Best-Bang-For-Buck tripod in the $100-150 range?

digitalmonkey

I just bought my first DSLR, a Canon 550D, about 2 mths ago. The tripod I own is a $20 one I bought at Sears years ago. It did what I needed for my older P&S cameras. I tried using it with my 550D shooting the Lunar Eclipse and it didnt cut it. The weight of my camera wouldnt keep the head steady. Since I am just starting out, I dont want to buy the best accessories but at the same time I dont want to buy the bare minimum. Is it reasonable to get a decent tripod in the $100 - $150 range? What would give me the best-bang-for-my-buck ?

Matthew Saville

Hey Digital monkey!

I'll sum up the advice you're going to receive here: Do yourself a HUGE favor; save up for an extra month or two, and bump that range up to $200-300, if you're talking about legs AND a head. You can get a decent pair of "knock-off" legs for under $200, and you can get a great head for less than $200, but to get both for $150 or less, well, you're just not going to get something that will last longer than a year or two, depending on how gentle you are on your gear. Heck, even if you are gentle, the stability is just not the same. You want something strong and durable.

I know a tripod is just not nearly as exciting as a lens or body, but trust me if you're at all serious about landscape photography, the tripod you use is one of the most important things by far. There is a reason that EVERY well-known landscape photographer has $500-$1000+ invested in "support"...

So, my advice is to pony up and get at least a set of the "good" knock-off legs, like Induro or Giottos, if you can't afford Manfrotto or Gitzo. And get yourself a decent 3-way head or ballhead, from a name brand like Manfrotto, or if you're really into landscapes you may want to adopt the Arca Swiss system in which case I can recommend any of the super-compact ballheads from Really Right Stuff, Markins, etc. etc. Of course their $400+ ballheads are overpriced and overkill for what you need, but they do have $125-$200 options that are strong enough for most DSLR gear and will last you a lifetime. The generic heads made by Giottos and Induro etc. are decent, but at this point I just can't recommend them yet; they haven't stood the test of time for me personally.

Good luck!
=Matt=

Icebear

Keep your eye on the Flea Market. You'll probably find a good assortment of pretty decent and reasonably priced legs and ball heads being sold by people like me who are replacing their mid-range stuff (like you're looking for) with Gitzo, Acratech, Markins, RRS, Kirk, etc.) You'll do it too eventually, but nobody would have EVER convinced me a few years ago that I'd be spending $1500 on a tripod, head, L-bracket and camera plates.

If you stick with Manfrotto, I think you'll get the most bang for your buck. Do yourself a favor and buy a ball head though, and not one of the weak-assed pistol grip things.

Art Scott

Well I'll toss in my 2 cents worth....if I were shooting with large format cameras then I'd be looking for large format tripod......My Giotttos (this link will take you to one similar to mine which is out of production now ) has done very well for me the last 5 yrs or so and I paid just under $200 for it....I also use a Manfrotto Grip ball head (322RC2) which I use with lenses including my sigma bigma (50-500)...it took me a bit to get use to it and learn its nuances but I love it now....I have never bought from this reseller....I am just referencing the tripod.......even with center column at an inverted angle with camera near the ground and a little weight off the other end it is very stable in the Kansas winds I deal with all the time...........

Good Luck

catspaw

ditto on the save up now part also, Manfrotto has a few combined sets - small ball heads, but with your camera, it should be able to support (check weights first). there's a few I've considered for a back-up pod in the $200 range. good stuff! except all my current tripod mounts are acratech, so I can't do manfrotto. boo.

digitalmonkey

Thanks for all the replies, good info. I saw a deal on this ball head on Amazon, not sure the quality though. I came across it because it was on SlickDeals, a deal site I frequent daily.

http://joby.com/store/gorillapod/ballheadx

I will look at Manfrotto, sounds like a brand I should get.

digitalmonkey

When you say "knockoffs" (Induro or Giottos), is that a fair term to use? I ask this because normally a knockoff is very poor quality compared to the brand its knocking off.

