My "big glass" is couple of 500 mirror lenses, including one big enough to have a tripod foot. I have the newest version of the 3221, which is a 3021 in black, with multi-faceted centerpost, leg pads, and 4 angle legs. Heads are the 3030 (3029 pan tilt with small QR) and the largest Giottos ball head.
I do not find the 3221 at all suitable for the bigger mirror with the 3030 head, and it is barely suitable with the Giottos. In fact, a much cheaper and shorter Slik 300 DX yields sharper images with my longer lenses. Your setup, of course, might yield different results.
I do not like what Manfrotto has done with the 3021 series. The latest incarnation does get low, but the section where legs meet centerpost is much less solid than that supplied on 3021 (or 3001, for that matter) a few years ago. And, with the new flipper leg locks, extending the lower leg sections makes it ring like a bell.
Don Herring wrote:
I was hoping someone with a 3021 would chime in. I was really don't want to get another set of legs.
