Tripods

[zioxide]

Well I'm looking for a tripod to use with my camera and I'm wondering what some of your opinions are. Right now I've been looking at B&H at Bogen / Manfrotto tripod systems because in my old high school's studio and current college's studio, they both have this brand. However, they don't have any fairly cheap ones with fluid heads. So I'm thinking of buying the legs and head seperately. Right now I'm looking at this set, and I'm just wondering what you guys think of it.

700RC2 Mini Fluid Video Head $76.95

3011N Tripod Legs $109.95

Just curious what you guys think as far as if this is good or not. Also, will I be able to use it with a digital still camera? I'd prefer to be able to use the same tripod for both video and stills, even if it's not the ideal situation. It's a lot cheaper.

As you can see, my budget is $200 or less, so if you have any better recommendations for the same price range, I would love to hear them.

 

[ChrisA]

....I'm thinking of buying the legs and head seperately....

That's the way to go. That's why they come apart so you can mix and match. You can make a relatively light weight tripod much better if you hang a weight from it. 1 gal. milk jugs make nice weights because you can put a rope through the handles and fill them on site with either sand or water and dump the filling or just toss them in the trash when you are done. With weights the tripod will be very steady. If you look at the trucks the pros use for location shots they always carry a "ton" of lead shot bags and put them on everything. Water is cheaper than lead.

For a digital camera buy a second head. Can get a good one for under $50. But the fuid head works for still camera too. I own three Bogen heads.

 

[zioxide]

Hmm.. makes sense.

So is the combination that I selected good?

 

[MattG]

Hmm.. makes sense.

So is the combination that I selected good?

I've got the same setup at work and I like it. That's a good head to go with for video -- much smoother than the 3030 head I had before.