You, my friend, are the exception to the rule. You know what you're doing you are an experienced, informed consumer. Most are not, I can tell you. The sales pitch put on beginners is just awful. They don't know what they're buying. I hear "...but the sales guy said it would work..." all the time.Hooray to you for buying an inexpensive, heavy tripod with a relatively low load capacity that is way to large for air travel. Perhaps you’d be happy putting a load of ~17 lbs on it (just a couple pounds shy of it’s rated capacity), I certainly would not. I make careful, well-informed buying decisions, and I’m fortunate enough to have a personal income that allows cost to be at or near the bottom of my priority list, although I recognize that’s certainly not the case for everyone.
I’m a fan of using the right tool for the job, and a strong, light, short-collapsed-length tripod with a good ball head that doesn’t drift (e.g. the RRS BH-30 LR) is the right tool for my travels. The most it needs to hold is a 1D X and something up to a 70-300L, and with some weight on the hook it’s very stable. However, it’s not robust enough for routine use with my 600/4L IS II – for that, I have an RRS TVC-33 (yet another >$1000 tripod) and a gimbal head.
Not that it matters, but I don’t find this new PD tripod particularly appealing.
I put a Pentax 645Z w/ the 28-45mm f/4.5 on there as well as my Canon 5D MKIII w/ the 150-600mm Sigma f/5.6 and it works perfect. I haven't weighed what that load is, but it doesn't drift and my 50mp 645Z images are tack sharp. So maybe you're correct on the load oimits, but I've been using this tripod for over 10 years and it just keeps on ticking. I haven't overloaded it yet. And it isn't too large for air travel. I go to Europe all the time and it fits perfect in my checked luggage. It is heavier than other choices I could make, but FOR THE MONEY I get one hell of a value. Good choice on the ballhead; I take my BH 55 in my carry-on camera bag when I travel.
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