just spend once

M

milto

Messages
128
Name
keith
Edit My Images
Yes
as a newbie i require a tripod and a head iwould like a carbon tripod but have no idea what to buy can stretch a good few quid but dont want to be over stretched would like your thoughts please
 
Define "a good few quid".
 
I take it you're single?
 
no youre kidding
i have just put all my olympus gear upfor sale
going canon all out and need tripod with head also looking for a canon body
i inherited a 1d mk3 with some lenses but its an awful lot of camera for a newbie like me
 
A couple of points,

What height are you,
do you really need carbon,
do you need an extended arm and what is the heaviest lens you will be using on the 1DIII?
 
six one
yes i think i would like carbon
i have no idea of heads
have a 70-200 L lens
sigma 50-500
however i shall be getting a 500 L lens
so the tripod and head have to bear that in mind

thanks for taking an interest
 
I would suggest the Manfrotto 055 carbon legs here and the head is a personal thing so that woyld be down to you.

If you really wanted to splash out Gitzo have excellent gear but are very expensive. :eek:
 
milto said:
upto 5-600
Click to expand...

That's Gitzo territory, which can only be a good thing. If you want a big brand name, then that's the one, but there are a number of Chinese Gitzo clones about that appear to be every bit as good for half the price.

I use Benro, which is excellent, but I also rate Feisol and Triopo highly. Receommend Benro dealer here, massive range, excellent price http://stores.ebay.com/DCs-Photography-Store If it's any help, I have a Benro C-257 (similar size to a Manfrotto 055) and a J-2 ball head which suits the equipment listed left very well, but there are lots of options.

Choice of head is very important, it's the main user-interface. Most folks go a for ball head. Markins, PhotoClam, Really Right Stuff, Arca-Swiss, or one of the Arca-swiss clones like my Benro.

You won't find any of this stuff in your average high street dealer, and some of it is import only.

Edit: just seen your post re a 500L. That's pushing it a bit on a typical M'frotto 055 size tripod, and you should really look at a gimbal head for that.
 
Last edited:
I recently bought a Benro C1680T tripod mainly as a lightweight to pack in luggage and perhaps to drag around town. My Manfrotto 055 (aluminium) is a great tripod but makes me weary.

Yesterday I experimented putting a 7D with a 400 5.6L on the Benro. I used an Acratech ball-head with a Wimberley Sidekick gimbal.
Having previously used this combo on the much heavier 055 I was sceptical about the lighter Benro.
I was surprised that once getting the whole thing balanced, the Benro was delightful to use.
 
Last edited:
You will need a Gitzo 3 series tripod at least, and a Jobu Blackwidow Gimbal head for the 500mm.

That lot will set you back around £800

There is always the cheaper "ignore copyright reverse engineered" Chinese knockoffs, which on the outside appear the same, I wasted £180 going that route on a head that was worth no more than £10, awful quality, held together with super glue, the box was the best made part.
 
milto said:
okay which gimbal head is it that you fell fits the bill
Click to expand...

JOBU Blackwidow Lightweight MkII (side mounting) or the Heavy Duty MKII (horizontal mounting) £312 or £385, I use the Lightweight with a 500 f4, you have the option of buying the arm later to convert to the Heavy Duty if you wished.

LINK

It is well made, and a nice compromise between weight and rigidity, plus it offers the greatest range of elevation.
 
milto said:
okay which gimbal head is it that you fell fits the bill
Click to expand...

Size, weight, cost - you choose. Search 'Benro gimbal' on here and you'll get a few good threads. Wimberley, Jobo, Benro, Induro, Feisol, Manfrotto, Custom Brackets etc.

The thing that makes gimbals work so well with long lenses is the basic design, and that's pretty much the same.
 
Martyn... said:
...There is always the cheaper "ignore copyright reverse engineered" Chinese knockoffs, which on the outside appear the same, I wasted £180 going that route on a head that was worth no more than £10, awful quality, held together with super glue, the box was the best made part.
Click to expand...

Exactly- they 'appear' the same but close insepction in real life shows they are not. They're not exactly cheap either and pretty sure after sales care is certainly likely not to be as straightforward given most are direct from HK.

Gitzo all the way- you couldn't pry mine from my cold, dead hands;)
 
Dr_O said:
Exactly- they 'appear' the same but close insepction in real life shows they are not. They're not exactly cheap either and pretty sure after sales care is certainly likely not to be as straightforward given most are direct from HK.

