Feisol CT-3372 Tripod Review

I initially stumbled across Feisol while hunting for a large, affordable and lightweight Carbon Fibre (CF) tripod.

There were plenty of CF tripod manufactures to choose from, namely Gitzo, Slik, Manfrotto, Velbon and Induro (aka Benro). However, Feisol was an unknown!

At the outset, I’ll be honest and state that I had coveted a Gitzo for years – don’t we all?

Many photographers use the 3 and 5 series and they have become pretty much the de-facto standard for wildlife and studio photography. Although there was one major problem, the retail prices of these Italian products from most UK distributors were blatantly obscene.

I know some will say, “you get what you pay for”, or “I wouldn’t put £10k worth of photographic equipment on anything else”, but surely there has to be an affordable alternative!.

First and foremost I’m wildlife photographer; I use Canon 1 Series dSLRs and large telephoto lenses. So bearing this in mind, I wanted something light, strong and well made.

Surfing the internet, I found a Taiwanese company called Fesiol who produce an array of photographic support products based on their own design and manufacturing techniques. I understand that they were initially a carbon fibre tube manufacturer, who recently diversified into the photographic support market. So I thought why not take the plunge and order one!

Fesiol’s flagship products include the “tournament class” second generation CT-3XX2 series. These are available in 3 and 4 section variants and their pricing is extremely competitive e.g. CT-3374 is priced ~40% lower than the Gitzo 3540VLS (based on current UK distribution pricing).

Feisols goals is “We want to show the world that large tripod can be sturdy yet lightweight at the same time”….”offering the best price to performance ratio on the market”. So have they achieved it?

I quite fancied the CT-3372 3-section tripod as it looked as though it would fit my needs exactly.

The CT-3372 is the largest tripod in their range; it includes a 3 year warranty, supports a very conservative 12kg and is manufactured from high grade carbon fibre tubes and 6061 T6 alloy. It weighs a mere 1.72kg and is supplied with a shoulder carry case and Allen key set.

Upon receiving the CT-3372, I was absolutely blown away by its weight (or lack of) and build quality. Bear in mind, I spent 15 years working as a Mechanical Design Engineer and I can honestly say the quality of materials, machining and construction are top notch.

The 3-section CT-3372 uses a top section tube diameter of 37mm; this makes the tripod look and feel quite chunky. The leg sections do not have any built-in anti-rotation mechanisms as Fesiol believe this would “lower the tripods sturdiness”.

The leg extension operates using a collar / olive style clamp arrangement.

One simply loosens the rubberised 6061 T6 alloy collar, slides the tube out and tightens the collar.

One can feel the air being drawn into the section and blown out as the leg is adjusted. The legs are supplied with standard rubber end caps and these can be replaced with stainless steel or alloy spikes as an optional extra.

I ordered the standard base plate version (as supplied) which has a large diameter flat plate for mounting your ball head or gimbal. Again, additional options include a levelling base and centre column.

Personally, I’m not an advocate of centre columns as they tend to undermine the stability of the tripod, although a levelling base may prove useful.

Fully extending the CT-3372 to its maximum height of 150cm (59″) makes for a very stable platform indeed.

To test this out I placed my 1DMkIII with EF500 onto a Acratech v2 ball head and the only discernible flex was actually in the ball head itself.

I then mounted a Jobu “Black Widow” onto the CT-3372 tripod and again placed my rig onto the tripod. There was absolutely no give in the leg sections and the platform was totally rock solid.

Pitching the CT-3372 against my colleague’s Gitzo 3 series, I would say that there was absolutely no difference in stability. In fact, the Feisol CT-3372 was probably more solid.

Now for some ground work!

Placing the Acratech ball head back on the tripod and using the Canon 1DMkII with EF100 macro lens, I decided to see how low I could go.

The CT-3372 has spring loaded pawls, which differ from those found on Gitzo and Manfrotto products. They offer 3 discrete angles of adjustment; 25/77 and 90 degrees. At the widest setting with legs retracted, the platform was 8cm of the ground – now that’s low!

Conclusion
Being totally frank about the CT-3372, in my view it rivals the competition in stability and build quality, marginally beats the competition for weight and annihilates the competition for price!

Add to this the fact that the CT-3372 comes with foam covers on all 3 top leg sections, an Allens key set and a shoulder bag (at no extra cost); it makes this one very desirable and affordable product.

Better still, Feisol have not tried to imitate Gitzo (like other far eastern manufacturers) but have decided to be innovative!

For those who may be interested in purchasing Fesiol products, they are now available direct from the UK at