Tripods and heads

[situgrrl]

It's prooving more and more difficult to borrow my friend's tripod and i hate the thing I bought when I was 12!  She has a Manfrotto 055 with an 029 head.  I loathe pan/tilts because I'm always slacking off the wrong axis.  It also weighs more than I do!

A lot of people on here have been recommending Feisol tripods and I think I'm going to opt for the 3401.  I can't find a suitable head though.

Everyone seems to be recommending Arca/Markins/Kirk/Acratech/RRS heads but they are more than I can afford - I've a budget of around £120ish for the head.  

I've looked at options from Manfrotto and FLM but the choice is bewildering!  Call me stupid but I don't know what all the knobs do from a picture online.  Can anyone perhaps recommend a shop in London where I can go try out a bunch of heads and come back with the most suitable?

I want to start shooting some proper panoramas and would therefore like a head that works well with such accessories screwed to it.

My system is based around a 30D and at the moment my longest lens is a  24-135 - though it's dark so I don't use it too often.  I will likely acquire a 70-200 2.8 but won't need support for more than that any time soon.

Thanks
Charly

[cescx]

It's prooving more and more difficult to borrow my friend's tripod and i hate the thing I bought when I was 12!  She has a Manfrotto 055 with an 029 head.  I loathe pan/tilts because I'm always slacking off the wrong axis.  It also weighs more than I do!

A lot of people on here have been recommending Feisol tripods and I think I'm going to opt for the 3401.  I can't find a suitable head though.

Everyone seems to be recommending Arca/Markins/Kirk/Acratech/RRS heads but they are more than I can afford - I've a budget of around £120ish for the head. 

I've looked at options from Manfrotto and FLM but the choice is bewildering!  Call me stupid but I don't know what all the knobs do from a picture online.  Can anyone perhaps recommend a shop in London where I can go try out a bunch of heads and come back with the most suitable?

I want to start shooting some proper panoramas and would therefore like a head that works well with such accessories screwed to it.

My system is based around a 30D and at the moment my longest lens is a  24-135 - though it's dark so I don't use it too often.  I will likely acquire a 70-200 2.8 but won't need support for more than that any time soon.

Thanks
Charly
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Hi...

Essay the benro tripods, like Gitzo and heads like arca...
I purchased 2 units and work super fine. (128 and 228)
[a href=\"http://www.benro.cn]Benro tripods[/url]
To purchase, and price list, in e-bay.com.

[situgrrl]

Thanks for that.  The prices seem almost too good to be true.  Does anyone know the difference between the KB and KV series, besides the finish?

[DarkPenguin]

Have you considered the feisol tripod heads?   I hear they are nice but that is a pretty limited sample and I have no experience with them.

[Geoff Wittig]

What's your subject matter? I used an inexpensive Manfrotto 3047 pan/tilt head with hexagonal quick release plates for years with good results, shooting mostly landscapes. The current 3039 is basically identical, going for $189 (U.S.). I think  this falls within your limit, if I have my dollars/pounds sterling right. It wouldn't be so good for wildlife, but it's rock-solid and supports anything up to 20 lbs.
Ballheads are surely more convenient, but you definitely get what you pay for in this area. For about $300 (somewhere around £200) you can get a good ball head with standard Arca-Swiss style quick release from Kirk Photo. Manfrotto has many ballheads, but for reasons I cannot fathom they all come with proprietary, oddly shaped quick release plates that don't standardize with anything.

[cescx]

Thanks for that.  The prices seem almost too good to be true.  Does anyone know the difference between the KB and KV series, besides the finish?
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The KB series is more strong, and adds a plus, the locking knob and the drag adjustment are separate to more control.

[situgrrl]

Thanks for your input everyone.

the tripod will be used mainly for long exposure stuff.  Subjects in mind at the moment include the Cornish coastline and cityscapes.  It will also be used in the studio for portraiture though I rarely mount my camera for this.

The Manfrotto head is out of the question, it's similar to the 029 on Sarah's legs and aside from being hugely heavy, I find it frustrating to work with - though I agree, you can be sure it will steadily support anything you can bolt to it.

I've looked at the Feisol heads now - they look okay but are very expensive next to the benro ones and aren't arca compatible - though I've no idea what the big deal is about this!  Having done some reading on kenrockwell.com it appears Benro have wholesale ripped of Gitzo legs and Arca heads - so I think I'll decide what I want on the European sites before ordering from China!