Advice on a new Tripod, Rain cover and long exposures

[DropDead]

Hey,

I'm looking to buy a new tripod for my long exposure work, i've got a cheap tripod and its rubbish.. I hate it but its all I got and its so fustrating to work with! So i'm looking to invest in a new Tripod or a secondhand one.. I've got a £100 budget for a tripod, i've seen the Jessops Carbon Fibre one which I can get for cheaper then £100 as I work in Jessops but I don't know if it'll actually be any good or not.. I don't mind going secondhand as you can't really go wrong with a tripod.. right? So any advice on what ones will be good and sturdy?

I'm also looking for a rain cover for my camera, I went to an abandoned building last night to shoot the South Circular and it was raining so all my shots either have rain drops or are blurry because of having to clean the rain off the lens all the time, so any advice on a rain cover? I was looking on ebay and they're quite cheap but is there a reason why they're so cheap? Or all covers pretty much the same.

Also I know this is the wrong section for this type of question but i'll throw it out there anyway, when im shooting long exposures I set my camera ISO 100, F/22 and a remote release expecting the image to be in focus and sharp but it's not... I don't understand why.. It could actually just be the fact of using a dirt cheap ****** tripod..

Check this photo and you might see what I mean;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jake-lewis/6548552723/in/photostream/lightbox/

 

[gridlock]

f22 is too small an aperture. You'll get diffraction problems above f11-ish. (see examples here http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/diffraction.htm). Using an ND filter and a larger aperture will solve the problem.

Your rubbish tripod is probably playing a part too

 

[DropDead]

Ah, that link is quite a good read! Thanks!

 

[Tringa]

Have a look at Red Snapper for tripods

I use a RS 324. Not the lightest of tripods, but not that heavy either and very sturdy.

Dave

 

[DropDead]

Ah I see now, so instead of shooting at F/22 I should shoot at about f/8 or less, it sort of makes sense now. I'm going to go and try a few long exposures tonight and see what comes about from it using a larger aperture, cheers Grid!

Going to have to write up a list of thing I need to get! Seeing as I can't have the aperture so small now guess i'm going to need some ND filters to bring out the longer exposures

 

[DropDead]

Have a look at Red Snapper for tripods

I use a RS 324. Not the lightest of tripods, but not that heavy either and very sturdy.

Dave

Ah cheers! they've got it on offer at the moment as well which is awesome!

I forgot to add that i'm looking for a tripod that will be good for when its windy because I find that an issue allot of the time as well...

But that Redsnapper looks brill!