CO wrote:
I received an email from the company that produces Breakthrough filters. They're now starting the Colorado Tripod Company. They will produce the first Titanium ballheads. They will also produce tripods with carbon fiber produced in Japan. Carbon fiber produced in Japan is supposed to be of a higher quality than Chinese carbon fiber. I wonder how the Titanium heads will perform. They start mass production in January. Here is a link.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coloradotripod/the-worlds-first-titanium-tripod-system?ref=3wdxsyI received an email from the company that produces... (
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I've been joking about titanium tripods for years. Now it's actually happened.
I have to confess: I use titanium cookware for backpacking. That's because I carry it 10 miles
than put it over a fire. Plus it sits out in the rain sometimes. (Also, I bought it cheap used!)
The main advantages of titanium over aluminum:
* much better high-temperature strength
* higher strength-to-density ratio
* greater resistance to corrosion
Because of its high cost, titanuum shows up in high-performance fighter aircraft and on the leading edge
of he wings and stabilizers of supersonic aircraft (which become red hot at supesonic speeds).
But photographic tripods aren't exposed to high temperatures , nor are they left out in the weather to corrode.
And the difference in strength between titanium and a good aluminum-alloy may or may not be significant.
Why not have a tripod made out of fiberglass covered with $100 bills? That would impress everybody!
The truth is that the more a tripod weighs, the better it works. Inertia damps vigration. And less rigid materials
--such as, wood or fiberglass--damp vibration better than metals (e.g., bells and tuning forks).
But consumer preferences are all about status and 'keeping up with the Jones". Manfacturers know this,
so they market titanium toothpicks and so forth.. They know just how to push the consumer's buttons.
It's a vicious circle.