This comparison illustrates all 3 tripods at 43.75" with the 300/2.8 AFS. The GT3541LS is fully extended on 3 sections, with the 4th section retracted. The other two tripods have their 3rd and last section partially retracted, the taller G1410 more so.

Interestingly, the G1410 won this round although it did not perform well on a relative basis at 49". What a difference a few inches makes and why I waited a year to even publish these images. If I were 3" taller I might have shot the 49" images at 52" and it's possible things would be very different.

The GT3541LS clearly beat the TVC-33 here. I think this set of images most closely approximates the ranking if the GT3541LS was swapped for a 3 Section Series 3 GT3530LS and I think that is a fairer test for the Series 3 Gitzo relative to the TVC-33.