One cannot argue with the quality of the Gitzo CF tripod lineup. If price is no consideration one can stop right there; chose the one(s) that best meets your needs. You have already received the link to the famous article bythom on buying a tripod. Written quite a few years ago, Thom makes several points about the relation of quality, function and weight, saying you need to pay a lot to get all three. In recent years a number of companies from Asia have introduced lower cost tripods that take their specs from Gitzo. Many experienced comments say caveat emptor. But there is at least one Asian company that has achieved a good reputation and about 50% lower pricing -- Feisol. At this point, there are usually several posts that warn that this cannot be true. Really? Feisol has developed a full line of tripod legs that provide ~90% of the Gitzo quality and in some cases additional features not found on the corresponding Gitzo. If you are hiking and traveling with a DSLR, you can consider the 3442 which weighs 2.1 lb, yet is quite stable and closes to ~ 19 in. You will also need to consider a ball head and mounting plate for your camera. That is a different conversation but I will note that each of the components has to work together to achieve a solid, stable platform, or you are wasting your money.
Does any of this get your attention?
Feisol's price about 20% less than Gitzo recently.
It's quality is not up to standard of Gitzo, though there are numerous reports of Gitzo tripod failure recently.
I can see vibration when using 3442 tripod with Canon 100-400.