Gitzo all the way- you couldn't pry mine from my cold, dead hands;)
Click to expand...

Gitzo are very good, no doubt about that, but so are the best of the Chinese clones.

I've compared my Benro directly to several similar spec tripods, including Gitzo, and it appears every bit as good to me. It certainly works for me, and cost half the equivalent Gitzo. Arrived in three days, nothing else to pay.

Tripods are hardly rocket science - three telescoping legs and a hinged platform doesn't involve a great deal intellectual property. It's quality of materials and manufacture that counts, and the Chinese are pretty good at that these days.

The real reason buying from e-bay saves so much money, is that you buy as close to direct from the factory as possible, and I have never been asked to pay a bean in duty or VAT. The moment you put a product through conventional import, distribution and retail channels, the cost rises 30-40% at least. If you buy a Benro through normal UK retail, they are not nearly such a bargain. TBH, it's a bit of a loop-hole.
 
Last edited:
HoppyUK said:
It's quality of materials and manufacture that counts, and the Chinese are pretty good at that these days.
Click to expand...

Far from my experience, the Benro head that I bought following strong recommendation from many on here was a total waste of close on £200, it did not work, it was stuck together with super glue, the machining was substandard, and had cheap screws that disintegrated as soon as I tried to undo them ... but the box was nice.
 
Martyn... said:
Far from my experience, the Benro head that I bought following strong recommendation from many on here was a total waste of close on £200, it did not work, it was stuck together with super glue, the machining was substandard, and had cheap screws that disintegrated as soon as I tried to undo them ... but the box was nice.
Click to expand...

I think you've said that before Martyn, but others seem to rate them.

I don't think you can argue with the quality of this Benro GH-3 Gimbal http://cgi.ebay.com/Benro-GH-3-Gimb...640?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4840c28ac0 It's £500 form UK retail, but under £300 as an import.
 
Last edited:
HoppyUK said:
Gitzo are very good, no doubt about that, but so are the best of the Chinese clones.

I've compared my Benro directly to several similar spec tripods, including Gitzo, and it appears every bit as good to me. It certainly works for me, and cost half the equivalent Gitzo. Arrived in three days, nothing else to pay.

Tripods are hardly rocket science - three telescoping legs and a hinged platform doesn't involve a great deal intellectual property. It's quality of materials and manufacture that counts, and the Chinese are pretty good at that these days.

The real reason buying from e-bay saves so much money, is that you buy as close to direct from the factory as possible, and I have never been asked to pay a bean in duty or VAT. The moment you put a product through conventional import, distribution and retail channels, the cost rises 30-40% at least. If you buy a Benro through normal UK retail, they are not nearly such a bargain. TBH, it's a bit of a loop-hole.
Click to expand...

There's certainly no doubt we get shafted in the UK over the price of goods. The HK route is always tempting but for me, it soon loses its appeal when I think of perhaps having to post goods back which can eat into the savings made and really it's the time that could all take up- contacting vendor, sorting postage etc. That's not to say it doesn't happen with goods bought here but there's a higher propensity for things to be wrong with 3rd party stuff or clones and it is cheaper to post within UK. Maybe I'm too cynical:lol:

It was really the little things like the legs not having as positive an action when opened, bolts not filed as smoothly, twist lock action not as nice a feel. The question over the materials was there- Chinese factories haven't done themselves any favours over the last few years so it kind of came to feel, long term reliability and my time which is why I went Gitzo. They do seem to have crept up a bit in price since Labour screwed the economy mind you.

Perhaps the latest Benro's are improved- I haven't seen a new one- after all, second gen Gitzo twist locks are a lot better too.
 
Dr_O said:
There's certainly no doubt we get shafted in the UK over the price of goods. The HK route is always tempting but for me, it soon loses its appeal when I think of perhaps having to post goods back which can eat into the savings made and really it's the time that could all take up- contacting vendor, sorting postage etc. That's not to say it doesn't happen with goods bought here but there's a higher propensity for things to be wrong with 3rd party stuff or clones and it is cheaper to post within UK. Maybe I'm too cynical:lol:

It was really the little things like the legs not having as positive an action when opened, bolts not filed as smoothly, twist lock action not as nice a feel. The question over the materials was there- Chinese factories haven't done themselves any favours over the last few years so it kind of came to feel, long term reliability and my time which is why I went Gitzo. They do seem to have crept up a bit in price since Labour screwed the economy mind you.

