Load capacity of tripod

Recently bought a high quality monopod, after a fruitfull discussion here, and I'm now on a search for a tripod that I wont have to replace ever.

Main question (although all suggestions are welcome) is about the load capacity. Higher is better, ofcourse, but since the tripods that can carry the most weight also weigh the most.

My setup will weigh around 5kg (sony a7r III with sigma 500 f4, gimbal head and flash). I was thinking about 25kg, but would less load capacity be so noticeable? Or is this a bad stat to evaluate a tripod's stability? Looking for a stability to allow me to take stable enough shots with a 2x teleconverter cropped (so 1000mm heavily cropped).

Price is not an issue in this discussion.

Maarten D said:

Recently bought a high quality monopod, after a fruitfull discussion here, and I'm now on a search for a tripod that I wont have to replace ever.

Main question (although all suggestions are welcome) is about the load capacity. Higher is better, ofcourse, but since the tripods that can carry the most weight also weigh the most.

My setup will weigh around 5kg (sony a7r III with sigma 500 f4, gimbal head and flash). I was thinking about 25kg, but would less load capacity be so noticeable? Or is this a bad stat to evaluate a tripod's stability? Looking for a stability to allow me to take stable enough shots with a 2x teleconverter cropped (so 1000mm heavily cropped).

Price is not an issue in this discussion.

Click to expand...

Excellent question, and one that isn't asked often enough!

Here's the problem: the "load capacity" stated by manufacturers (for tripods and heads, equally) has no common measurement method. Amongst the tripods made by the same manufacturer, one would hope that they are consistent with how the items are designed and built, but that's not guaranteed, either.

As you know, "load capacity" for a tripod or head is almost always way more than a mere human would ever put onto them in any case (can you imagine putting 25kg on a tripod??). So, it has become a short-hand for "how stable this device is with increasing weight on it." But again, that's coming from the manufacturer with no correlation (like CIPA battery ratings) to anyone else's weight ratings or stability measurements.

So, it isn't a "bad stat" but rather one that should be low on the list for final decisions to be made from. Use it as a way to find "this is about the right compromise from this manufacturer" and then look at weight, height, material, brand-reputation, after sale support, etc. David at thecentercolumn.com has some great articles on this, as well as some collected real-world test results comparing tripods.

Finally, I use the tube diameter of the tripod more than the load capacity to get a starting point for expected stability. A 5kg setup is not light, and 1000mm focal length will greatly magnify any vibration. You'll want a "series 3" type of tripod with 32-36mm top tube diameters in carbon-fiber at the minimum. Bigger is better, but you can find some brands do a better job with smaller tubes than others (Gitzo, for example, with traveler tripods).

I'm writing up a review of series-3 systematic tripods, all tested with a Canon 5DS and 500mm lens, so if you can wait a few weeks, you'll get more data and impressions on some popular brands...

Maarten D said:

Recently bought a high quality monopod, after a fruitfull discussion here, and I'm now on a search for a tripod that I wont have to replace ever.

Main question (although all suggestions are welcome) is about the load capacity. Higher is better, ofcourse, but since the tripods that can carry the most weight also weigh the most.

My setup will weigh around 5kg (sony a7r III with sigma 500 f4, gimbal head and flash). I was thinking about 25kg, but would less load capacity be so noticeable? Or is this a bad stat to evaluate a tripod's stability? Looking for a stability to allow me to take stable enough shots with a 2x teleconverter cropped (so 1000mm heavily cropped).

Price is not an issue in this discussion.

Click to expand...

What Mark said. In my oh so humble opinion, stiffness is a better metric of tripod stability than the manufacturer's weight capacity listing. Each manufacturer uses its own method for coming up with the weight rating though, so they aren't cross comparable. I have found for instance that weight rating and stiffness don't correlate particularly well: https://thecentercolumn.com/2019/10/24/tripod-weight-ratings-are-meaningless/

Things get more complicated when using a gimbal though. A gimbal is simply used to support the weight of the camera+lens and is typically used in the unlocked configuration, which functionally has zero stiffness. The underlying stiffness of the tripod therefore doesn't matter so much and really all you want the tripod to do is not collapse or tip over.

