tripod

[TRK]

Hi all

I am keen to get a tripod but dont know where to start. I am 6ft 3, and mainly like to shoot landscapes and do photo manipulation portraits. I dont want to spend to much money at the moment. Can anyone recomend a good tripod at a reasonable price?


cheers

[Sifor]

Hi. I can share my experiences with buying tripods. I'm not a pro, nor have I purchased many tripods, however I know what mistakes I've made.

I purchased a $120 Vanguard tripod kit with 3 way pan head. It was fine for my Canon 1100D with basic 18-55mm kit lens.

There are three elements to a tripod: light weight, sturdiness and cost. You can have two of them while sacrificing the third.

My Vanguard was cheap and lightweight but sacrificed on sturdiness. My new manfrotto 055 (yet to arrive) will be (I hope!) sturdy and reasonably cheap (~$250 for legs, $115 for the ball head in Aus) at the expense of weight.. 2.3kg if I recall correctly. To get something lightweight and sturdy you're probably looking at expensive carbon fibre.

I'd buy the most expensive tripod you can afford.. don't do what I did and buy a cheap one ~$100-$150 and expect it to be awesome. It'll do it's job for a small DSLR, however if your gear is weighing 2kg+ you'll want something that can take the weight. My vanguard was rated to 3kg, my gear is 2kg.. not a lot of room there and it shows.

Also given that you're tall you'll want a tripod that doesn't need the centre column to be extended (doing so really sacrifices sturdiness!). I hate bending over, and at 5"8' the Manfrotto 055 seems to reach my eye height without having to extend the centre column. You may need something different, others here might have some other suggestions for you.

I'm sure others on this forum will have much better technical advice and experience in buying tripods. Those are my thoughts anyway. Good luck!

[ricktas]

at over 6ft you will be better off saving for longer and waiting and spending more on a decent build now, than getting what you can afford and finding in a year or two it needs upgrading. With tripods the better quality means it will last you the rest of your life.

So save up and look at the Manfrotto, the 055 range is over 170cms (without a tripod head) so then with your camera on top it will be very comfortable to use for your height.

http://www.manfrotto.com/photo-tripods-055-series

[Kym]

The Benro range are sturdy and relatively low cost. My monopod is a Benro.
That said I have the 055XproB tripod, I'm 6' 3" :D

You really need to try them in a shop with your camera!

You will also need a head.
Check this: http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showlibrary.php?title=New_To_Photography:A_beginners_guide_to_buying_a_tripod_and_head

[William]

Can I say something here that might be contraversal , If your a Landscaper/Seascaper dont worry about the height , I never extend my Tripod ( New 190bpro) with a pan head more than the second leg, Most times if I can get away with it I dont extend at all , It means your shooting 18inches off the ground but you need this with a Widey for the POV in Seascapes off a cliff or rocks , Hard on the back I must admit , But the results are worth while , I do use the same technique on Jungle streams and waterfalls , Just an idea that I use

[MissionMan]

I got the Benro C3580T with B3 ballhead. It goes taller than I can use (I'm 6 foot) so I have no doubt someone who is 6'3 would have no issues with it. Its a really nice combo and carbon fibre so its light weight.

I picked up mine off ebay for about $600 and it holds my D700 and 70-200 f/2.8 without any issues at all so weight won't be a problem. It holds up to 18 kg's.

[Bennymiata]

I went through the buy a cheap tripod deal a number of times before I realised that a cheap tripod is just a cheap tripod, and really almost useless, unless your gear weighs almost nothing and you like blurry photos due to having an unstable tripod or head.
Even a GOOD head will cost around $3-400 before you add the legs to it.
What gear do you use, and what is the biggest, heaviest lens you use?
If you use a long telephoto, then you'll probably need to spend around $600 at a minimum to get good results, and carbon fibre legs really are better than any metal legs. It's not just fo rtheir light weight, but they shake a lot less and are more stabel at holding your gear steadily.

I use a Benro CF tripod, but the head that came with it was very ordinary so I now use an Acratech head.
Total cost around $750, and I feel this is about the cheapest and lightest I could get away with for my DSLR and 100-400L lens, and this combo holds it steady as a rock.
You can easily get a combo costing over $2K, so what I use is relatively cheap for something that is well made and solid.