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In hindsight it seems like the most obvious way to design a folding tripod’s centre support column, but Giottos’ new Silk Road YTL series are actually the first to use a clever three-way, Y-shaped post making the whole package about 30 percent more compact when collapsed.
Compared to the traditional design which simply uses a round tube, the new Y-shaped column lets the tripod’s legs hug a little closer when folded away. And the new design doesn’t compromise the tripod’s stability or strength either—it’s win-win all the way around, particularly for photographers looking to slim down their kit. Giottos will start rolling out the redesign in the next few months, with the low-end aluminium models starting at around £120, and the lighter carbon fibre models starting at £280. [Giottos via DPReview]
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The problem with this is you can’t rotate the centre column. Not a problem if you’ve got a panning base on your head or a rotatable head, but for tripods that have centre columns that can go vertical (such as my Giottos MTL 9361B and Manfrotto’s 055 and 190 XPROB models)it won’t work so well. However most of the light weight and compact tripods don’t have this feature so the Y shaped column would be a good fit, I just won’t be replacing mine any time soon.
Panning is not a problem but I can’t see how it is possible to turn the centre column horizontal to the tripod. Good idea though.
Look up the models I mentioned. The centre column flips out, and with the Giottos any angle between. I’ve just remembered that the Manfrottos don’t actually have a round centre column but rather a triangular one, so there would be a way to make it work with the Y shaped column. However I do prefer being able to rotate the column instead of panning the head as it’s on the same control knob to slide the centre column in and out, I’m not sure I’d be willing to give that up for the 30% decrease in space.
Looking forward to popping down to Jessops to have a closer look at these when they come out…
..oh