Perhaps the latest Benro's are improved- I haven't seen a new one- after all, second gen Gitzo twist locks are a lot better too.
Click to expand...

Maybe quality has improved lately, but TBH I don't think we get particularly shafted on prices here. When people make comparisons on the internet, they are rarely comparing like with like, and when you have paid duties/VAT and shipping, the savings usually evaporate.

It's a loop-hole that should really be plugged - duty/VAT is due and should be paid. If you know what you're buying from a seller with a good rep, and have therefore minimised any risks of having to return stuff or getting ripped off, most people get a very good deal. But the flipside of that is UK retailers are being shafted by import deals that they cannot hope to compete with. There's millions of pounds worth of stuff coming into the UK like this, marked as a 'gift' or whatever, and it's putting our own high street shops out of business.
 
Last edited:
Martyn... said:
Yes I have have one and must agree, I also like the look of the new p0 head they have out LINK
Click to expand...

Might have to try one- quite often get frustrated with tradtional ball heads so this design looks interesting- bit like upside down forks. Only drawbacks I can see with the p0 are there's not enough black and the QR plate tightens by coin which is a pain though I'm sure that could be fixed- just shouldn't need to. I am quite fussy though:D
 
Dr_O said:
Might have to try one- quite often get frustrated with tradtional ball heads so this design looks interesting- bit like upside down forks. Only drawbacks I can see with the p0 are there's not enough black and the QR plate tightens by coin which is a pain though I'm sure that could be fixed- just shouldn't need to. I am quite fussy though:D
Click to expand...

I like the look of that Arca-Swiss P0 head very much. The upsidedown design makes much more sense (perfect for panoramas) and the ball clamping method seems to me to have more fundamental mechanical integrity than conventional heads. It's both light and relatively cheap for Arca. Performs very well by all accounts, only drawback being that you can't use the panning feature with the head tilted for verticals, but that's not a problem for me as I use an L-bracket on the camera.

I was thinking of putting this clamp on it, SunwayPhotoDDY-64, as I don't like lever-action clamps (they need re-adjusting for fractionally different brands of plate) http://www.sunwayfoto.com/html/products/200909/140.html Scroll down to bottom of the page, looks like a perfect fit :thumbs: No UK supplier, about £60 from dealers in France and Holland.
 
HoppyUK said:
.

I was thinking of putting this clamp on it, SunwayPhotoDDY-64, as I don't like lever-action clamps (they need re-adjusting for fractionally different brands of plate) http://www.sunwayfoto.com/html/products/200909/140.html Scroll down to bottom of the page, looks like a perfect fit :thumbs: No UK supplier, about £60 from dealers in France and Holland.
Click to expand...

Nice find on the clamp Richard :thumbs:

I have a small Kirk clamp kicking around that I could use. Like this one LINK, not circular but would do the job.



.
 
Last edited:
Martyn... said:
Nice find on the clamp Richard :thumbs:

I have a small Kirk clamp kicking around that I could use. Like this one LINK, not circular but would do the job.



.
Click to expand...

Yes, bit of luck that, just stumbled on it googling around. Never heard of SunwayFoto before.

Sure you can use any old clamp, it's just a question of aesthetics (possibly misplaced ;)). I have a few I bought for £20 each off e-bay, from a place in Norwich called CameraGear UK http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Camera-Gea...1000521017&_sid=4097057&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Robert White seems to be the only place to stock the P0 head, which means I can't try before buying. Might just take a punt. I think it could make a rather nice monopod head too.
 
HoppyUK said:
...SunwayPhotoDDY-64...
Click to expand...

:plusone: - good find although I couldn't get link to work -they seem to have some web issues. Found it here though. Like that as well and looks like a good match with the P0- I'm a sucker for style and engineering prowess:D
 
Dr_O said:
:plusone: - good find although I couldn't get link to work -they seem to have some web issues. Found it here though. Like that as well and looks like a good match with the P0- I'm a sucker for style and engineering prowess:D
Click to expand...

So you have OCD too ;) Unfortunately, amazon.com won't supply to UK addresses and amazon.co.uk don't list it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top