Fancier Tripods

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Reidy36

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Never heard of them. I would rather stick to well known names like gitzo, giottos, slik and Manfrotto. You should be able to get a giottos for that budget.
 
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Likewise never heard of them and from the illustration it looks a bit flimsy - a tripod may take a certain weight but how stable it will be with that weight varies from tripod to tripod. £100 isn't a great budget for a really good tripod but depends what you intend to use on it.
 
For outdoors, Benbo or Uniloc.

I had frustration after frustration with a Manfrotto that didn't allow the positioning that I wanted but switching to a Benbo, which I also find to be more stable, solved the problem.

I rarely use a tripod but when I do use one I want to get the position that I want and conventional centre column through the legs designs are just too limited for me.

Take a look at Benbo and Uniloc, they allow good positioning and are made in Britan from real metal :D If you do go for one take a look at the additional centre bracket. I have one and it really makes the difference.
 
The first looks better than the second, more expensive one. I suppose with these unknown brands is that someone has to test them rather than them being written off for not being 'a brand'.

I bought a Konig tripod for £40 about five years ago. A totally unproven brand (better known these days, especially for cheap light stands) but I took a punt and it's still with me today. It's a bit rusty from being in saltwater and it's not as rock-steady as a £200 Manfrotto, but the ball head still works (with regular greasing) and it does the job. I'm actually loathe to part with it....
 
Thanks all.

Why is it so difficult choosing.

Have looked at the benbo before, but would like to play with one in the flesh, due to it's unique set up.
 
i bought a uniloc 2300 i think the model is - it stands about 3 foot closed and weight a fair bit built like a tank...
 
dexter35yrs said:
i bought a uniloc 2300 i think the model is - it stands about 3 foot closed and weight a fair bit built like a tank...
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The build is a plus for me. My Manfrotto 055 felt like it was made out of tissue paper but I can imagine my Bendo surviving a nuclear strike, they're certainly built to survive outdoor use in a rugged environment.
 
Reidy36 said:
...Have looked at the benbo before, but would like to play with one in the flesh, due to it's unique set up.
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It's like putting up one of those wooden deck chairs. You've either got the mental faculties to do it or you haven't. I haven't :lol:
 
The centre bracket makes handling a complete non issue. Anyone who can't handle one of these with the bracket fitted shouldn't be allowed out alone.
 
I should stop looking, Just found some Vanguard ones that look the dogs bits, the Alta looks good, but stability wise the Auctus looks like you could hang a clothes line off it.
 
I've got a Fancier WF-5603 Pro and the only bad thing about it is the weight. It's built like a tank, is as steady as a rock with a gripped 5D3 and Sigma 150-500 OS on it, can be taken apart easily for adapting to low use and the built in monopod makes things dead easy. Probably the best part about it is the height, I'm nearly 6 foot tall and it reaches my height without using the extending centre pole which makes it very easy on the posture. I decided to take the risk when I bought it, I couldn't find any reviews online either, but I have to say I'm so glad I took the risk. It's not one to carry a long distance with a bad back, but if you don't have to go too far for your destination it's great.

Shame you're not closer or you could come and have a look, but if you're passing anywhere near lincoln in the near future drop me a PM.
 
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modchild said:
I've got a Fancier WF-5603 Pro and the only bad thing about it is the weight. It's built like a tank, is as steady as a rock with a gripped 5D3 and Sigma 150-500 OS on it, can be taken apart easily for adapting to low use and the built in monopod makes things dead easy. Probably the best part about it is the height, I'm nearly 6 foot tall and it reaches my height without using the extending centre pole which makes it very easy on the posture. I decided to take the risk when I bought it, I couldn't find any reviews online either, but I have to say I'm so glad I took the risk. It's not one to carry a long distance with a bad back, but if you don't have to go too far for your destination it's great.

Shame you're not closer or you could come and have a look, but if you're passing anywhere near lincoln in the near future drop me a PM.
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Thanks Stuart,

You would never guess where i am originally from :lol:

Such decisions. I am currently torn between this one, the Giottos 9361 and the Vanguard Alta pro 263AT

In reviews the Giottos got a better overall score and it says that is due to it being cheaper. Just wish there was somewhere close that has them in. Why can't i just buy one instead of trawling the web to fond info on them all.
 
