In the beginning, each photographer needs a tripod, whether Carbon or Aluminum. Since this is usually a very durable type of equipment, it is even more important to choose the one that suits you best, starting with the material decision.
The simple answer to this question about the right material might be that a beginner should simply get the cheaper aluminum version and an advanced photographer should take the most expensive carbon fiber tripod. But in my opinion, it's not so obvious, because both have their advantages and disadvantages or are simply different, not better or worse.
To compare these two tripods, I bought exactly the same Type of Aluminum that I use in carbon fiber for years:
Rollei C-5i II aluminu006D
Rollei C-5i Carbon
Both have a predefined ball head (compatible with Arca Swiss) and are the same size with a maximum height of about 160 cm and a collapsed height of about 44 cm. The aluminum version has a payload of 10 kg, the carbon fiber can still carry 8 kg.
Weight
In addition to stability, one of the most important elements is, of course, the weight, because a tripod is only good if you have it with you. This is a very good reason to make sure you carry the least weight possible, otherwise, you will always leave it at home. But this factor is different for everyone because it depends a lot on the type of photography you do. A studio photographer might not care about a heavier tripod, but a Travel Tripod photographer on the road all day will probably have less on his shoulders. Therefore, it depends a lot on the frequency and duration of your trips. In Iceland, for example, it is not as important as I thought at first, because you risk traveling in very large parts of your trip and its dependence depends very much on your ability to hike or not. In some cases, it may be better to have a tripod heavier because of stormy weather and strong rivers, because of the higher the weight, the greater the stability.
Aluminum: 1.91 kg
Carbon: 1.34 kg
If weight is important to you, carbon is definitely the best choice.
My advice
Nearly 600g does not sound much, but it's a big difference if you have to wear it on your shoulders all day long. About a year ago, I put my camera on a lighter, mirror-less camera, saving me about 500g and that alone was a big change for me. Sometimes I walk for 10 days or more in cities like New York, which means you have to wear all your clothes 14 hours a day, which causes shoulder pain after a few days. I even started leaving my tripod a few days at home, but these are still the situations you need, and as I said at the beginning, your equipment will only be useful if you have it with you.
If you use your equipment a lot, you should definitely get a Best Lightweight Tripod for backpacking right away.
Properties of materials
In terms of the material itself, you must consider three key properties for your Decision.
1. Corrosion
Carbon is very resistant to bad weather and corrosion, for example in salt water. Aluminum tripods are usually protected by an additional layer, but scratches or other damage can lead to corrosion of the material when used in wet conditions.
2. Vibration reduction / vibration absorption
Every salesperson will talk about carbon tripods and why you should Buying Tripods one, but for me, it's just a nice side effect and some sort of elusive benefit. The reason is that there are many other options, even more important, to improve the stability of your tripod for free: 1. Use a delete command to prevent your device from being shaken. and shoot with the screen of your camera, as this will ensure that the level is already high, and your camera does not shake in your picture show (which is true only for DSLR) and the third attach something heavy tripod hanging (Most modern tripods have one thing and you need to pay attention to this detail when making your purchase decision) to further enhance the ruggedness. Remember that there are many situations where vibrations can come from a source that can be avoided in another way.
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