Which tripod?

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alirat

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Mike
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Hi, I'm looking for a decent tripod, I'm hoping to do a lot of landscape photography, so that means a lot of walking, so something small, light and fairly inexpensive, but able to carry a lot of weight.. Any ideas, and of course the best place to get one from, i would even settle for a decent second hand one, if any ones are available...

Many thanks..
 
Whats your budget roughly? Ive heard good things about manfrotto tripods on here, think you can pick one of their 'cheap' ones up for around £70...
 
Moon on a stick i'm afraid especially if you want stable too
 
Have you taken a look at the MeFoto range of tripods. I have done alot of research and these seem to be coming out with the best reviews.
 
You can only really chose two of these three features - cheap/light/stable

As others said, look at second hand Gitzo/Feisol/Manfrotto carbon fibre tripods. I have used my Feisol carbon fibre tripod for years, it was worth the money. Its light and easy to travel with. :)
 
I had more or less the same requirements when I was hunting for a new tripod. I've just taken delivery of a Redsnapper 284 and RH-61 Ball Head. I can honestly say they're superbly built, much better than I was expecting! Do a quick forum search, I've only ever heard positivity regarding Redsnapper.

For £80-90 delivered it's an absolute steal.
 
Hi, got myself a redsnapper exactly like Danny and the service was first class. Arrived within a day and at under £90 including delivery + lovely case better than most more expensive ones this is worth looking at. Only downside a little heavy but not really a problem because the quality counts. Can't fault it really
 
alirat said:
Hi, I'm looking for a decent tripod, ... something small, light and fairly inexpensive, but able to carry a lot of weight...
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I'm not sure those five qualities are to be found in one tripod!

I'd recommend a read of this article: link ... and a bit of a think about your priorities. It sound as though you'd appreciate the weight saving of carbon fibre, but that bumps up the cost. Then, personally, I'd go for 'decent' rather than 'fairly inexpensive' as your investment is likely to last a bit longer.

Second hand is a good idea ... and there's a decent sturdy Manfrotto 055XPROB for sale in the classifieds at the moment, but I wouldn't want to carry it too far. Somewhere else to look will be the used equipment sales of Ffordes, MPB and others.

Sorry not to be able to give you any direct pointers, but good luck with your search.
 
alirat said:
Hi, I'm looking for a decent tripod, I'm hoping to do a lot of landscape photography, so that means a lot of walking, so something small, light and fairly inexpensive, but able to carry a lot of weight.. Any ideas, and of course the best place to get one from, i would even settle for a decent second hand one, if any ones are available...

Many thanks..
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to be smart but your wants are what make most tripods very expensive. Second hand may be you best option.
 
And dont forget when you're looking at tripod prices, you'll need to add on another £40 or so for a head to go with it. Maybe more than that.

One of the lightest I came across when I was searching for one was the manfrotto 190CX Q90. about 1.3kg plus weight of head. Cost about £230 plus head.

Also what type of head do you want? Pan and tilt, ball head or trigger grip.
 
Gee, people,

I see that I have a lot of options open to me (except for the classified's as I'm completely new to TP so I have to wait my 60 days), and a lot more research into how and what I need, (and to be truthful, time to save more cash!). I didn't know that there would be so many choices and it's good to hear so many recommenations.

But what a great response from a little question, I'm really glad I asked.. THANK YOU all!!
 
Useful thread as I am looking to buy a nice Tripod. Redsnapper looks very interesting!
 
I too am after a tripod and am steering towards Redsnapper after all the good reviews.
Just need to decide on which head to get, confused by all the different ones!
 
I've owned a lot of tripods over the years to include several CF models (some Gitzos).

While CF is lighter for a given weight capacity, that is a "compression strength" and does not equate directly to "rigidity." CF tends to transfer more vibrations more easily, and has lower torsional rigidity than aluminum does for the same weight rating.
The result is that in order to get the same rigidity from CF you have to get a heavier model rated for more weight than you do with aluminum. Additionally, CF is a resin/fiber product and as such is more prone to decay/damage over time than aluminum is.
The main advantage of CF is cold weather use IMO. The added expense of CF may not be worth it.
 
