Which Gitzo Studex is this?

Theo Sulphate · Jun 14, 2019

Looking at Wikipedia for Gitzo, I see there are a lot of Studex models. I'm trying to discover which one I have.

A few details:

- no struts from the legs to center column
- lower legs are silver

What is the R No. 2 head? I have a Sinar F 4x5 mounted on it, but it seems this head was intended for something larger - such as a ciné camera or small aircraft.

I bought it well-used. It had a bunch of stickers on it that suggested it was used in a Hollywood motion picture studio. I'm curious when it was manufactured.

AgX · Jun 14, 2019

Their tripods are designated according to

-) diameter of widest leg-element
-) number of leg-elements per leg
-) collapsed vs. extented length (thus w/wo center collumn)

Details you find below at that Wikipedia article.

AgX · Jun 14, 2019

Theo Sulphate said:
- no struts from the legs to center column

That is a feature of all Gitzo tripods from the start.

benjiboy · Jun 14, 2019

AgX said:
Their tripods are designated according to

-) diameter of widest leg
-) number of legs
-) collapsed vs. extented length (thus w/wo center collumn)

Details you find below at that Wikipedia article.

Surely, tripods by definition only have three legs, if they had four they would be quadpods.

AgX · Jun 14, 2019

Thank you.
With leg I meant leg-element.

Vaughn · Jun 14, 2019

Looks to be Studex Series 3. The ability to further extend the leg angles makes it a Performance model (so Studex Performance).

Over-kill for 4x5 -- the next size down is the Reporter Series, which works fine for 4x5. I have both and use both for 4x5 and 5x7.

benjiboy · Jun 14, 2019

AgX said:
Thank you.
With leg I meant leg-element.

I see you meant number of leg sections

Theo Sulphate · Jun 14, 2019

AgX said:
That is a feature of all Gitzo tripods from the start.

By struts, I meant it does not have the attachments shown here:

Vaughn said:
Looks to be Studex Series 3. The ability to further extend the leg angles makes it a Performance model (so Studex Performance).
...

Thank you, Vaughn!

AgX · Jun 14, 2019

Theo Sulphate said:
By struts, I meant it does not have the attachments shown here:

Yes, I understood. As I said, Gitzo tripods never had such. That is why I often speak of Gitzo-style of tripod, when referring to such "bare" tripod.

Vaughn · Jun 14, 2019

Also, The R No.2 -- the R probably stood for Rational (or Rationnelle) and looks to be an early model (a guess). The No.2 matches it with the Reporter Series (Series 2), but fine if used with the Series 3 Studex. It is not a particularily heavy-duty head (maybe holding up a Harley instead of a full-on aircraft). I used a Gitzo Ballhead No.2 for a long time with a lightweight 4x5 on my Studex Series 3 (plain, non-Performance).

The only drawback of the head I see is that it is rather tall and when combined with your camera, the camera sits pretty high up above the top of the tripod, which might cause some wobble/vibration that you just have to aware of and let the camera settle down before opening the shutter.

Theo Sulphate · Jun 14, 2019

Vaughn said:
...
The only drawback of the head I see is that it is rather tall and when combined with your camera, the camera sits pretty high up above the top of the tripod, which might cause some wobble/vibration that you just have to aware of and let the camera settle down before opening the shutter.

You're right - it does sit high. I'm worried about wind, so I'll have to pay close attention to conditions.

Which Gitzo Studex is this?

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