Tripod Recommendation

I am 6 feet tall and need a new tripod. I would like not to have to spend any more than I have to, would prefer CF, no center post, capable of ground-level as well. I know the Gitzo3540xls extends to 78", more than high enough. Is there one of comparable quality that extends high enough for my height that is a bit less expensive?

I have bought about 5 tripods over the past 30 years and they've all been less than satisfactory. Since my own judgment about such things is obviously unreliable, I can only do better by asking you folks! :)

Thanks in advance for your input. I suspect I will end up with the 3540XLS, but I'd like to feel like I didn't overlook another option.

Kent,

I have the Gitzo 3540LS. Like it very much. I don't find a stability problem with it - being a four section leg vs. the three so has a smaller diameter lower leg. At 5-10 it is a good height for me even though I would have like the xls on occasion like when photographing birds in flight so I don't have to bend over. I use it with a 600mm Canon lens and a Wimberley or Mongoose head.

Thanks, Robert, for the information.

Here is what is confusing to me. On their website, Bogan lists the 3540 LS as extending to 57.5". Add, say, 5" for a head, and you're at 63". Adding in 3-4" as the distance from top of head to eyes, it would need another 3-4" to get up to eye level for you, at 5'10" . But then there is the fact that it works for you.

Am I mistaken, or am I being too fussy, or missing something?

For birds in flight I have to bend over some - remember I am looking up most of the time doing that. At level or inclined down I may have to bend some but it is not enough to cause me a lot of strain. That said, I still feel the XLS would have been better and certainly for you it would have. But it is good enough height-wise so I am not dissatisfied.

I also have a G1548 that is tall and I can stand erect for BIFs and practically anything else. If I am working close to my car or walking short distances, it is my tripod of choice. It never goes in the water. My old G1325 does that.