Art Scott

I have never looked at Giottos as a knock off.........I do not know how long they have been building pods in China, but they are not at all cheaply made...I have put mine thru the ringer for past 5 yrs....including using it with Medium format gear and the ball head mentioned above got broke in shooting the Czech Republic back around 2004 or so.......mine is Alum. but carbon fiber was not as abundant in the market place as it is now and I was not giving $1+ to get a pod that was only 1.5 lbs lighter, plus there was no CF pods that meant my criteria.......

catspaw

digitalmonkey wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, good info. I saw a deal on this ball head on Amazon, not sure the quality though. I came across it because it was on SlickDeals, a deal site I frequent daily.

http://joby.com/store/gorillapod/ballheadx

I will look at Manfrotto, sounds like a brand I should get.

the joby ballhead is really only meant for their dslr gorilla pod. it's a quick use, no guarantees it will hold still 100%, etc. it's really not meant (nor used that I've seen) as a 'regular' ballhead on any other normal tripod.

look at the manfrotto -- you can probably find what you need in there!

dantambok

i guess a slik pro 700 dx would fit in that price range?

catspaw

dantambok wrote: »

i guess a slik pro 700 dx would fit in that price range?

it's a good one, as long as you don't want a quick on/off method to attach the camera. looks solid and can take the weight. good price! something I'd pick up as a backup tripod for sure.

dantambok

catspaw wrote: »

it's a good one, as long as you don't want a quick on/off method to attach the camera. looks solid and can take the weight. good price! something I'd pick up as a backup tripod for sure.

yeap.. but its heavy..
legs only cost $99.95

pathfinder

A good tripod, that you will actually carry AND use ( as opposed to avoiding using because it is so aggravating ) is worth its weight in gold. If it is carbon fibre it will even help keep your fingers warmer.

It will make your average lens much, much "sharper", but only if you really do use it.

A good tripod will be with you long after your new camera has been traded in on the newest, latest, and greatest body.

Gitzo, Manfrotto, Bogen, are all good brands, and I own at least one of each.

But I like my Feisol the best - strong as an ox.

I found this page on the Cabelas site that looks pretty interesting and is close to the OPS price range including a ball head or a 3 way head - http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=720904&type=product&WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=Amazon&WT.z_mc_id1=720904&rid=40&mr:trackingCode=351DF4D5-F3D2-DF11-82EF-001B21631C34&mr:referralID=NA

Another small tripod I like is the Manfrotto 190Xb three section set of legs. Amazon has it for $139.90 in aluminum. Max height is only 57 inches, but it is small enough to carry all day long without complaining, and strong enough to do the job for 90% of all lenses I use.

catspaw

dantambok wrote: »

yeap.. but its heavy..
legs only cost $99.95

which is why I have my very light weight carbon tripod as the main one for a backup, I won't care how heavy. And with a D3 on top, I often LIKE heavier ones. I usually use rocks to weigh mine down :P

So really, you have to consider the situations, the camera weight, lens torque, and see what works for you.

dantambok

catspaw wrote: »

which is why I have my very light weight carbon tripod as the main one for a backup, I won't care how heavy. And with a D3 on top, I often LIKE heavier ones. I usually use rocks to weigh mine down :P

So really, you have to consider the situations, the camera weight, lens torque, and see what works for you.

I guess you have a point because it's more solid. But it depends if you take your tripods hiking where wieght really matters.

WillCAD

Instead of telling you that you need at least a $300 tripod for a $600 camera, I'm going to point you at the tripod I recently bought: A Sunpak 523PX carbon fibre tripod from Best Buy (retail about $199 but it sometimes goes on sale for $150).
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10406974-1.html

It's not as tough as the Giottos or Manfrotos, it won't hold the weight of six bull African elephants dancing a jig, and you can't use it as a lever to lift a crashed dump truck off someone's legs. But it will hold a fairly heavy camera like my Canon 50D with battery grip and 18-200 EF-S lens (my combo is at the upper limit of the tripod's capacity, however).

I've had the tripod for several months and have used it both indoors and outdoors. It's light, deploys and folds quickly, and comes with a nice carry case and a short center section for low-level, close-to-ground shooting.

Best of all, it comes with a pistol-grip ballhead.

For some reason, Best Buy doesn't sell them online, but all of the Best Buy stores in my area carry them in stock.

zentrickster

My latest travel combo is a Slik 340DX with a Manfrotto 486RC2 ball head... In all I think the combo was less than $200


This combo is easily packable and light... I toted it allover China earlier this year..

The 486 is discontinued now replaced by the 496..

You may read about the 340 being a bit flimsy... perhaps... creative placement of the legs will eliminate that :-)