Hello again ... a professional photographer of my acquaintance has published some advice about choosing a tripod and head: link.

On his site (link) you'll find a number of tutorials (link) and other material. You can also link to his blog or sign up for this monthly "Photo Writing". All this from South Africa!
 
Just get something strong and stable and in your price range, lets face facts, walking with a tripod is the same decision to make whether it's wrought iron or carbon fibre. If your not carrying it around all day it won't matter, but when you stop to take a shot and it's bending all over the place, you'll be rightly annoyed.
 
Many, many thanks to one and all, I think I'm looking at a redsnapper,
I'm really glad of all the useful info and the links, and it looks like we have helped others as well..

I will certainly be asking more questions on TP when i get to them, and eventually I hope to be helping others as well...... Thanks again everyone..

Mike.
 
PickleB said:
Hello again ... a professional photographer of my acquaintance has published some advice about choosing a tripod and head: link...
Click to expand...

Emil recommends the Vanguard Alta series (among others). Today I see that Wex Photography (and maybe others) are running offers on Vanguard tripods: link. Vanguard's site is here: link.
 
danny_bhoy said:
I had more or less the same requirements when I was hunting for a new tripod. I've just taken delivery of a Redsnapper 284 and RH-61 Ball Head. I can honestly say they're superbly built, much better than I was expecting! Do a quick forum search, I've only ever heard positivity regarding Redsnapper.

For £80-90 delivered it's an absolute steal.
Click to expand...


This ^^^^^ stunning value
 
Confucius he say, girl who go tripod shopping with 6 men come home with red snapper
 
I have the manfrotto 055xprob ally version. It's a piece of ****. I've got the 3 way head which is also junk. Stay away from manfrotto.
 
PickleB said:
Emil recommends the Vanguard Alta series (among others). Today I see that Wex Photography (and maybe others) are running offers on Vanguard tripods: link. Vanguard's site is here: link.
Click to expand...

I have a vanguard alta pro 284ct with the sbh100 ballhead. Came in a bundle called the 284cb. I got it from Amazon.com, £270 all in inc shipping and import fees (paid up front to amazon). Very happy with it, it's really versatile and easy to adjust which is what I wanted.
 
Lyonspride said:
Now that everyone has put down some fair opinions, I have the RedSnapper RSF-284 with the RSH-12 ball head, as mentioned in some of my first ever posts on these forums:

www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=5484149

Note there's a discount code for RedSnapper.
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Just bought Redsnapper 3 section legs, solid, great price, can get down low, really good carry case,discount if you go thro website quote RED10. Impressed with this for price

Mal
 
...or you could get really fit and weight won't be a problem. :)

I've heard good things about Redsnapper, not just at TP.

I'm still using a Slik tripod I bought in the early eighties. Good ones last for years. You're unlikely to have to buy another, so pay the most you can for the one with the features you need.
 
Bought a manfrotto from Comet for £40 last month. Very pleased with it and you'd have to spend twice as much to get something maybe only 10% better, imo.
 
alirat said:
Hi, I'm looking for a decent tripod, I'm hoping to do a lot of landscape photography, so that means a lot of walking, so something small, light and fairly inexpensive, but able to carry a lot of weight.. Any ideas, and of course the best place to get one from, i would even settle for a decent second hand one, if any ones are available...

Many thanks..
Click to expand...
I've got a vanguard Altra plus 263AP very sturdy really impressed with it £26 on ebay but then it was pick up only which kept the price down, i think they are £112 on amazon
 
DorsetDude said:
And dont forget when you're looking at tripod prices, you'll need to add on another £40 or so for a head to go with it. Maybe more than that.

One of the lightest I came across when I was searching for one was the manfrotto 190CX Q90. about 1.3kg plus weight of head. Cost about £230 plus head.

Also what type of head do you want? Pan and tilt, ball head or trigger grip.
Click to expand...

I use the exact same tripod- (Manfrotto 190Cx CF Tripod-3S 498RC2 Ball Head) not cheap, but oh so stable even in high winds- plus being Carbon Fibre its light too, but expensive to boot


Les (y)
 
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