What
tripod
by J. Ramón Palacios (jrp)
tell
a friend about this article
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What
is a MAGICA?
It
is the best in the market integrated camera support system
for serious amateurs and professionals.
Here is a brief story.
Embarked
into the serious quest for the impossible ideal tripod:
Light, Sturdy and Inexpensive, it took me three, four,
maybe five years and quite a few dollars to understand
that such triple combination is not possible at all. You
may choose two variables to optimize, never the three,
sturdiness being the most critical. Once we created nikonians.org it was refreshing to find out that the experience was shared by a great number of Nikonians.
This
is the summary of what I painfully
learned by myself and from the collective accumulated
experience of Nikonians
advanced
amateurs and pros:
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Light |
The
lightest are made of Carbon Fiber, introduced by
Gitzo in 1994 |
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Sturdy |
The
sturdiest are either Carbon Fiber or darn heavy,
even if made of wood |
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Inexpensive |
The
inexpensive ones are never sturdy enough, period! |
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Mr.
BI Mah, founder and President of Markins, was with Nikonians
when presenting the MAGICA concept to the photo industry
at Photokina, in Cologne, Germany
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Carbon
fiber won on two of the three variables: carrying weight
and sturdiness.
Having the opportunity to use several brands in the field and
even buy quite a few of them, the semifinalist’s list
of possible choices was headed by the Gitzo Mountaineer.
There are simply no equivalents, only copies,
made less expensive by cutting corners and creating compromises.
And that is no
commandment. It is a fact.
My
next enlightenment was to really understand that one
must think
in terms of an integrated camera support system:
tripod, head, plates,
and
spikes. If any of these elements fails, you have no workable
system. In other words, the weakest link in the chain determines
the performance of the complete system.
Once
the logic finally hit home the rest was relatively
easy. Put together the best tripod system with the
best ball
head, plates
and spikes.
That
is how what we first called the "SuperGitzo" came
to be, now refined into the MAGICA.
The system consists of:
- Gitzo
Carbon Fiber Mountaineer
- Markins anti-vibration plate
- Markins
ball head
- Markins
Titanium spikes
- Nikonians
leg wraps
The
result is the sturdiest and more efficient complete
integrated camera support system.
This
was possible with the cooperation and support from an
extraordinary renaissance man from the Republic of
Korea, designer and manufacturer
of Markins, producing what is arguably today the
best ball head and camera support system components there
are, more so when considering the competitive price.
Follow
this link to see current
MAGICA models offered. |
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MA |
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| GI |
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| CA |
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His
quest was to bring to his co-nationals the best possible
photographic gear at the lowest possible prices. Ours, to
do the same for the Nikonians community members, so our partnership
was a perfect match. And here we are now, since 2004, doing collaboration
projects like the MAGICA, the Q3 and Q3T ball heads and the
new lever action clamps.
You
may want to check the summary of a detailed study
on vibration and sturdiness.
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