mrjames
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This post is quite long, and I will punctuate it with some pictures!
I was looking for a new tripod to replace one that was lost, a very lightweight (1.5kg with head) but quite flimsy giottos vitruvian- i'm a big fan of light weight, i'm a big fan of reverse folding tripods, and i'm a big fan of saving money- so I looked to the chinese tripods to see what was out there- my vitruvian with the head was only around £130. I upgraded to a kirk bh3 head I bought from the forums which I really loved.
I looked at the benro travel angel series (carbon fiber and aluminum), fotopro mgc and mga, feisol 3441t, sirui, trioppo, and just needed to get physical with something as I was reading way too many reviews and seeing as none of this stuff is stocked anywhere I and to order online and be prepared to return anything I didn't want.
I obtained a benro 1680 from ebay, second hand but immaculate, it was light, quite sturdy with the 5d and prime lenses, but not tall enough for studio work (smaller than the vitruvian but sturdier), and not strong enough for the 1d and zoom lenses (although the problem was mainly the head)- so I looked into something that was taller and i'd get a better head that wouldn't slip when loaded to the max. I deciding to go with 2 tripods (1 small, one larger- but both still relatively light and reverse folding) as my benro fits in my satchel and is very small when folded up, so keep the small benro and look for a second tripod capable for use with the 1d and 70-200 (but for now no larger than that) for use in the studio, and on location
I bought a fotopro mga684 aluminum tripod with ball head (£113), and a benro a2682 aluminum tripod with a b1 head (£200) and looked at a few others which I think I will order to try out after xmas
Below is a quick summary on my thoughts, and then some questions afterwards- to cut to the chase I'm not sure about either tripod- both are great, but both also have set backs, and to fix them I would need to spend a lot more money to get a noticeably different experience, a small amount of money would fix one or two minor issues- the question is do I spend more or live with what I already have.
I was looking for a new tripod to replace one that was lost, a very lightweight (1.5kg with head) but quite flimsy giottos vitruvian- i'm a big fan of light weight, i'm a big fan of reverse folding tripods, and i'm a big fan of saving money- so I looked to the chinese tripods to see what was out there- my vitruvian with the head was only around £130. I upgraded to a kirk bh3 head I bought from the forums which I really loved.
I looked at the benro travel angel series (carbon fiber and aluminum), fotopro mgc and mga, feisol 3441t, sirui, trioppo, and just needed to get physical with something as I was reading way too many reviews and seeing as none of this stuff is stocked anywhere I and to order online and be prepared to return anything I didn't want.
I obtained a benro 1680 from ebay, second hand but immaculate, it was light, quite sturdy with the 5d and prime lenses, but not tall enough for studio work (smaller than the vitruvian but sturdier), and not strong enough for the 1d and zoom lenses (although the problem was mainly the head)- so I looked into something that was taller and i'd get a better head that wouldn't slip when loaded to the max. I deciding to go with 2 tripods (1 small, one larger- but both still relatively light and reverse folding) as my benro fits in my satchel and is very small when folded up, so keep the small benro and look for a second tripod capable for use with the 1d and 70-200 (but for now no larger than that) for use in the studio, and on location
I bought a fotopro mga684 aluminum tripod with ball head (£113), and a benro a2682 aluminum tripod with a b1 head (£200) and looked at a few others which I think I will order to try out after xmas
Below is a quick summary on my thoughts, and then some questions afterwards- to cut to the chase I'm not sure about either tripod- both are great, but both also have set backs, and to fix them I would need to spend a lot more money to get a noticeably different experience, a small amount of money would fix one or two minor issues- the question is do I spend more or live with what I already have.