I need advice on a new tripod.

Red Bull

I've been thinking about a new tripod since the one I have now has 2 broken legs (a little piece of the leg clamp snapped off when I was pushing it in to lock the legs.) The one I have now is actually quite old. It's a Slik Universal U 112, my mom's dad used to use it. It has been fine for what I use it for, but I can't use it fully extended.

I've been reading the numerous tripod threads on here and I still have no clue about this stuff! I'm guessing that for a good tripod I will be looking at spending at least $150-$200? That's about my budget.

I read somewhere that the height of the tripod should be about eye level without the column extended. Is this true? The tripods I have looked at are all about 60 inches with the column extended. I'm about 5' 11". This seems like it may be a bit short.

What is the advantage of a ball head vs. a pan/tilt head? The pan/tilt head looks like it may be easier in the fact that it looks like it is easier to keep it level. For my use, I would be using it for mostly night photos.

What would you suggest in the $200 range? Is this enough money to get a decent tripod and head? Also, quick release is a must.

And also, what's the deal with plates? I've heard of them, but are they a required item?

gus

I use a manfrotto 190 & manfrotto 222 ball head...absolutely love it. Not sure about US prices though. Check out better quality 2nd hand ones also...its a vital part of your equip & can change things a lot for you so dont think too cheap.

ScottMcLeod

gus wrote:

I use a manfrotto 190 & manfrotto 222 ball head...absolutely love it. Not sure about US prices though. Check out better quality 2nd hand ones also...its a vital part of your equip & can change things a lot for you so dont think too cheap.

I use the manfrotto 055 pro B (great for low-angle stuff) with a 484RC2 head, as well as a 200RC head for video.

The 055 stands a bit taller than the 190 I think. Either one's nice though. I've used both. They're both compact and easy to use.

Bob Bell

Tripod colums reduce the rigidity of the tripod so a lot of people buy tripods with top plates and not columns.

The eye piece should be eye level. So its around 3-4" plus 3-4" for a head. So for 5'11" Your eyes are probably around 5'8"-8" and you only need a tripod that is 60 inches. Which is pretty easy.

The best tripods in my opinion are Gitzo and Manfrotto. Carbon fibre is nice, its lighter, stiffer, and doesn't transfer temperture like aluminum.

All of that said, I think the cheapest carbon fibre legset from Manfrotto is around $300.

If you want to buy 1 tripod for your lifetime I would look at the gitzo 1325, which is way out of your range but it will last a very long time if you take care of it.

I'm sure everyone will have their opinions including newer untested manufacturers. Read about your legset and make sure it meets your needs whatever they are

jeff lapoint

Here's one

The gitzo explorer 2220 has been really good to me. I don't think it can be beat for versatility in the field, especially for macro photography. The center column can be positioned in all kinds of crazy angles and the tripod is rock solid.



It is aluminum, so it is a bit more heavy than the carbon fiber units...but at least its cheaper.

Shameless plug for my own sale aside, this is a great tripod that looks like it fits well with your equipment list. Here's the B&H link.


Jeff

Art Scott

I guess I may be a strange sort of person.....I do not buy by brand name...I have found that being brand named usually meant paying 20 to 75% more for and item.....So over the years I have used Slik (U112), various vivitar, velbon and Manfrotto tripods....all of which fell short of what I needed...great stability and yet compact enough for easy backpacking also needed to be able to remove center column and change its angle for various macro shots......after a great deal of searching I went with a Giottos MT9180 and sold my Bogen Manfrotto { i do use a bogen / manfrotto 322rc2 ball head, fantastic head in my opinon}......as it was too long to easily back pack....I kept hitting bus and train doorways in Europe.....the Giottos fits the bill for me greatly and after getting my hands on it, I do believe it will last me until I am no longer able to take photographs any longer

Good Luck with your search for the best pod / head combo for you

gus

ScottMcLeod wrote:

I use the manfrotto 055 pro B (great for low-angle stuff) with a 484RC2 head, as well as a 200RC head for video.

The 055 stands a bit taller than the 190 I think. Either one's nice though. I've used both. They're both compact and easy to use.

With the 222 ballhead on the 190 & its way too tall for my eye & im 6'3. I dont need taller.