Also, gimbals by the nature of their construction with long arms are inherently not very stiff even when locked down. They are going to be the limiting factor when paired with most 3+ series tripods. So what you really want is a tripod with good damping capabilities for longer exposures.

Anyways, it gets complicated, and I don't have all the answers. For the best performance/weight ratio, I would say get a Really Right Stuff 2 series TVC tripod of the appropriate height for you.

• Vibration dampening
• Torque from long and heavy lenses
• Wind resistance
• Anchoring ability
• Security of leg locks
• Ease of cleaning

Good blog here: http://blog.reallyrightstuff.com/choosing-a-tripod-part-1/

Bottom line:

Kingjoy brand (if you’re in the UK). Or Gitzo. Those are my picks.

https://thecentercolumn.com/rankings/ may be your best starting point.

Load capacity is indeed not the most meaningful parameter. The key question is how tall you want/need your tripod to be? Shorter generally means more stable, though there are exceptions. Weight vs. stiffness is another tradeoff: how much are you prepared to carry, and how far?

Personally, I like FLM as their products are lightweight AND sturdy. The overall score the site uses makes sense to me, but see for yourself what matters most to YOU.

Maarten D said:

Recently bought a high quality monopod, after a fruitfull discussion here, and I'm now on a search for a tripod that I wont have to replace ever.

Main question (although all suggestions are welcome) is about the load capacity. Higher is better, ofcourse, but since the tripods that can carry the most weight also weigh the most.

My setup will weigh around 5kg (sony a7r III with sigma 500 f4, gimbal head and flash). I was thinking about 25kg, but would less load capacity be so noticeable? Or is this a bad stat to evaluate a tripod's stability? Looking for a stability to allow me to take stable enough shots with a 2x teleconverter cropped (so 1000mm heavily cropped).

Price is not an issue in this discussion.

Click to expand...

The load rating is best used to establish your minimum. With 5kg gear, you need at least a 15kg load rating. That alone rules out a lot of tripods, and that's the minimum. The tripod should easily be able to support twice as much weight below the spider as above.

With a gimbal you'll be concerned with twist, so you'll probably rule out a column and want a leveling bowl or plate built-in. That narrows it down to a couple designs and heights.

lokatz said:

https://thecentercolumn.com/rankings/ may be your best starting point.

Load capacity is indeed not the most meaningful parameter. The key question is how tall you want/need your tripod to be? Shorter generally means more stable, though there are exceptions. Weight vs. stiffness is another tradeoff: how much are you prepared to carry, and how far?

Click to expand...

Also see this Center Column blog posting: https://thecentercolumn.com/2019/10/24/tripod-weight-ratings-are-meaningless/

That's a cool website, but they don't list Kingjoy tripods, which, IMHO, are similar in quality and build to Gitzo. Kingjoys are not available in USA, though.

Bob said:

That's a cool website, but they don't list Kingjoy tripods, which, IMHO, are similar in quality and build to Gitzo. Kingjoys are not available in USA, though.

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Kingjoy does claim to be available in the USA:


but they just redirect to an amazon.com page listing their products. No offense to kingjoy, but they look identical to every other rebranded tripod coming out of the same factories in China. There are chinese made tripods that rival the quality of Gitzo, but kingjoy doesn't appear to be in that category.

Hamiltionian said:

Bob said:

That's a cool website, but they don't list Kingjoy tripods, which, IMHO, are similar in quality and build to Gitzo. Kingjoys are not available in USA, though.

Click to expand...

Kingjoy does claim to be available in the USA:

http://www.kingjoyusa.com/en/pro_shop.asp?lx=big&anid=1&Page=1

but they just redirect to an amazon.com page listing their products. No offense to kingjoy, but they look identical to every other rebranded tripod coming out of the same factories in China. There are chinese made tripods that rival the quality of Gitzo, but kingjoy doesn't appear to be in that category.

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I've personally used several of the Kingjoy tripods. They are very high quality, not just rebranded Chinese junk. Side-by-side hands on comparisons with my friend's Gitzo, I'd say the KJ was actually a nicer product. Of course, one can't tell this from website photos.

Update:

I clicked on the link and see what you mean about Amazon and cheap Chinese tripods. Yeah - I'm not talking about those $79 tripods. The higher-end models (e.g. A83, A86 etc) are the ones I've used and they are very well crafted indeed. I don't think those are available in the US.