Reidy36 said:
Thanks Stuart,

You would never guess where i am originally from :lol:

Such decisions. I am currently torn between this one, the Giottos 9361 and the Vanguard Alta pro 263AT

In reviews the Giottos got a better overall score and it says that is due to it being cheaper. Just wish there was somewhere close that has them in. Why can't i just buy one instead of trawling the web to fond info on them all.
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Amazon is very good for returns, that why i use them. Buy the both and return one.
 
I found the most important part is the head - any decent set of tripod legs will do. I used to use a manfrotto 055 proB with a 410 geared head
 
I sampled a Fancier video tripod. It got sent back rapidly. The build quality didn't inspire much confidence and the head itself flexed. Many video types swear by them so perhaps I had a bad one.

And if you buy from the amazon market place it's not automatic to get the carriage refunded. A small price to pay to test something out though.
 
POAH said:
I found the most important part is the head - any decent set of tripod legs will do. I used to use a manfrotto 055 proB with a 410 geared head
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I found an interesting piece by somebody in the US who went to their local camera shop and tested i think it was about 8 tripods. The tests were along the lines of tapping the lens and seeing how long it took the camera to go steady and other tests like that. The carbon tripods came out best, however there was very little between the Giottos and Vanguard.

Yes the head is very important, but if the tripod isn't stable, then no matter how hard you try, you will get blurred images.

Interesting reading if anybody has 10-15 mniutes.
http://photo.delightinlight.com/2009/10/tripod-test-review.html
 
Reidy36 said:
I found an interesting piece by somebody in the US who went to their local camera shop and tested i think it was about 8 tripods. The tests were along the lines of tapping the lens and seeing how long it took the camera to go steady and other tests like that. The carbon tripods came out best, however there was very little between the Giottos and Vanguard.

Yes the head is very important, but if the tripod isn't stable, then no matter how hard you try, you will get blurred images.

Interesting reading if anybody has 10-15 mniutes.
http://photo.delightinlight.com/2009/10/tripod-test-review.html
Click to expand...
very interesting read that
so basically buy any tripod you like the look and feel of
the most critical factors being to lock the mirror up and use a remote shutter release
 
modchild said:
I've got a Fancier WF-5603 Pro and the only bad thing about it is the weight. It's built like a tank, is as steady as a rock with a gripped 5D3 and Sigma 150-500 OS on it, can be taken apart easily for adapting to low use and the built in monopod makes things dead easy. Probably the best part about it is the height, I'm nearly 6 foot tall and it reaches my height without using the extending centre pole which makes it very easy on the posture. I decided to take the risk when I bought it, I couldn't find any reviews online either, but I have to say I'm so glad I took the risk. It's not one to carry a long distance with a bad back, but if you don't have to go too far for your destination it's great.

Shame you're not closer or you could come and have a look, but if you're passing anywhere near lincoln in the near future drop me a PM.
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Small world, I'm in Lincoln too and bought the exact same tripod.

It handles my gripped d80 no problems. I'm sure there are better higher quality tripods out there but for the amount I use it the fancier is perfect, and it didn't break the bank.
 
When I come up to my mum's for fishing and catching up with friends and family, I am close to County Hospital.
Maybe you should start a fancier tripod camera club.
 
Reidy36 said:
When I come up to my mum's for fishing and catching up with friends and family, I am close to County Hospital.
Maybe you should start a fancier tripod camera club.
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Even smaller world lol. Fishing is my other hobby along with photography.

I'm not sure we could contain the excitement of a tripod club though lol.
 
I don't think I could handle the excitement of a tripod club either, although I could use my tripod to lean on while snoozing. I'm about 3 miles south of lincoln in Branston and it's quite handy as we're virtually under the flightpath of Waddington airbase and I love taking aviation shots.

TheCrow, do you find it quite heavy when taking it on a long hike. I'm ok now cause my bag piggybacks onto a shopping trolley so I just carry it all on that. I've done some great moon shots with the Sigma 150-500 and a 1.4x teleconverter on a gripped 60d with no head problems either. Also, where abouts in lincoln are you from, there's another member on here from lincoln called Kev (snaphappy). We could almost form a Lincoln TP club.
 
Rebel t3i said:
very interesting read that
so basically buy any tripod you like the look and feel of
the most critical factors being to lock the mirror up and use a remote shutter release
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Ok if you are inside doing studio stuff, but out in the open air and you start getting wind hitting your camera, having the stiffer model will help no end.

