How to pick a tripod?

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nricciar

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I am about to go on a trip to europe this summer, and I do a lot of hiking, and have been looking for a tripod that is not only a good tripod, but somthing that is excelent for travel (light and small), enough to support my Rebel XT & Kit lense (gotta have room to expand here though), and still is slightly affordable. I have taken a trip down to the Wolf Camera, but the tripods they had were all pretty flimsy. I have searched around here, and found some very good links, but the information overflow is kicking in. Am I just delusional to hope I can get somthing good for under $200?)
 
Here's one extreme view:
http://www.bythom.com/support.htm

A friend of mine had a Calumet ball head that he picked up for $50, he seemed to like it but it had some creep with heavier lenses. You can get that and a pair of legs for ~$150 and be within your budget.
 
Instead of staring a new thread, what about for smaller cameras without all the extras?

I have a SP-500UZ without IS... I'm looking to get a tripod in a while for an affordable price.. but I think some of those are a little TOO heavy duty for what I need for the next few years...
 
KodiakStar said:
Instead of staring a new thread, what about for smaller cameras without all the extras?

I have a SP-500UZ without IS... I'm looking to get a tripod in a while for an affordable price.. but I think some of those are a little TOO heavy duty for what I need for the next few years...
Click to expand...
Then try a Slik which I use for the P&Ss'. Or lighter Cameras. It works with my D50 as, well but, only with the legs unextended or, extended 1 set of 3.
If you are into hiking, then look at monopods. As they can double as, a walking stick. You could get a tripod as, well but, having the camera mounted on the mono, will get you shots quickly if needed. Once you practice with it a bit, you can get really stable.
 
If you are using a tripod and want to take a picture of yourself you
can always hang your backpack on the tripod to keep it from tipping
over. I don't mean from the head area, as this might overload the
legs, but attached on the lower part of one leg.

Also, I reccomend a 'Polarizing'/'Polarizer' filter. It is always a good
idea to have something on the front of the lens to protect the lens,
and a polarizer will deepen the colors in many sunlit conditions
but may not be the best solution indoors.

As a cameraman for over twenty years I can assure you that nothing
messes up the day like having the tripod blown over with a camera
perched on top. Once I was on the beach during a hurricane and
should never have let go of the rig, but in the other case, the leg
lock failed and the camera was toast. Not as much of an issue with
a still camera, unless you have a long lens on top, but something
to remember.

Good luck and enjoy the trip.

klaatu51
 
My Fiance and I traveled with a Slik Sprint Pro Tripod. To see a picture of size relative to my scrawny butt, check out clicky clicky link.

The ball head in this kit is not terrific, but it is enough. Her Rebel T2 with kit lens was no problem (roughly same size/weight as your Rebel kit). My Elan 7 with battery grip and 70-200 f/2.8L was a bit heavy; you had to set it and let it settle for a couple of seconds before using the remote shutter release, but the results were fine. We got this tripod so we wouldn't have to cart around my bigass Manfrotto. For convenience switching between 3 cameras and 1 lens tripod mount, we put a manfrotto quick-release adaptor right onto the slik ball head (so we didn't need any new plates or anything). That's why the tripod looks so bulky on top.

Total cost: $120ish Cdn. Another alternative is you could get a cheapy aluminum one for less that'll work, but don't expect it to last forever or be as steady; this will last a bit longer. ;)

Pros: small, lightweight, good construction, sturdy for its size (for extra sturdy, hang the cam bag from it, but we didn't really need to), not near the price of a carbon-fiber rig.

Cons: used to my manfrotto gear so it seems a bit flimsy, ball head is small so not as steady as my manfrotto head (but workable), makes you a target for others asking you to take their pictures ( :D see the above linked photo).
 
PS-RagE said:
Light, small, sturdy, inexpensive. These words cannot all fit into a sentence that describes a tripod.
Click to expand...

Sure you can..

"The Slik Professional tripod is light, small, and sturdy, but it sure isn't inexpensive" ;)
 
sulfur_lad said:
My Fiance and I traveled with a Slik Sprint Pro Tripod. To see a picture of size relative to my scrawny butt, check out clicky clicky link.

The ball head in this kit is not terrific, but it is enough. Her Rebel T2 with kit lens was no problem (roughly same size/weight as your Rebel kit). My Elan 7 with battery grip and 70-200 f/2.8L was a bit heavy; you had to set it and let it settle for a couple of seconds before using the remote shutter release, but the results were fine. We got this tripod so we wouldn't have to cart around my bigass Manfrotto. For convenience switching between 3 cameras and 1 lens tripod mount, we put a manfrotto quick-release adaptor right onto the slik ball head (so we didn't need any new plates or anything). That's why the tripod looks so bulky on top.