IreneRojas

I need advice on a new tripod.
Hi everyone. On June 17th, I head out for Australia, and I need a tripod, hopefully for some night shots. It needs to be able to hold a Nikon D50 and an 80-20mm f2.8D (roughly 5 pounds). I don't have bottomless pockets though, so... any advice on which ones I should look at?

Thanks a lot!

Irene

claudermilk

The Feisols have gotten good reviews & have pretty decent prices. I hear Slik & Velbon have some good models as well, thougn I'm only familiar with their bottom-end stuff you see in the mall camera shops.

herion

claudermilk wrote:

The Feisols have gotten good reviews & have pretty decent prices. I hear Slik & Velbon have some good models as well, thougn I'm only familiar with their bottom-end stuff you see in the mall camera shops.

Take a look at the Hakuba tripods - very well made - I believe it's a Feisol knockoff, but it's superb!

gus

G'day irene..i use a 190 manfrotto. Not an expensive tripod by any means & supports my larger lenses well. It would support your mentioned gear for ever.

What parts in 0z are you heading to see ?

Mike Lane

ireno315 wrote:

Hi everyone. On June 17th, I head out for Australia, and I need a tripod, hopefully for some night shots. It needs to be able to hold a Nikon D50 and an 80-20mm f2.8D (roughly 5 pounds). I don't have bottomless pockets though, so... any advice on which ones I should look at?

Thanks a lot!

Irene

I can't advise you about a cheap tripod, but I got a chance to play with the gitzo 6x leveling tripod and it is totally freaking cool. You set up the base and don't fiddle with the leg length (unless it'll fall over of course) and then you adjust the center column to be level and then lock it level and then raise it up and down as needed. Totally cool and it'll be my next tripod for sure.

gtc

manfrotto/bogen/benbo
hi

i have a manfrotto/bogen 190 too and its pretty good-the centre pole reverses for macro shooting and they don't cost too much-you need to think about whether you need a ball head-for action and nature or a pan and tilt head for landscapes and macro etc-they will do bothe but just a bit better in some types of photography than others-ballheads are getting pretty good though..

for more dollars a benbo is worth a look-very versatile

if you are in melbourne and have a good flash i can help you get some giant bats in flight-grey headed flying fox

i will be heading up to the northern territory in a few weeks on a nature shoot.

where are you going?

Red Bull

So I might go ahead and buy a tripod now since I need one very soon. I tried searching for the Gitzo 2220 on B&H, but it only returned results that were more expensive than when I searched it a while back! It used to be $226 and now it's $276. Did they upgrade it or something?

I really need something in about this price range ($200 or a bit above) The Gitzo 2220 looked like a great one because of its versatility but I can't afford it! Not to mention wouldn't I have to get a head for it?

SpeshulEd

I just recently got a nice deal on a bogen tripod and head used off of fred miranda.

Before that I was looking on ebay and stumbled across this ebay store:
http://stores.ebay.com/amvona-com_tripods-monopods_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ4QQftidZ2QQtZkm

They have heads on there along with tripods and monopods for really cheap. Shipping seems to be a bit high, but not too bad.

I have no idea about the quality, but it seems like if you wanted to drop the scratch on some nice tripod legs, one of these heads would get you through until you saved up money again for a nice head.

I'm thinking I may try out one of their cheap monopods, just to have around as a beater, something to take to concerts with me and whatnot. If it gets broken, bent, or lost, no big deal since I'd only be out $30.

Red Bull

^Thanks for that link. One more question. What would the price be for a good tripod head? I don't really know much about heads. Also, is there a certain size that would have to fit the Gitzo Explorer 2220?

cmason

You may want to look here. Amnova seems to have some very good deals. Not sure of their quality, but i have read good things elsewhere.

Red Bull

I also forgot to ask. What would be the best type of head to use with the Gitzo 2220? A ball or pan/tilt. It seems to me that a pan/tilt would be easier to use, but then the ball head looks like it would be nice to use when the tripod is at weird angles.

Red Bull

Don't mean to double post, but I went ahead and got an ATH-H91 ball head because the auction was almost over and I got it for very cheap.:D Got it for $3.25 + $10.00 shipping. Now I will go ahead and order the Gitzo Explorer 2220.:):

This is the Ball Head that I won. Click here

Edit: Going to order the tripod legs tonight. Yay!

