Tripod Choice

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Mark65

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They both look like commonly available Chinese tripods sold under many different names (look on ebay)
They are not bad for the price, however if you want to use them for panoramas, look for the version with a pan and tilt head.

On one version you can remove one leg to use as a monopod, and not on other versions, if it matters to you.
 
JOILCAN - unknown 'brand', 5-section legs extending to 80" - nasty.

3 Legged Thing is a known brand and that looks like a good price.
 
Mark65 said:
Hi, Im after a tripod but not too expensive for occasional use, I'm looking at the,

or

both seem to have the height, any opinions on them please, I would prefer to use the uk company if its any good.

Thanks
Mark
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One of my tripods is a Travis. Certainly does the job well considering the price & weight. I bought it a few years ago as it is lighter than my other Redsnapper for hiking etc and I've even used it for night sky panoramas in fairly strong winds.
 
Get a decent one - if you buy cheap, it will be rubbish and may put you off using tripods forever. :eek:

If you buy a good one, it will last you for life. (y)

I'd recommend you buy a tatty second-hand 'quality' one. Then you'll appreciate its virtues and will probably aspire to a newer/better one at some time in the future.

Avoid any of the crap you can buy from Amazon. It's cheap for a reason - it will end up in the bin . . .
 
Thanks all, has anyone bought from camera world, they have the new version 2.0 on sale for only £8 more at 129.99
 
have a look at Manfrotto Befree live tripod. What I like abouit it is being able to level up without altering the tripod legs. there is a ball joint that will make the adjustments
 
I’ve got a 3lt punks billy as my travel tripod. Obviously doesn’t match up to a 5 series gitzo but the 3lt kit appears well made and does a decent job.
 
I had a 3LT Travis, it was a decent tripod, the only reason I don't have it anymore is that I was given a Peak Designs tripod, and there was no point in having 2 travel tripods.
 
Three legged thing is a UK company with a good reputation. Camera World I have only bought from their shops. all of them in fact, and have no complaints - they are usually one of 3 main retailers at the photography show alongside Park and Wex and host thier own show at Brands Hatch.
 
Echoing what everyone else is saying: don’t buy a cheap nasty tripod, it will be crap. I’ve got a 3LT Brian tripod, it’s excellent - and 3LT’s customer service is really good too. Camera World are great as well, although I have been caught out when I’ve ordered from them before: they don’t tell you whether items are in stock or not, so a couple of times I’ve ordered stuff and then had to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive.
 
Fifteen years ago I bought a Manfrotto tripod off Ebay. Heavy piece of kit Model #074. Three-way head but with (unspecified) problems. I took a massive gamble and won the auction for £10.
I assume that someone had tried to use it as a video tripod because all the pivots had been greased for smooth movement. This meant that it would not stay in any position because the clamps no longer worked. Someone had tried later to use it properly but couldn't get the clamps tight enough so all three locking shafts had horrendous burring where they had been gripped by pliers or mole grips to tighten them.
I stripped the head and washed all the grease out and found that there were plastic bushes in the bearings. I spoke to a very helpful young man at the Manfrotto office in Milton Keynes who emailed me two different parts diagrams for the head. Having identified the correct version he supplied the plastic bushes which I needed and I completed the rebuild.
The mutilated locking shafts were filed smooth and coated with new enamel paint and look like new.
Best tripod I ever had. Solid, heavy, dependable. RB67, C330s, SQ-A and many others have been supported by it to great effect.
Long live my '£10' tripod!
 
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Thanks for the advice all.
 
My first Tripod was given or sold to me by a "friend" at uni, I think it might have been £10. Was some video tripod thing but beside the actual leg being in some kind of metal, the rest of it, including the video head was completely plastic. I remember the first time I put my 30D on it and the head just drops and couldn't take the weight. It was utterly useless.

As a beginner, just get anything Manfrotto if you don't want to reseach too much. Their stuff is at minimum reliable, good price and good quality. Not very sexy branding and it might not have the social media influencer shedding unicorn tears over it but it works. I have a 055pro i bought 20 years ago and i still use it at jobs because it is reliable.
 
Of the 2 options listed in the OP, the 3LT one would be my choice.

Opening the Pandora's box of tripod choices, a decent 2nd hand Manfrotto, Gitzo or similar would be what I'd actually buy.
 
I can only echo some of the comments above, I started with a 'cheap' no name brand and was terribly disappointed with its performance, upgraded to a Slik 400pro which was much better and stable. When I added a heavy prime lens for wildlife it was found lacking, so I bit the bullet and bought a Manfrotto 005pro with Ball head/Gimball - heavy but stable and as robust as hell, dropped it, bashed it. soaked it and on occasion used it as a walking stick in deep mud. I have since also purchase a good used 190cxpro as a lighter weight tripod.

Lesson I (think) learned by good and buy once

PS There are always plenty of good used 055pro around.
 
Raymond Lin said:
My first Tripod was given or sold to me by a "friend" at uni, I think it might have been £10. Was some video tripod thing but beside the actual leg being in some kind of metal, the rest of it, including the video head was completely plastic. I remember the first time I put my 30D on it and the head just drops and couldn't take the weight. It was utterly useless.

As a beginner, just get anything Manfrotto if you don't want to reseach too much. Their stuff is at minimum reliable, good price and good quality. Not very sexy branding and it might not have the social media influencer shedding unicorn tears over it but it works. I have a 055pro i bought 20 years ago and i still use it at jobs because it is reliable.
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Similar tale maybe - destroyed a few legacy tripods gifted by family - none of which were much good except for small film cameras which I what I used to use them for before getting DSLRs and heavier glass.

