Tripod and head advice

[lightspeed998]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a tripod and head but I'm lost with the amount of different tripods and heads that are on sale.

Would prefer to buy from Jessops as I want to use up my Tesco points on something useful rather than using them on groceries.

I have a Manfrotto 681B monopod with a 234 head and I am very pleased with it. It is very solid and has never let me down. Ideally I would like a tripod built as solid as the monopod with a suitable head. My budget is £150-£200 max.

Would be grateful for any advice/recommendations that you could give me.

Thanks
Trefor

 

[footman]

I use this one, very stable and not too much of a pain to carry around:
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/50737/show.html

The head is more problematic, some people like ballheads, others hate them. Personally I prefer them. You could buy this one to go with the tripod:
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/76489/show.html

and see how you get on with it. This is within your budget.

 

[Dave in Wales]

Manfrotto 055XPROB + head 496RC2, brilliant setup.

D in W

 

[realspeed]

First thought are what are you using the tripod for? ie studio work or for out and about.

The Manfrotto 055XPROB is a fantastic tripod but would hate to have to lug it about all day as it is very heavy and to my mind better put to use in a studio, I have one.

Another consideration is the height it will extend to and how stable it is set like this, fully extended can lead to unwanted movement due to wind and even shutter slap.

Lastly what weight is the tripod designed to take, its no good having a tripod that is unable to accept the weight of heavy camera equipment sitting on it.

All I would suggest is getting specs on several different ones within your price range and take it from there.

Realspeed