Which Tripod?

Big and important decision

Ben, hi. That looks like a nice camera. Congratulations.

Tripods for video have two important parts: The base itself and the head. These don't necessarily have to be from the same manufacturer.

The tripod (called legs or sticks) is basically simple: three legs. You get into higher costs when you look at what they are made out of (carbon fiber or aluminum), how they extend (do you need quick release?), and also whether there are brackets at the midpoint or at the bottom or not at all. The braces/brackets give the tripod more stability and theoretically a more stable image. Some tripods may also come with or be designed to work with dolly systems. Also, think about the weight of your rig, including camera, and at some point perhaps, microphones (wired and/or wireless), recorder, light, and possibly video monitor.

The head is different on a video tripod because it will be used to pan the camera. Starting, moving, and stopping the pan (left-right and up-down) need to be controlled for obvious reasons. A video head is also called a fluid head. This takes practice even with the best manual tripod.

You can spend as little $100 to $200 for a tripod with head and you can spend thousands too. You might want to look at (in alphabetical order) Acebil, Cartoni, Gitzo, Libec, Manfrotto, Miller, Sachtler, and Vinten. These are all well-known producers of tripods and tripod systems.

Check on one of the on-line retailers like B&H for a pretty good overview of what's out there. Read the reviews, even of some that are way out of your price range. It'll give you a chance to see what others think are important or not. Good luck on your search.

 

http://cheesycam.com/hidden-treasure-awesome-video-fluid-head-717ah/

Cheesycam is an awesome website. I've bought a this head and 1.8m tripod legs (the bundles were all 1.3m which isn't very tall. The seller gave me a deal though. Should come next week.

edit:
(i emailed the seller and asked for the head with this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....3&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123#ht_1536wt_907)

 

Probably because you're concise, well mannered, and judging by your stop motion video; very good, dedicated and worth our time

 

don't by a Pearstone (b&H brand) worst piece of crap ever.

I can't really comment on something in your price range. I personally use a manfrotto 504HD which is i think about $700...(with the legs)
How are you like that camera? Seems like a neat little camera.

 

Quick tip: I use a fat rubber band over the handle to give smoother panning. Gives a nice slow entry/exit while building up to full panning speed and helps maintain a steady, buffered pan.