Total cost: $120ish Cdn. Another alternative is you could get a cheapy aluminum one for less that'll work, but don't expect it to last forever or be as steady; this will last a bit longer. ;)

Pros: small, lightweight, good construction, sturdy for its size (for extra sturdy, hang the cam bag from it, but we didn't really need to), not near the price of a carbon-fiber rig.

Cons: used to my manfrotto gear so it seems a bit flimsy, ball head is small so not as steady as my manfrotto head (but workable), makes you a target for others asking you to take their pictures ( :D see the above linked photo).
Click to expand...

Where did you purchase your tripod? I'm looking for Canadian online retailors for a tripod like that one and haven't found any good sites.
 
I use the Manfrotto 3021, it seems very popular. To tell you how much I like it, I lost one (its gotta be here somewhere in my house but damn if I can find it!) and wound up ordering the 3021PRO from B&H to replace it. Can always use a second tripod if the first one shows up, and if not, I got a minor upgrade of an awesome tripod.

Sam
 
yeah, vistek can be pricier, unless you used to work for one of the store managers... :D The camera store tends to have a bit better price than other stores on camera gear if you're in Calgary. It never hurts to pop into www.vintagevisuals.com too, just to see what they've got at any one moment. There's generally a lot more in the store than they post on their site, however. That's where I got my 70-200 f/2.8 :)

Kadath, I hear ya about the Manfrotto: great stuff!
 
Are you sure you need a tri-pod? How about using a beanbag? I used to think I needed to bring my tri-pod with me everywhere I went becuase I loved the pictures I could get using it.

Not anymore though. Now I just bring a beanbag and get creative where I place my camera. I've yet to wish I brought my tripod. There's always something around that I can set the beanbag on to get the shot.

Edit: changed "brought my camera" to "brought my tripod"
 
I can see an argument for that, but tripod eliminates the need to look for something to put it on. In addition, If you have a big enough camera the bean bag solution will also break down pretty quickly. (e.g., extremes: you'd need a bean bag chair to hold up a 1ds mkii with a EF 600mm f/4L IS and a 2x extender) There was no way we would have been able to find something to prop our gear on to do long exposures of a fountain in Rome at night and still compose the shots we wanted.

As I mentioned, even the Slik we're talking about here was getting on the flimsy side when we had heavier gear on it. (elan7, battery grip, and 70-200 f/2.8) When travelling, you do have to measure what you want against weight, and still it was perfectly fine in the long run.

Dollar for dollar, an inexpensive tripod is still probably the biggest single improvement you can make to your pictures per $. For my p/s, I just have a 6-inch plastic tripod that I bring everywhere; 8 bucks at MEC and I've never found anything as good for the money. :)
 
Yeah I ordered one of those little ones to put in to camera bag as well, a bean bag certainly wouldn’t work for the shots that I like doing (panoramic, night, and long exposure), and for getting those creative shots I’ll have my new mini tripod to go with the bigger one. Just wish it would arrive already everything else came but the tripod =/. Once it arrives I need to find a way to mount the tripod to my camera bag, a Lowepro Nova 2. As I usually try to hike or bike to where ever I’m taking pictures and having to carry the tripod in one hand and a bike in another doesn’t seem like a good idea.
 
In addition, If you have a big enough camera the bean bag solution will also break down pretty quickly. (e.g., extremes: you'd need a bean bag chair to hold up a 1ds mkii with a EF 600mm f/4L IS and a 2x extender)
Click to expand...

This is a true statment but the org. post was looking for a cheap tripod which wouldn't support that rig anyways. I'm just saying for the money a bean bag make as great "tripod" Also the orginal poster was looking for something light and without going carbon fiber any tripod worth anything isn't going to be that light.

I have a Bogen 3001BPRO w/488RC2 and love it but I wouldn't want to take it on a hike with all my other gear. To me it's worth not carrying my 3001 for the little bit of looking around I have to do to set the bean bag on.
 
Doc Holiday said:
This is a true statment but the org. post was looking for a cheap tripod which wouldn't support that rig anyways. I'm just saying for the money a bean bag make as great "tripod" Also the orginal poster was looking for something light and without going carbon fiber any tripod worth anything isn't going to be that light.

I have a Bogen 3001BPRO w/488RC2 and love it but I wouldn't want to take it on a hike with all my other gear. To me it's worth not carrying my 3001 for the little bit of looking around I have to do to set the bean bag on.
Click to expand...

don't worry, I'm not knocking your advice. :) The bean bag solution is perfectly sound, and it's the same reason most people don't always carry that described huge rig around. For example, I always carry at least a p/s around with me, even on the train to work: if a good photo-op pops up, I don't miss it! :)
 
sulfur_lad said:
don't worry, I'm not knocking your advice. :) The bean bag solution is perfectly sound, and it's the same reason most people don't always carry that described huge rig around. For example, I always carry at least a p/s around with me, even on the train to work: if a good photo-op pops up, I don't miss it! :)
Click to expand...

Yep I love my SD20 for the same reason. It's always with me.
 
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