It all boils down to what you're going to strap on top of it - if it's a 5D2 and 100-400L then there's not a compact tripod in existence that will work!
I used to take a Slik Sprint Pro with me for use with m4/3 and it was fine even with a massive old lead weight lens on the front, just. With normal lenses on it was ideal. I did use it with a proper head though, I didn't like the flimsy thing that came with it.
Funny, I was going to make more or less the same suggestion, Alan
.
I have a Slik Sprint Pro
Mini (different beast to the Sprint II), which cost me about 50 quid (from Germany) and is extremely stable for its (short) height, possibly because of the non-circular cross section of the leg tubing (which has a couple of 'grooves' on each leg section, to stop them from twisting). Another reason that it stands firm is that the rubbers on the ends of each leg are angled to sit flat on the (flat) floor, unlike many others, which have rounded rubber feet.
It has to be said though that the supplied ball head is really the weak link in the chain - it's small and fiddly, with a QR bracket that slips if you load an SLR onto it and tilt it even slightly off horizontal (IME). I simply unscrewed the head from mine and threw on a medium sized Giottos ball head (with an Arca Swiss QR plate) and in that config it really shines
. As long as the centre column isn't more than half way raised, it can easily handle a medium sized SLR and medium tele lens, or a more 'pro' body with a wide zoom on.
As far as your criteria are concerned,
mau00149, it is (IMO);
Cheap (55GBP),
light (620g without a ball head on),
stable (with the centre column down) and
ultra compact (just 12" without the ball head
).
What it is
not, is tall
! You can't go much over 1m without getting into wobbly territory. But, as already discussed, you can't have all five things on your list. If height can be sacrificed, you'll score well on the other four with this (provided that you already have an alternative ball head to use on it, otherwise I might suggest looking elsewhere
) ...
Link ...
I must stress, this is probably not the 'best' tripod suggested so far, but it's the only one I have experience with and it scores very highly on the cheapness and compactness fronts.
Here are some pictures of it, compared first to a Gorillapod 'SLR Zoom' (which is a worse than useless, spring-like device if used flat on the floor) and secondly to a small, cheap Gittos (GB 1140) travel tripod and then shown nestling in the back pocket of my (not massive) camera bag and with a D700 sitting happily on top
...
Good luck with making your choice
!
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