.

I saw them once at DT a few weeks ago.

They are basically a Chinese knockoff of Gitzo, priced below the equivalent Gitzo.

On a quick glance, they come with arca swiss clamps, and the ballheads look to be pretty strong.

They were also at the camera show at the Soccer centre a few weeks ago.

They're cheaper than Gitzos so "priced through the roof" is relative

The same Gitzos are beyond the roof and into the stratosphere if that's your reference

That said, I too looked at them; Stan tried to push them on me but, even at 1/3 the price of the Gitzo, I needed to hunt down some reviews; very few, if any, are online.

I know what I'm getting if I get a Gitzo.
I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm getting with the Chinese brand.

I'm willing to pay the extra money for that knowledge.

Cheers,
Dave

agreed on the chinese brands...

but until google says so, I tend to stay away from chinese brands in general. As we all do, we'd rather have some other person give it a try on Google, before we bite the bullet.

I'd like to find more out on these tripods, cause ya never know.

The joints seem pretty well made. Metal parts where needed. My only gripe is that the "carbon fibre" looks like regular plastic to me. If you look very finely at it, you can't really see individual fibres like on the gitzo or manfrottos

Dave, I have a very short roof hahahah

if it's in the same price range, I'd prolly stick with benro or Induro. at least until someone reviews them. but the price was higher than I thought it should be...they should have had a show special at the big one to get them in hands and out in then streets...best pr really is visibility...

Coming from China, you know there is going to be a high amount of lead in it.

The Chinese just love putting that stuff in everything they make or grow!

Wow, this is some serious comment.

I have converted all my manfrotto products (055ProB) into Benro. I started off with a Benro monopod then tripod and was impressed with the quality, compactness and weight. The Benro ballhead, which is not as good as a Markins Q3, is still pretty good and can hold alot of weight without creeping. I have used a 70-200 f4 IS with a 50mm long plate on extreme angles and it is holding well. Most importantly I feel my equipment sits safely on it.