Tripods which one
- Thread starter koi
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Mr Perceptive
Perceptive Member
Lightweight, stable, inexpensive
Choose any two from three!!!
It all depends what you want to use it for, I have 3, all different uses
3LT Vyv, lightweight aluminium travel tripod, very compact when packed, very light (just over 1kg), but not very tall or stable
Manfrotto 055 Aluminium with geared head, heavy, very stable, but rarely leaves the house as its too heavy to carry far
Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre with Ball Head, leightweight, stable but expensive (over £400), the one I use the most
All my tripods have Arca compatible heads and all my Cameras are fitted with Arca compatible L brackets so it's a simple plug and play to swap about
What are you going to use it for, how big/heavy camera, is it going to be carried far, etc, etc
Choose any two from three!!!
It all depends what you want to use it for, I have 3, all different uses
3LT Vyv, lightweight aluminium travel tripod, very compact when packed, very light (just over 1kg), but not very tall or stable
Manfrotto 055 Aluminium with geared head, heavy, very stable, but rarely leaves the house as its too heavy to carry far
Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre with Ball Head, leightweight, stable but expensive (over £400), the one I use the most
All my tripods have Arca compatible heads and all my Cameras are fitted with Arca compatible L brackets so it's a simple plug and play to swap about
What are you going to use it for, how big/heavy camera, is it going to be carried far, etc, etc
It does to a certain extent depend on what sort of camera you intend to stick on it. There's no point trying to mount an RZ67 on a light flimsy affair, but at the same time, you don't want to lug a tripod and head that you can put 8kg of camera on, if you want to stick your olympus pen on it.
I've personally got an aluminium manfrotto 055, and I have one of their larger ball heads for bigger cameras, and this works well for me. I'd probably go for carbon fibre if I were to do this again on the basis that it's one of those things that you basically need one of so you might as well get the best one you can. Also, keep an eye out in local papers as tripods are one of the things that come up in the second hand pages.
I've personally got an aluminium manfrotto 055, and I have one of their larger ball heads for bigger cameras, and this works well for me. I'd probably go for carbon fibre if I were to do this again on the basis that it's one of those things that you basically need one of so you might as well get the best one you can. Also, keep an eye out in local papers as tripods are one of the things that come up in the second hand pages.
It depends a great deal on what use you're going to get from it too.
I hung around forums that persuaded me years ago that to become a "proper" photographer I needed to use a tripod all the time and it had to be this that and the other. I spent over £600 on a manfrotto 441 carbon legset, Markins M10 head, etc.
I've used it a handful of times - I just don't want to use a tripod for the vast majority of photo work that I do. Of course it's useful occasionally, but wasn't worth spending what I did.
Additionally, the manfrotto 441 has a terrible design flaw, with the legs held to the top section by an expanding collar made from cast magnesium. One cracked under reasonable normal use (repaired under warranty, but very poor design, wrong choice of material for that use).
So, what I'd recommend...
Definitely get something that uses the Arca-swiss style dovetail clamp. There's now a good number of cheaper chinese made heads that do and these are perfectly adequate for most people most of the time. The Redsnapper RSH-12 is a good example of this: http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RSH-12_Ball_head.html
I wrote some thoughts about the RSH-12 here: http://photo.net/filters-bags-tripods-accessories-forum/00V5Iv
Legs... well, it's a matter of budget, and of preference. 3 section or 4? Flip locks or twist locks? Carbon or Alu? One of the things that pushed me to the manfrotto 441 was a dislike of twist-locks (which came from trying to use a cheap garbage Cullmann tripod), so I limited myself to flip-lock legsets. In retrospect, having now used a few good twist-lock legs (my father has two Gitzos for example), I regret that decision. A good twist-lock is fine and actually probably better.
Ultimately as a very solid "budget" choice I'd go with this combo: http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RSF-284M___RSH-12_Ball_Head.html#nogo
If you want to spend more then there's any number of ways to do so. A lot of companies make very high-quality kit but like hifi you'll get into the realms of design philosophy (eg Acratech) and personalities (eg I won't buy anything from RRS because of their support for california's Prop 8).
Edit: Forgot to mention, within the Arca-swiss style system, there are specific camera plates, lens plates, lens foot replacements, etc. Some are very expensive (eg Kirk L-brackets run north of £150 each). There are perfectly good plates available on ebay, for example this one I've recently bought for my 5D3: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=151620148039
I hung around forums that persuaded me years ago that to become a "proper" photographer I needed to use a tripod all the time and it had to be this that and the other. I spent over £600 on a manfrotto 441 carbon legset, Markins M10 head, etc.
I've used it a handful of times - I just don't want to use a tripod for the vast majority of photo work that I do. Of course it's useful occasionally, but wasn't worth spending what I did.
Additionally, the manfrotto 441 has a terrible design flaw, with the legs held to the top section by an expanding collar made from cast magnesium. One cracked under reasonable normal use (repaired under warranty, but very poor design, wrong choice of material for that use).
So, what I'd recommend...
