Tripod help - Giottos or Redsnapper

imogensdad

imogensdad

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Neil
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I am also looking at these 3 tripods for a D700 if anyone has any thoughts?
 
Not only me that cannot decide then!!!!
 
I keep eyeing up that giottos one as that price is a special offer. You won't normally find a carbon fibre tripod and head kit for this side of £200.
 
I have that redsnapper tripod, its nice although I can see myself upgrading in the future for a carbon fibre one and perhaps one with a horizontal center pole thing.

I would say get the legs and a different head though. I have a different head on my redsnapper one and its all fantastic.
 
It depends on what you want the tripod for, ie studio work or to carry about. Also do you want a "fluid" head or ordinary head. What is the weight load you intend to put on it?

If the tripod is too light it may not be steady in the wind resulting in blurred photos.

My tip is to try out any tripod fully extended with the max weight you are going to use. Often fully extended tripods are not as stable as one would wish.


I use a manfrotto 055XPROB which is rock solid and work at ground level if required. As for a head again Manfrotto 804RC2 which is versatile and this combo will take any weight put on it. Heavy? yes but will last a lifetime

For video work I use for my camcorder a VelbonC-400 tripod with a Vel-flo PH.248 fluid head for smooth panning


Realspeed
 
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That Giottos in the first link is that price at quite a few places (Wex, Park, ABC, SRS, Fotosense etc), for example it's £99 at Wex [with 3% cashback also available via topcashback].
Wex Code: W5TM1212 gives 5% off tripods and Code: WFD1212 gives free next day delivery on orders over £100 (you would need to add something for £1.01 or more to your order). Not sure if you can use both codes though. :)
 
I'd go Giottos excellent tripods
 
I've got an aluminium compact Giotto tripod which looks very similar to that carbon fibre one. I have a ball and socket head though. I'd recommend it. I wanted one with screw legs as the clips of a Manfrotto one I had for my compact camera snapped off.

I would never use my tripod fully extended or in heavy winds as the bottom leg sections are very thin and spindly but It's pretty stable otherwise.

It also folds down pretty small, can fit in cabain hand luggage (just!) and is not a pain to carry round. The best tripod is the one that you carry with you, no point in having an ultra strong, big heavy one which stays in the car boot as it's too cumbersome to take out regularly.
 
I've just been through a similar decision making process. The parameters I looked at for each tripod were:

1. What's the max height with the centre column retracted (if it had one)?
2. How many sections in the legs (3 tends to be more stable than 4)?
3. How much does it weigh?
4. What is the max. weight that it will support?
5. What is the folded length?

My eye height is about 150cm so I went for a max height without a centre column close to 150cm - an extended centre column can make the tripod more "wobbly".

But it all depends on your budget and where you're going to use it. And whether you're budgeting extra for a head...

The Giottos 9361 gets a good write up here.
 
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I took the plunge on the Giotto! Have to say I think its fantastic. Nice and light and very steady.

Bargain too!
 
I took the plunge on the Giotto! Have to say I think its fantastic. Nice and light and very steady.

Bargain too!
 
The Giotto is great and only weighs 1.1kg too. Nice and compact, so ideal for carry about. My old tripod was too big and heavy so was resigned to the car boot!

This will get much more use!
 
I use the redsnapper Carbon fibre tripod and have been delighted with it. It is very stable and light enough to carry, capable of carrying my 500mm on a gimbal head no problem. I would thoroughly recommend the redsnapper tripods, excellent quality, very stable and well priced.
 
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