- Messages
- 353
- Name
- Ken
- Edit My Images
- No
I don't use a tripod much. I've got a MeFoto Backpacker that I probably paid $100 for, used, and thought that was extravagant. But is is a nice little tripod that does what I ask it to. I could probably get by with just that forever.
But I have been coveting a full-sized carbon fiber tripod and I prefer to buy used if I can. I'm always a generation or more behind on most technology.
I've never used a carbon fiber tripod. Closest I've been is at the big box store. Ones they sell there look like toys. Is there a price point where that stops and real equipment begins?
I guess my biggest question, though, is how fast does this technology change? I ask because every time I look at a promising set of used CF sticks, that particular model is out of production. A mid-priced model that was on the market 2 or 3 years ago is no longer being made. That worries me.
I'd like to think, and the tripod makers would certainly like us to think that the technology keeps getting better, fast. That every new model is better than the one it replaced.
I suspect, though, that Benro or Sirui or whoever, buys their merchandise in 10,000 unit lots from some anonymous Chinese supplier, and when they're gone, they're gone. Next batch may or may not come from the same place. A particular model doesn't make it long enough to get into the second-hand market.
I lied up there. I do have another tripod. A '90s vintage Manfrotto 3001. It weighs a ton and I never use it. But I think they still make it.
Any thoughts?
But I have been coveting a full-sized carbon fiber tripod and I prefer to buy used if I can. I'm always a generation or more behind on most technology.
I've never used a carbon fiber tripod. Closest I've been is at the big box store. Ones they sell there look like toys. Is there a price point where that stops and real equipment begins?
I guess my biggest question, though, is how fast does this technology change? I ask because every time I look at a promising set of used CF sticks, that particular model is out of production. A mid-priced model that was on the market 2 or 3 years ago is no longer being made. That worries me.
I'd like to think, and the tripod makers would certainly like us to think that the technology keeps getting better, fast. That every new model is better than the one it replaced.
I suspect, though, that Benro or Sirui or whoever, buys their merchandise in 10,000 unit lots from some anonymous Chinese supplier, and when they're gone, they're gone. Next batch may or may not come from the same place. A particular model doesn't make it long enough to get into the second-hand market.
I lied up there. I do have another tripod. A '90s vintage Manfrotto 3001. It weighs a ton and I never use it. But I think they still make it.
Any thoughts?