I am in the market for a new tripod for my Canon XH-A1 and have narrowed my search to a few options. The Cartoni f101, Cartoni HiDV1, Sachtler, DV-4II, and the most likely candidate is a Gitzo G-1325 legs with either a 503 or preferably a 516 head. I welcome any input on these tripods, mainly I need a relatively lightweight, portable, quick to set-up yet stable tripod for traveling to China. Ultimately the deciding factor will be trying these systems out. I live in Maine and don't really want to drive to NYC to test them so does anyone know of a store or stores in or around Boston? I know I can use the dealer locator but I would prefer someone's recommendation. Thanks!!

I guess there isn't one? I went to Hunts "flagship" store in Melrose and if you were a photographer you would be psyched. They did had a nice variety of Manfrotto and Gitzo sticks (although a little expensive and some were outdated) but no real video heads. So if you are in New England and need to check out and/or buy video tripods in my opinion you have to go to New York

I was gonna suggest Rule Broadcast in Watertown. Call and see what they use for lightweight rentals. There's another dealer in Newto/Watertown, but name escapes me, it's been over 6 yrs since I moved.

The plus side, B&H is only 1 block from Penn Station. But that's still six hours from where you are. Perhaps a road trip is in order.