What Tripod ?

[davidbridges]

Hi all,

Its christmas soon and so its time to make the most of parents offering me camera gear. A tripod is an essential for me my hands are quite unsteady and i find i take more time over composition (oh and my 300mm is at 5.4) . Anyway im probally asking for quite alot as i want a tripod that is fairly sturdy (obviously) but cheap with a good build quality. Ive currently been using a Hama star 52 or something for about 3 years and its had it. I've fallen over off hadrians wall and slipped on the cliff tops of cape cornwall so the new tripod has to be fairly robust. I also would like something that is quite fast to extend as my stepdad has a cheap tripod and if you lift up the cathes to far they lock again at the other end which i find highly annoying.

Under £30 though.... quite hard i know, any suggestions.

Thanks
Dave

 

[joxby]

I couldn't recommend a tripod for under £30.
Seriously, save up or something, its not worth the potential cost of new camera equipment.
Look to spend £100+ or so, I couldn't live with myself if I said "buy that thing from Asda" and then somebody farted in Dewsbury, blew it over and......*shudder*
You dont say what you want to mount on it but a 300mm anything requires better than £30 support.
mebbe you could get something more substantial 2nd hand

 

[2blue4u]

/makes note to avoid Dewsbury area....


I agree. You have to be looking at around the 100 mark. I've got a cheap and nasty and I can't wait to get rid of it. I also found another under the stairs yesterday, one that I haven't used in 15 years and had forgotten about. It's now out next to the rubbish bin.

 

[joxby]

Several years ago, I bought one from Asda in err...Dewsbury for £25, the legs were so flimsy they bent under the weight of the camera, nevermind tie a brick to it keep it steady in the wind, it swayed like a good'un in the gentlest of breezes, the geared post went up in random distances (plastic gears), the tilt hinge didn't get to 90 degrees, I had to lower a leg to get 90.
You just dont need this, perched on a rocky cragg with the wind and rain whistleing round your ear holes.
One day it bounced my mamiya off the floor with no provocation....so I had to kill it....lesson learned.