question, is the tripod from best buy thats carbon fiber any good?
Probably not, I've yet to see a good tripod in a retail store.
Wow. Lots of replies! Thanks so much for all of the recommendations and tips.
The Manfrotto CF legs keep coming up, and I'm curious about two differences with them. Some have three sections and some have four. Seems to me as though the ones with four would be more fussy (lots of levers to lock and unlock each time). What's the benefit of having four? Also,
Four sections are a trade-off between portability (the overall length of the collapsed tripod is less) and stability (the more joints, the less stable.)
that tilting center column sounds too good to be true. Can it really support the camera when tilted?
To a point, though you might want to make sure you can hang weight from the center of the tripod.
As for the travel tripods: the ones that make me have to hunch over too much are out of the question. I have an angle finder that helps a bit with lower tripod settings, but it only makes up a few inches of height. I'll squat down for macro stuff, but otherwise I don't want to stoop over unless my composition requires a lower angle; I really don't want to be forced to stoop over on a regular basis.
THe problem is that the higher you go, the less stability- have you tried squatting vs. stooping? The last thing you want to do with a tripod is to raise the center column if you have one, as it again reduces stability.
If your plan is to use it extended fully, then you should really go up one size from most of the tripods mentioned here to get the best stability- but that makes travel difficult.
westside guy, the legs I have now are the Manfrotto 190B. They're the old kind with screw knobs, and I continually have problems with one section not being tight enough and slipping down while I'm trying to work.
I'm a fan of the gitzo screw locks, which tend to hold very well, be easy to tighten and easy to loosen. They don't get in the way like the lever ones, and IMO do much better when there's a lot of sand, mud or grit around.
iBookG4user, I'm very interested in getting an L bracket. I'd love an RRS setup, but that's way out of my budget. I will almost certainly get an L bracket at some point, but probably not right away. I'm in deep with photography expenses right now!
I've been happy with Kirk's brackets, not sure how they compare price-wise though.
John.B, good point about the pano lever. I'm not into doing panos but really like being able to adjust my horizontal positioning without changing the vertical too. Of course I'm in the used market, but only at fire-sale prices. 😉 I really want to get it right this time. My last tripod/ballhead purchase was a Craigslist buy just four months ago or so...and here I am already replacing it. 😱
Maxxamillian, looks like the Gitzo Explorer would break the bank. I really don't want to go over $500 for both legs and head.
Seriously, save up- it's a one-time purchase which will amortize out over as long as you shoot. Compromise in a tripod will just have you buying a new one. Even not compromising sometimes will- so take your time and spend the money.
The last tripod I got before my current Gitzo was a Mamiya Carbon Fiber tripod- I compromised for two reasons- the store I was in didn't have the equivalent Gitzo in stock, and the Mamiya was significantly cheaper- I got about three years out of the setup, including the Gitzo ballhead that was "in my price range" that took three years to develop creep- even though I went through the "cheap tripod," "Bogen/Manfrotto not-quite-big-enough but travels well," "big, heavy, expensive wooden tripod that won't travel" thing, I still thought I could compromise in "smart" ways- I was wrong- stability-wise it tested out and worked just fine, but one leg came off and Mamiya had exited the US tripod market- haste makes waste. I go out in the wind, I go out in the weather, and I use my tripod most of the time- my Gitzo 1548 leg set was used from B&H, but they're holding up significantly better than any tripod I've owned- and I think I bought my first tripod in the early '80s. They're also more stable than anything other than the expensive German wooden legs, but way more friendly over my shoulder.
Paul
