Can anyone recommend a professional-grade compact tripod? The only ones that I can find are pretty cheap in quality. I need one that will retract to 15" or less and preferrably, have a fluid head.

Hello Gale;

Try looking for "baby legs". These are small tripods that will take ball heads and the weight of big cameras. Many companies made them in the past.

Also, cartellini (spelling may be off) had an unusual looking tripod that is small. I may give it a try someday. They make grip equipment - including one hell of a great grip clamp. I saw it on their website a while back.

Hope this helps.

Eric

Do you have more information (i.e. examples) on these baby legs?

it depends on how much weight you're adding, but i've used this with a GL2 and an FX-1. it's the strongest, lightweight tripod for the least amount of weight. it, too, has limits (size) but if weight is *the* major concern, it is the best performance for the least possible weight. i can almost always find somewhere to mount it (rock, table, fence). i always get a laugh out of the guys who recommend a 7-9 lb. tripod for travel. what sherpa is carrying this through the jungle and up the peaks for them??

http://kirkphoto.com/MightyLowBoy.html

velbon makes this, and i've used it quite a bit with these same cameras. it's not quite as sturdy as the lowboy, but it's even lighter, especially if you put a decent head on the lowboy. (i use the 701rc2 with the lowboy in these sorts of ultra-light instances.)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=139211&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

i'm always struggling with weight/mobility issues...

That lowboy looks like a good solution with a proper video head. What is the maximum extended height in centimeters?

71.12 cm? i'm no conversion genius. 28 inches is the max height with the extended center column. is that 71 cm? i've never used the extra center column, myself. if i need the height, i prefer to mount the tripod somewhere off the ground. since i'm using fairly weighty cameras, i'll take the extra stability of the smaller center column over the extra height of the tall one.

that silly picture they have on their website of a 500mm lens with an XL1 attached is a bit much! i don't think so....! i've used an XL2 with the stock lens and the lowboy but mostly without a lot of zoom. a stiff breeze will introduce shake.

if i'm going to mount up a 500mm lens, give me the fattest legs, my 519 head and a car to haul it around....

The only problem is that in the nature, it will be hard to find something to put the babyboy on (maybe some rocks or something) but defintely no tables there. But I think I will add this to my gear in the future, looks like a light-weight solution but still stable support. Does it work with the 503 head?