Edit #2: Just ordered it. Got the 3-5 day shipping and my total was about $290. I can't wait to get it!

David_S85

2 or 3 cents
Nobody has bottomless pockets; I know I don't. Not even close. But I like to make sound equipment purchases based on expected use and reliability.

Irene, there are so many tripod options out there that it can be very confusing. So I won't say "go buy this one" or "that one."

There are things in photography I might skimp on, but a solid and versatile tripod is never one of them. The last great tripod purchase I made was in 1976, a $125 Bogen that ended up costing me $4 per year so far.

This season, I finally invested in one of the new Gitzo 6x series. Not cheap - not even expensive. More. They're a heck of a lot of dough - for sure.

But I fully plan on happily using it several decades from now. It will last through the next ten camera bodies and dozens of lens purchases. Its extremely light and I don't mind carrying it several miles at a time. That's important for me. Every extra pound is an extra pound mile after mile after mile.

Advice... Just buy a good one then invest in a great head for it as well. Together, they'll pay you back dividends in ease of usage, quality, portability/lightweightness and of course pride of ownership. And great tripods are easy to sell, if it ever comes to that. Medium priced units, not as easy.

If you go with B&H or Gitzo, use the search code psmay. I noticed some Gitzo's for substantial savings last time I looked.

leek

Gitzo's Rock!!
But if your budget is more limited, then take a look at the range of Benro tripods. They are almost indistiguishable from the Gitzo models and are probably about 90% of the quality, but a lot less in price...

http://www.benro.cn

wxwax

Since you got a ballhead, give serious consideration to putting an L-bracket on your camera. This will make it much, much easier to change from landscape to portrait orientation. Without the L, you end up fiddling endlessly trying to get the camera level when you're in portrait. At least, I do.

And get a level, too!

IreneRojas

Thanks!
Thanks a lot for everyone's input! I'm going to keep those recomendations in mind when I try some out tonight at Penn Camera.
Thanks!

Irene

Red Bull

Yeah when I get some more money I will look into buying a better ball head and probably an L bracket. I can't wait to get this tripod!

Red Baron

As SpeshulEd suggest, why not look in the used market. It shouldn't be too difficult to find used tripods for sale and do you really care if it has a scratch or two? There are a lot of people who buy tripods but rarely use them because they're too heavy, inconvenient or whatever. Check around.

Red Bull

I would, and I really wanted to buy a Gitzo 2220 on here that was $170, but it's my parents that tell me that I should get it new because of the warranty. I would have saved a ton of money, but they insist that I spend my money on new stuff.:bluduh

gus

Red Bull wrote:

I would, and I really wanted to buy a Gitzo 2220 on here that was $170, but it's my parents that tell me that I should get it new because of the warranty. I would have saved a ton of money, but they insist that I spend my money on new stuff.:bluduh

Thats a shame as there is no worries at all with buying a well looked after tripod. It isnt exactly a high tech bit of gear. Easy to run it up & down & generally see if it has any problems.

Red Bull

^Exactly why I get frusturated. I don't think I would every buy a used camera since I can't see everything on the inside and it is very complicated. I would be more than happy to buy a used tripod though.

jeff lapoint

Red Bull wrote:

^Exactly why I get frusturated. I don't think I would every buy a used camera since I can't see everything on the inside and it is very complicated. I would be more than happy to buy a used tripod though.

Dood!:dood I would have totally given ya the student discount and the fact that you are from my home town! Ah, no worries. You'll love the tripod either way

Red Bull

Bummer:cry Oh well, I'll still have fun with it.

One question though. In the link that you had in your add for the tripod, B&H had the price at about $220 I believe. How come it's $270 now? Is it a newer model of it or something?

jeff lapoint

Red Bull wrote:

Bummer:cry Oh well, I'll still have fun with it.

One question though. In the link that you had in your add for the tripod, B&H had the price at about $220 I believe. How come it's $270 now? Is it a newer model of it or something?

Good question. I just looked it up myself and saw the higher price...it may be that these are series 2 and I have a series 1...