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Author Topic: Triopd Help  (Read 3403 times)

htony

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Triopd Help
« on: November 26, 2007, 03:08:44 pm »

I am going to ask for a tripod for Christmas.  I shoot mostly landscape/nature stuff so can anyone help with a suggestion.  $150 tops

thanks
Brian
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richardb

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Triopd Help
« Reply #1 on: November 26, 2007, 03:25:17 pm »

One of my early tripods was a Manfrotto (Bogen) 190, I only replaced it when I moved up to Gitzo carbon fibre. The 190XPROB legs are within your budget but they don't come with a head. Try and get someone else to buy you a good ball head for Christmas or stretch the budget and buy the legs in a kit with a ballhead.
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Richard Berry Photography
Canmore, Alber

I CHNGE

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Triopd Help
« Reply #2 on: November 26, 2007, 03:29:49 pm »

You didn't specify if you were looking for a complete set (legs and head) and the price ceiling you have set will no doubt limit you to a selection containing limitations on quality and durability...

However...the link below is to B&H...their prices are competive...their selection is broad...and I set the search criteria to complete sets (legs and heads) with a price range from $80.00 on up.  That way you can scan through the 4 pages of products not only within your price limit but above it as well (they don't have a search criteria which stops at $150.00 so I selected 2 ranges= $80 to $124 and $124 on up)

Hope this helps

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...on=Submit+Query
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DarkPenguin

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Triopd Help
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2007, 10:14:26 am »

Quote
I am going to ask for a tripod for Christmas.  I shoot mostly landscape/nature stuff so can anyone help with a suggestion.  $150 tops

thanks
Brian
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=156171\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Slik 700DX

There are better things out there if you are willing to spend more but that one is nice.
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cescx

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Triopd Help
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2007, 01:55:24 pm »

I use two benro carbon (C-227 C-328) to backup my Gitzo's, is a solid tripod and the aluminim version cost aprox 150 with ballhead, in e-abay:

Benro A-228


Ball head benro KS-2

The manufacturer web site:

Benro web site
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Francesc Costa

srpirolt

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Triopd Help
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2007, 05:08:34 pm »

Although you didn’t specify what camera you are using, I am assuming you are looking for an entry level tripod for an SLR or smaller camera.

For the price, I second the recommendation for the Slick 700-DX ($130 at B&H)

However, if you could afford a little bit more, you can get the much better Bogen / Manfrotto 190XB Legs and 804RC2 head combination ($194 at B&H).

If you are a fairly serious about photography and you are using a SLR camera, I would highly recommend the Bogen / Manfrotto 3221 Legs and 804RC2 head  ($254 at B&H)
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Bill in WV

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Triopd Help
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2007, 02:08:19 am »

A couple weeks ago or so, I posted this epistle about my experience with tripods down in the Beginners Forum, I thought it might be worth repeating here even if it is a bit long:

Some time ago, I read an essay relating to the cost of the tripod we eventually wind up with. Within the past year, I have replaced a "Chinese" Promaster tripod with which I had become quite fond, except it wasn't really tall enough and the Manfrotto 486RC2 head didn't have a separate pan lock. Used that for about 2 years, total cost, roughly $165.

The pan lock thing started to bug me so back to the store and while settling on a Manfrotto 488RC2 head I noticed the 3021 was taller and solid as a rock! Just had a much better feel than the Promaster, and besides, my wife needed a new tripod, she still had a Wal-Mart special. For once I didn't have to tell her she needed a better tripod, the Wal-Mart special was able to do that on its own. Leg slippage can be quite telling of the fact that your tripod is JUNK. The Promaster was tall enough for her and she has no idea what a pan lock is for anyway. I found the 488RC2 head to be less expensive than I thought it would be, so the 3021 went home with me too.

This was a quantum leap in quality and usability and only set me back about $230 maybe more, I don't have the numbers handy. So now I'm somewhere over $500 in tripods and feel like I'm on top of the world. I don't have to bend over to use it, and Hurricane Katrina couldn't move it. Time to throw in a leveling head from Manfrotto, now it's fun to shoot panoramics and I'm in hog-heaven. Ok, it's a little heavy but I seldom work very far from my car, seems things become less photogenic the farther I have to walk to get to them. Now the trick is to remember to never get too far from the car, stay out of the big mountains out west, and last but not least, don't ever pick up another photographer's carbon legged tripod.

I just made all those mistakes a few weeks ago as I attended a workshop in Bishop, CA. Now I'm not exactly a flatlander, I'm from the mountains of West Virginia, but Eastern California has real mountains. Bishop is in a valley only 1000 feet below the highest point in WV and we spent most of our time well above Bishop in the 7,000 foot range and above.

My own extra weight, more than I want to admit, and a regimen of drugs that keeps my heart rate down, combined with the alitude, all came together to enhance my senses and I noticed that my tripod kept getting heavier and heavier. At the Bristlecone National Forest, well over 9,000 feet, I spent more time leaning on my tripod to support me than using it as a photo support. That's when I noticed every other person in that workshop had a carbon tripod with a weight probably a third of mine. So now it looks like another $500+ is about to be spent. and probably a new head to go with it, so figure another $375.

I've been a long time getting to the point, but if I hadn't been so miserly before, I would have bought the right one first and while it would have been expensive, the total would have been less than half of what it will have cost me to get there now. Hopefully, ebay may ease the sting a bit when I sell my old tripod.

A good tripod will last longer than anything else in your kit and you will only have to cry once. The end cost will be a lot less if you make the leap initially. I sure wish I had. Incidentally, the one I have now really could last me a lot longer, it is totally up to the task at hand, just don't ever pick up a carbon model and feel the real difference.

My apologies for a long post, but I hope you find it somewhat helpful.

Bill in WV
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Bill Evans
 Currently shooting with Canon
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