Stinky Coyote
WKR
Well when i went to order a slik 624 from b&h they were out of stock due to some flood (this was last year) but they had the 634 in stock and it can do standing height not just sitting height like the 624. So i thought why not, maybe i'll like standing height and likely i can mod it to sitting height and save weight.
Sure enough, i'm 6' tall and on level ground i can run my leicas on the leica bino holder at full height and maybe have to duck 1/2" to be perfect but that was on the first head i tried this little giotto 1104 i believe which i canned early and went to the manfrotto 700rc2 panhead and its taller so no problem doing standing height with that taller head and could easily accomodate guys taller than me then.
Back to the gear.
So the tripod sans head came to me at 2 lb 1 oz (33 oz), i decided i would mod it to sitting height, removed the neck extension for 3 oz loss and then the bottom leg extensions for 7.5 oz loss, that brings the total weight down to 25.5 oz. or 1 lb 9.5 oz....and the 624 advertizes at 29 oz...so there we have it, i thought i might end up lighter than a 624 and i did, because of the extra set of collars i presumed.
The trade off is that the 624 goes shorter folded up, i was willing to live it as there is another trade off, to me its already kind of long so don't care, the 624 has one more set of leg extensions to extend, so i also set up quicker with one less set of extension. So most of the weight difference is likely going to be in that extra set of collars for the extra set of leg extensions the 624 has.
And not comparing them side by side for final height i can just give you a measurement and you can then see if i'm taller or shorter than a 624 yourself and maybe even break yours out and confirm so the data stays with this thread?
Hope that helps on the tripod options, it was very easy to take off the things i did fyi. No tools, just screw em off. And i could make it a standing tripod again in a couple minutes, just grab the ziploc bag of stuff i saved and throw it back together. With legs set at the steepest angle setting/tallest angle setting and pushed out to the stops i'm 38" to top of the alum plate where a head will attach. And now its 17.5" folded up shortest length from bottom of legs to top of that alum plate heads attach too.
The manfrotto 700rc2 panhead without the tripod foot is 16 oz, the tripod foot is 1.5 oz. This is slightly modded, maybe ounce or two lighter than stock as i took the rubber part off the pan handle, cut a couple inches off the pan handle and put a bit of hockey tape on the end instead. From recollection the rubber handle weighed 1 to 1.5 oz...so we are likely 1-2 oz less than stock 700rc2 for weight. I'm digging that 700rc2 so much so i bought the leica window clamp and another 700rc2 (london drugs in canada had the 700rc2's on sale for 99 bucks when i bought both) and shortened the handle on it as my truck glassing station, i buy extra feet so i have them on bottom of all spotters/bino mounts etc. and its just plug and play from pack or truck work.
You weight watchers may dig that tripod info
Sure enough, i'm 6' tall and on level ground i can run my leicas on the leica bino holder at full height and maybe have to duck 1/2" to be perfect but that was on the first head i tried this little giotto 1104 i believe which i canned early and went to the manfrotto 700rc2 panhead and its taller so no problem doing standing height with that taller head and could easily accomodate guys taller than me then.
Back to the gear.
So the tripod sans head came to me at 2 lb 1 oz (33 oz), i decided i would mod it to sitting height, removed the neck extension for 3 oz loss and then the bottom leg extensions for 7.5 oz loss, that brings the total weight down to 25.5 oz. or 1 lb 9.5 oz....and the 624 advertizes at 29 oz...so there we have it, i thought i might end up lighter than a 624 and i did, because of the extra set of collars i presumed.
The trade off is that the 624 goes shorter folded up, i was willing to live it as there is another trade off, to me its already kind of long so don't care, the 624 has one more set of leg extensions to extend, so i also set up quicker with one less set of extension. So most of the weight difference is likely going to be in that extra set of collars for the extra set of leg extensions the 624 has.
And not comparing them side by side for final height i can just give you a measurement and you can then see if i'm taller or shorter than a 624 yourself and maybe even break yours out and confirm so the data stays with this thread?
Hope that helps on the tripod options, it was very easy to take off the things i did fyi. No tools, just screw em off. And i could make it a standing tripod again in a couple minutes, just grab the ziploc bag of stuff i saved and throw it back together. With legs set at the steepest angle setting/tallest angle setting and pushed out to the stops i'm 38" to top of the alum plate where a head will attach. And now its 17.5" folded up shortest length from bottom of legs to top of that alum plate heads attach too.
The manfrotto 700rc2 panhead without the tripod foot is 16 oz, the tripod foot is 1.5 oz. This is slightly modded, maybe ounce or two lighter than stock as i took the rubber part off the pan handle, cut a couple inches off the pan handle and put a bit of hockey tape on the end instead. From recollection the rubber handle weighed 1 to 1.5 oz...so we are likely 1-2 oz less than stock 700rc2 for weight. I'm digging that 700rc2 so much so i bought the leica window clamp and another 700rc2 (london drugs in canada had the 700rc2's on sale for 99 bucks when i bought both) and shortened the handle on it as my truck glassing station, i buy extra feet so i have them on bottom of all spotters/bino mounts etc. and its just plug and play from pack or truck work.
You weight watchers may dig that tripod info
Last edited:
