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Kickstarter: New Startup Launches World’s First Titanium Tripod & Ballhead

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#21
I saw this post yesterday, which means they have released the information to the public. Then today I get an email from them announcing this same tripod head but asking me not to share the information with anyone yet. Just bizarre (unless it's a form of reverse psychology in the hopes that I will forward it to a lot of people because I think I have inside information).
 
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#24
As a serial backer of Kickstarter projects I would warn anyone thinking of backing their first project to have a long think about it.
The more expensive it is the more risky it will finish.
Kickstarter has no come back. Kickstarter themselves don't give a damn about the projects or who is running them.
They get their cash either way. For me they are a total disappointment. No matter how poor the project they don't intervene on behalf of the mugs who gave them their money. They just wash their hands of it completely.
The deal is between you and the manufacturer. If they are new to manufacturing / contract manufacturing they are learning at your expense.
Most projects do come through eventually but out of about 40 projects I backed about 10 have been anything like what was promised originally in terms of quality or outcome. You'd be better off buying an in-market product from an established brand.
Only back a project if you can afford to completely lose your money. Other companies don't make Titanium Tripods for a reason. It's probably not the easiest material to work with.
In fairness to Peak Design they always come through - even if I'm never fully satisfied with the end product.
Lomography and Meyer Optic have made some interesting lens through it and Laowa.
However even for them its an easy risk free way to get venture capital for products they will sell to wider markets.
They don't have to give away any part of the company to the Kickstarter investors.
 
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#25
MrFotoFool said:
I saw this post yesterday, which means they have released the information to the public. Then today I get an email from them announcing this same tripod head but asking me not to share the information with anyone yet. Just bizarre (unless it's a form of reverse psychology in the hopes that I will forward it to a lot of people because I think I have inside information).
Click to expand...

I got a similar (or the same) email about Colorado Tripod earlier this week. The secrecy thing is likely marketing. Make people feel like they have inside information and first dibs on a new product. It'll work with early adopters.

Since no one has mentioned it in this topic yet, the founder of Colorado Tripod is Graham Clark from Breakthrough Photography. I know some people think Breakthrough makes great products, while others have had issues with Breakthrough's customer service. Just putting this out there so people can make a more-informed decision about backing this Kickstarter project.
 
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#27
Hector1970 said:
As a serial backer of Kickstarter projects I would warn anyone thinking of backing their first project to have a long think about it.
[...]
Most projects do come through eventually but out of about 40 projects I backed about 10 have been anything like what was promised originally in terms of quality or outcome. You'd be better off buying an in-market product from an established brand.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input - nice to have some data to back up my gut feelings about it. Would be interesting to hear about the projects you've backed an how they've turned out (or not).

Lomography and Meyer Optic have made some interesting lens through it and Laowa.
[...] for them its an easy risk free way to get venture capital for products they will sell to wider markets.
They don't have to give away any part of the company to the Kickstarter investors.
Click to expand...

It seems great for those niche products that otherwise wouldn't get funding due to the lack of potential returns. Having little spare money it's interesting reading up on the projects... a risky thing to do if there's money burning a hole in my pocket :)
 
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#29
Just to put in my experiences with Breakthrough and Graham Clark
mpphoto said:
Since no one has mentioned it in this topic yet, the founder of Colorado Tripod is Graham Clark from Breakthrough Photography. I know some people think Breakthrough makes great products, while others have had issues with Breakthrough's customer service. Just putting this out there so people can make a more-informed decision about backing this Kickstarter project.
Click to expand...
And to give some more information on this, I have already backed a filter project from Breakthrough Photography, that went really fine.
Good information on every project step, just a slight delay of one month and the CPL I have now is doing fine.
I am not backing this Colorado Tripod kickstarter because I simply have no need in those products.

I also had some personal e-mail contact with Graham Clark which I really appreciated, because of straight, direct and open conversation.

But I have one thing to add:
With the mailing PR Graham claimed to be the founder of Colorado Tripod.
If you look at the kickstarter page you'll find a "David Clark" as founder of the kickstarter project.
Brother? Father? Second name? Why?
That left me truly puzzled.
 
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#32
Is titanium really a good idea for this? It is strong but not very stiff. In this applicatiom, stiffness matters a lot but strength is not very important.

And the ballhead isn't particularly light.
 
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#33
CanonFanBoy said:
Casting Ti is not easy at all. It has to be done in a vacuum or it will just burn up like magnesium would. CNC is much nicer anyway, IMO.
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Neither is machining.
I can remember a very famous German car company, and the difficulties it encountered machining brake disc hubs made of titanium. Achieving a good precision wasn't easy, even with highest quality tooling and lots of engineering and machining experience. Thus, I'm quite skeptical as to the declarations of less experienced companies. I could be wrong, of course...
 
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#35
It'll definitely save weight out of your wallet but beyond that this just seems ostentatious. I appreciate that the big whites have some titanium in them and that's a more intelligent use of the material, and I might frivolously buy a 1" ARCA-Swiss clamp made of it, but there's a place and time for it and this project doesn't seem like it.

Jim
 
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#36
mpphoto said:
Since no one has mentioned it in this topic yet, the founder of Colorado Tripod is Graham Clark from Breakthrough Photography. I know some people think Breakthrough makes great products, while others have had issues with Breakthrough's customer service. Just putting this out there so people can make a more-informed decision about backing this Kickstarter project.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I have a couple Breakthrough Photography arca-swiss plates that are perfectly fine for the price, but after seeing how Graham replies to unhappy customers' Amazon reviews, I decided my money was better spent elsewhere.
 
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