Definitely get something that uses the Arca-swiss style dovetail clamp. There's now a good number of cheaper chinese made heads that do and these are perfectly adequate for most people most of the time. The Redsnapper RSH-12 is a good example of this: http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RSH-12_Ball_head.html
I wrote some thoughts about the RSH-12 here: http://photo.net/filters-bags-tripods-accessories-forum/00V5Iv
Legs... well, it's a matter of budget, and of preference. 3 section or 4? Flip locks or twist locks? Carbon or Alu? One of the things that pushed me to the manfrotto 441 was a dislike of twist-locks (which came from trying to use a cheap garbage Cullmann tripod), so I limited myself to flip-lock legsets. In retrospect, having now used a few good twist-lock legs (my father has two Gitzos for example), I regret that decision. A good twist-lock is fine and actually probably better.
Ultimately as a very solid "budget" choice I'd go with this combo: http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RSF-284M___RSH-12_Ball_Head.html#nogo
If you want to spend more then there's any number of ways to do so. A lot of companies make very high-quality kit but like hifi you'll get into the realms of design philosophy (eg Acratech) and personalities (eg I won't buy anything from RRS because of their support for california's Prop 8).
Edit: Forgot to mention, within the Arca-swiss style system, there are specific camera plates, lens plates, lens foot replacements, etc. Some are very expensive (eg Kirk L-brackets run north of £150 each). There are perfectly good plates available on ebay, for example this one I've recently bought for my 5D3: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=151620148039
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JemHayward
pfm Member
I carried the bulky and heavy Benbo "trekker" around the orthern Saharan mountains for two weeks, nearly trashed my leg falling on it whilst crossing a river in spate (yes, I brought the first rain in 4 years to the Sahara) and maybe used it half dozen times, but one time was taking 20minute star trails, so it was indispensable, but now it just gets used at home or close to the car. I now use a Sirui tripos that packs down to about 12" in length, and can fit in a coat pocket, and is stable enough for my Fujis, and almost tall enough for me to stand and take photos (not quite, I'm 5' 10"). Can't say I use it that much even though its portable.
martin clark
pinko bodger
I've a Manfrotto Pixi.
It's truly all I need, and with a 10-stop ND filter and my X100, makes for a system that fits in jacket pockets or my everyday satchel. That's it.
It's truly all I need, and with a 10-stop ND filter and my X100, makes for a system that fits in jacket pockets or my everyday satchel. That's it.
Vinyl Giraffe
pfm Member
It really depends on the use. If you're going to use it for studio work, size and weight don't really matter, and you could pick up some old school bogen/manfrotto legs with a good arca compatible ball head and call it a day. However, if you're traveling, I think the extra outlay for the carbon legs is worth it.
When I was in college, I did a fair amount of photography for the yearbook (b&w negative) and development office (transparencies). The school had these bogen tripods that weighed a ton and were tough to set up. Good for the studio, but awful for taking with you. I bought myself a Slik u212, which was light enough and stable enough to actually take with me.
Sort of like cameras, the best one is the one you take with you.
When I was in college, I did a fair amount of photography for the yearbook (b&w negative) and development office (transparencies). The school had these bogen tripods that weighed a ton and were tough to set up. Good for the studio, but awful for taking with you. I bought myself a Slik u212, which was light enough and stable enough to actually take with me.
Sort of like cameras, the best one is the one you take with you.
Vinyl Giraffe
pfm Member
Forgot to mention, now I use Velbon carbon legs with a compact Gitzo ball head. Never any problems, and light enough to pack!
Rico
Bloody Colonials
Here's Thom's primer on Tripods. http://bythom.com/support.htm
Wish I'd found it before I bought my first - a Manfrotto 190 Pro-B. I now also have an 055 Pro-b and a couple of heads.
I'm working my way along his path!
Read his thing, move directly to go and save many $$!
Wish I'd found it before I bought my first - a Manfrotto 190 Pro-B. I now also have an 055 Pro-b and a couple of heads.
I'm working my way along his path!
Read his thing, move directly to go and save many $$!
Jonathan
pfm Member
sounds like you're looking for a mini -ish tripod? in my forty or so years in a professional capacity (okay only 15 of those in a professional capacity but nearly forty otherwise) the best small tripod i ever used was a manfrotto 055 - super flexible and strong as heck. Get the super 3D head with it which is wild but strong. Should be cheap cheap cheap too. for bigger tripods I like FOBA and Gitzos. Oh - and if you find an 055 make sure to get the earlier models. MUCH more reliable than the newer ones.
eternumviti
Insufficient privileges to reply.
i-s mentioned Redsnapper at some length. I use one of their older models, an RS-284 I think, now superceded by the lighter version to which i-s linked.
The old 284 isn't light, but it is solid and strong, well made, and suits my purposes. I tend to mount my camera (a Nikon DSLR with a fairly hefty lens) on it and leave it there, carrying the whole lot on my shoulder. I have a Bren gun somewhere, which is very considerably heavier, and when I think of the distances and conditions through which their operators used to lug them, I feel that on balance carrying the tripod/camera combo does me little harm, and probably no amount of good...
Redsnapper are not expensive at all, and a terrific entry into tripods. They used to run promotions on the talkphotography forum.
The old 284 isn't light, but it is solid and strong, well made, and suits my purposes. I tend to mount my camera (a Nikon DSLR with a fairly hefty lens) on it and leave it there, carrying the whole lot on my shoulder. I have a Bren gun somewhere, which is very considerably heavier, and when I think of the distances and conditions through which their operators used to lug them, I feel that on balance carrying the tripod/camera combo does me little harm, and probably no amount of good...
Redsnapper are not expensive at all, and a terrific entry into tripods. They used to run promotions on the talkphotography forum.