TheCrow said:
Even smaller world lol. Fishing is my other hobby along with photography.

I'm not sure we could contain the excitement of a tripod club though lol.
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Where do you go? Got ticket for lots of trent sections and also fish Hykeham.

modchild said:
I don't think I could handle the excitement of a tripod club either, although I could use my tripod to lean on while snoozing. I'm about 3 miles south of lincoln in Branston and it's quite handy as we're virtually under the flightpath of Waddington airbase and I love taking aviation shots.
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Used to work in Branston, the hotel is now a housing estate.
 
Reidy36 said:
All, what do you think to these? I know not a well known make, but trying to find a decent tripod that can take a bit of weight.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fancier-Mul...ty-shooting/dp/B003SZ42LC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_ce_3

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fancier-WFC...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1346515720&sr=1-11

Is there anything else around this price you would recommend. WIll be used more outdoors than indoor, so mind mind a little heavier if solid. I am 6ft 3, so want quite a high max height.
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rjbell said:
Never heard of them. I would rather stick to well known names like gitzo, giottos, slik and Manfrotto. You should be able to get a giottos for that budget.
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gramps said:
Likewise never heard of them and from the illustration it looks a bit flimsy - a tripod may take a certain weight but how stable it will be with that weight varies from tripod to tripod. £100 isn't a great budget for a really good tripod but depends what you intend to use on it.
Click to expand...


I can't remember which exact ones off the top of my head, but Fancier are one of those companies in China that make a lot of own-brand stuff for retailers (mainly Ebay-based), a search about and you'll probably find it elsewhere wearing lots of other brand names...
 
modchild said:
I don't think I could handle the excitement of a tripod club either, although I could use my tripod to lean on while snoozing. I'm about 3 miles south of lincoln in Branston and it's quite handy as we're virtually under the flightpath of Waddington airbase and I love taking aviation shots.

TheCrow, do you find it quite heavy when taking it on a long hike. I'm ok now cause my bag piggybacks onto a shopping trolley so I just carry it all on that. I've done some great moon shots with the Sigma 150-500 and a 1.4x teleconverter on a gripped 60d with no head problems either. Also, where abouts in lincoln are you from, there's another member on here from lincoln called Kev (snaphappy). We could almost form a Lincoln TP club.
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To be honest its not left the house so i've not really noticed the weight too much. It was an impulse buy really rather than for a certain purpose.

Im on newark road by walkers crisps so not far away.
 
Reidy36 said:
Where do you go? Got ticket for lots of trent sections and also fish Hykeham.
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I used to fish the witham a lot mainly out at bardney and also down hykeham, but since scunny angling club took over all the river from lincoln to boston i've not bothered. Nothing against scunthrope angling club, i just think it's a cheek them taking over lincolns rivers.
 
I'll keep a lookout for a man with a Nikon while I'm down your way. I go down newark road quite often as my folks and some friends are just round the corner. Chances are I've seen you around at some time or other.

Reidy, I'm just up the road from where the hotel used to be, how do you find London after life in a small town. It must be great for photo ops for a start.
 
Reidy36 said:
I found an interesting piece by somebody in the US who went to their local camera shop and tested i think it was about 8 tripods. The tests were along the lines of tapping the lens and seeing how long it took the camera to go steady and other tests like that. The carbon tripods came out best, however there was very little between the Giottos and Vanguard.

Yes the head is very important, but if the tripod isn't stable, then no matter how hard you try, you will get blurred images.

Interesting reading if anybody has 10-15 mniutes.
http://photo.delightinlight.com/2009/10/tripod-test-review.html
Click to expand...

Not really a relevant test - I don't tap a lens when I take pictures
 
POAH said:
Not really a relevant test - I don't tap a lens when I take pictures
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I think it is trying to simulate the movement from wind, to see which one settles down the quickest. Don't really want one that moves for ages.

Saw the Giottos 9361 in the flesh today, very impressed.
 
Reidy36 said:
I think it is trying to simulate the movement from wind, to see which one settles down the quickest. Don't really want one that moves for ages.

Saw the Giottos 9361 in the flesh today, very impressed.
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I'd not be out in weather that would have moved my pro055B lol
 
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