Got a 055CL off eBay some years ago for £30 - like new. As you said, not a sexy brand. Al and moderately heavy. Stability is tested as mid range by centercolumn.com but I have tested it and it is plenty stable enough ( with centre column down or low ) - all stability probs I have found are from cantilever "twanging" of some tripod feet - needed to pack them. Followed up with another eBay find: a Manfrotto 190CL for another 30 quid. Use both regularly. Added ( to original 3 way head ) a secondhand 410jr geared head, and rebuilt a cheap Neewer gimbal - perfect for occasional use.

I have sent back a few Chinese tripods to Amazon - utter c**p and not that cheap in comparison - but some were in lovely shades of orange and red.

OK I know there is a lot of middle ground between my cheapskate "solution" and a Gitzo 5 series + Wimberley - and finding a lightweight "travel" tripod is a different and tricky matter but works for me - just as a casual photographer. I just wouldn't cheap out this way if I were hauling expensive glass day upon day.

richard
 
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piper said:
Similar tale maybe - destroyed a few legacy tripods gifted by family - none of which were much good except for small film cameras which I what I used to use them for before getting DSLRs and heavier glass.

Got a 055CL off eBay some years ago for £30 - like new. As you said, not a sexy brand. Al and moderately heavy. Stability is tested as mid range by centercolumn.com but I have tested it and it is plenty stable enough ( with centre column down or low ) - all stability probs I have found are from cantilever "twanging" of some tripod feet - needed to pack them. Followed up with another eBay find: a Manfrotto 190CL for another 30 quid. Use both regularly. Added ( to original 3 way head ) a secondhand 410jr geared head, and rebuilt a cheap Neewer gimbal - perfect for occasional use.

I have sent back a few Chinese tripods to Amazon - utter c**p and not that cheap in comparison - but some were in lovely shades of orange and red.

OK I know there is a lot of middle ground between my cheapskate "solution" and a Gitzo 5 series + Wimberley - and finding a lightweight "travel" tripod is a different and tricky matter but works for me

richard
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My Manfrotto in action.

At a Studio

RelwONN.jpg


At a wedding gig

s86n4D4.jpg


I also have a Gitzo, cost 5x the Manfrotto but I actually trust the Manfrotto more.

NvpDvnZ.jpg


Sexy as heck though.

qNiHeiF.jpg


I also have this really small Carbon Fibre one that i take travelling.

O4If4wb.jpg
 
I have recently purchased a Benro TSL08CLN00 Slim Carbon Fibre Tripod with Ball head. Perfect for lighter loads, well made and reasonably priced and it gives me some extra height over the standard travel tripods up to 164CM.

​

 
Raymond Lin said:
My Manfrotto in action.

At a Studio

RelwONN.jpg


At a wedding gig

s86n4D4.jpg


I also have a Gitzo, cost 5x the Manfrotto but I actually trust the Manfrotto more.

NvpDvnZ.jpg


Sexy as heck though.

qNiHeiF.jpg


I also have this really small Carbon Fibre one that i take travelling.

O4If4wb.jpg
Click to expand...
Sorry to interrupt the thread, could I ask what model the small travel tripod is please?
 
Micro-four-thirds said:
Sorry to interrupt the thread, could I ask what model the small travel tripod is please?
Click to expand...

The brand is Redreg but they went out of business a few years ago i think. I think Sirui makes a similar one. It weights 1.19kg, similar to the Peak Design CF(1.29kg) but this folds to down to under 30cm which was important for me as that is the length of a piece of A4, meaning i can put it in almost all regular messenger bag that can hold a magazine. Vs the PD which is about 39.1cm.

The down side is that it only extends to 110cm, but for landscapes or cityscapes it's not a big problem. In fact, without anything extended, it is short enough to be a table top tripod.

In comparison, the Gitzo 1545T is 42.5cm. Not hugely different to the PD.
 
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todders said:
I have recently purchased a Benro TSL08CLN00 Slim Carbon Fibre Tripod with Ball head. Perfect for lighter loads, well made and reasonably priced and it gives me some extra height over the standard travel tripods up to 164CM.

​

Click to expand...
Just looked that up - pretty good reviews - very light and I read that they concentrated on spending money on the essentials and dumped all the gimmicks you often get on these. Good price also. Guess it would be fine with an FF MILC ( A7x or Z6/7 etc ) and shorter lenses.

Even though I havent got any of their stuff I liked the look of what they sell esp the geared heads and the gh2 gimbal
richard
 
Compuwight said:
Lesson I (think) learned by good and buy once
Click to expand...

Thing about that advice is that it can be relative. I've seen some remarks in the past that would be appear to consider Manfrotto to be inferior.

Use and abuse levels presumably vary. I suspect that many amateur owned tripods only get occasional use. And maybe a bit more gentle treatment. Those used as daily tools by professionals will end up being moved, extended, collapsed, and chucked in and out of vehicles a lot more. And in between that there will be those who use a tripod more or less.
 
Hi, I went for the tlt Travis 2.0, ordered yesterday after checking it was in stock, came today.
Feels really solid and well made, very helpful the chap at camera world, will be using it next week.
I have a smallrig full cage which I got cheap of eBay and just grabbed the smallrig l bracket today for £20 mint, hopefully that will be here soon, I like the cage, it should save it from accidental bumps, not sure if it has to come off for the l bracket it is it daft to use both, the cage had no grooves on it.

Thanks again
 
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