Tripod questions

Fairyrose

Fairyrose

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Hi all,

I just tried a new tripod - SIRUI MT5-AK MyTrip Travel Tripod In Aluminium. Two things occurred to me and I would be grateful for any thoughts or shared experiences.

First, the ball head kept sliding ever so slightly down as if pulled by the weight of my lens. I was only using a 18-55 or 50-200 lens so nothing too heavy and surely that can’t be right. I had to fix the ball head a centimetre or so higher against the horizon and then gently fine-adjust it to be in the correct position.

Also, I found the four screw legs somewhat cumbersome to set up and fold down again. I ended up carrying the tripod around with me in its extended form. :-) Are clip legs better/ easier? Looking online there seem to be more screw- leg tripods than clip legs so there must be a reason for that?

Also would you go for theee leg extensions instead of four?

Thanks in advance.
 
Cheap is likely to be nasty. If the ball head will not hold your camera securely, there is no point at all in owning that tripod.

Clip legs are quicker to set up than screw legs. My tripod has screw legs and I keep it extended much of the time - as do most other tripod users I know.

The more legs extensions the tripod has, the more joints there are to be a bit wobbly. So, three leg extensions rather than four - with the proviso that the tripod needs to fold up small enough to pack away somewhere.
 
My suggestion for the first point is harsh, but I would get a better head,

Type of leg lock comes down to personal choice, I find the screw type quicker to use, but clip type are easier to see if locked or not

Again three or four is personal choice, three are supposed to give better rigidity, but overall tripod size will be greater
 
My preference for leg sections is four IF the extended length is longer than normally needed... in general, four sections partially extended will be more stable than three sections fully extended.
 
Fairyrose said:
Also, I found the four screw legs somewhat cumbersome to set up and fold down again. I ended up carrying the tripod around with me in its extended form. :) Are clip legs better/ easier? Looking online there seem to be more screw- leg tripods than clip legs so there must be a reason for that?
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Screw legs have become more popular over the last few years - some people prefer them - some do not. A lot of the low to middle range tripods from various brands look suspiciously similar. I suspect the screw legs are cheaper to manufacture.

Clamps can loosen at inconvenient times - OTOH people don't always tighten screw legs properly every time.

Some people find flipping clamps quicker - others find them fiddly and finger catching.

My experience is that clamps are the most likely failure point on any tripod I have owned.

I prefer screw legs on a smaller tripod that is carried bare - less to catch and on a smaller tripod I can typically grab all screws on the leg with a single twist to get the tripod extended or to tighten when folding.

OTOH I prefer clamps on a larger tripod. Assuming they are maintained and adjusted when necessary then they are more consistently secure - and I carry a larger tripod in a bag so they are protected and won't catch.

As for carrying the tripod extended? I do it with both types. I see other people do it with both types.
 
What tripod have you got ? It sounds cheap ! Under £40 I reckon ! You can’t scrimp on an item that you want to be lightweight and rigid and small and sturdy! It doesn’t compute !
 
I use two ! 1 sturdy that’s 3section and metal build and a travel 1 that’s 4 section and carbon !
 
Your major complaint seems to be droop after tightening up the adjustments, so you have to aim the lens a bit higher to compensate. If this is the ball head then a better ball head will solve the problem. But is it the ball head? It could be the tripod bending a little as the weight and unbalanced torque is released onto it. You could check that out by testing it again with the legs fully telescoped in as short as possible. If that improves the droop then the tripod itself is at least part of the problem.

Note that this droop wouldn't happen if the camera-lens combination was mounted on the ball head directly beneath its centre of gravity. Only with a very short lens will that point be the tripod bolt hole in the camera body. If your ball head can take quick release plates of the kind only gripped by two parallel sides you can buy a long plate with a bolt which can slide along a long slot in it. That allows you to slide the camera body backwards, pointing roughly at the right elevation, until it's positioned where it balances evenly, and then clamping the plate on the ball head. Then when you've done the final adjustments of aim there will be far less excess weight on one side trying to tip the camera over and cause droop.

More fussy than just buying a really sturdy well engineered tripod and ball head, but much cheaper :-)
 
I have tried a few cheaper Tripods and found problems when I put larger lens on etc.
I have since decided it's better to pay out for something decent and upgraded to a Benro and a Gitzo
 
Thank you for all your replies. It isn’t a cheap tripod, or at least not in my books. I paid £120 on Amazon.
 
Fairyrose said:
Thank you for all your replies. It isn’t a cheap tripod, or at least not in my books. I paid £120 on Amazon.
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I am sorry to say when i started out I Got a tripod that cost £100 which I thought was expensive.
I now realise that unfortunately £100 is not in the slightest bit expensive and is mid range at best. :(
my Benro costs about £400 for the legs and £200 for the head.
 
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Fairyrose said:
Thank you for all your replies. It isn’t a cheap tripod, or at least not in my books. I paid £120 on Amazon.
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As Peter has already alluded to, £120 for a tripod and head is cheap......in fact cheap for a ballhead alone.
 
Perhaps you could return it, sounds like it's not up to the job.
In my experience cheaper tripods tend to be ok with relatively light equipment, but ball heads are a different matter entirely.
The dreaded droop is very annoying, maybe look to get something secondhand,
 
Fairyrose said:
Thank you for all your replies. It isn’t a cheap tripod, or at least not in my books. I paid £120 on Amazon.
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In the real world that's a lot of money to pay for some metal tubes and grips with some plastic knobs.

Reality check: you presumably bought it based on size and weight ..... so it's light and small .... which is the fundamental compromise here rather than the money. Cheaper ballheads are a risk - small lightweight ones especially so.

If it's returnable and you can compormise on the size and weight then look at the Manfrotto Befree travel range. Bit bigger - not too much money - and a reasonable compromise. There are also some Chinese brands like K&F which some people seem to like (and various suspicious looking similar models).
 
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Thank you again. Yes I would have thought I can return it. Thanks all for confirming that the ‘droop’ is not normal/acceptable!

Thanks also for the reality check re the price.

I will have a look at the Manfrotto range.
 
Fairyrose said:
Thanks also for the reality check re the price.

I will have a look at the Manfrotto range.
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There are discounts on Manfrotto at various retailers at the moment - eg. 25% off at Wex and 30% off at Jessops.
 
As others have said this sounds like a problem that's almost always solved by buying something more expensive. There isn't a holy grail tripod out there unless you have limitless funds. I think it's been said here but with tripods you can have any 2 of performance, weight and cost. As a heavy tripod user, I ended up just spending the money and now have a setup I have no complaints about (FLM legs and a Z1 head).

Twist lock legs have been terrible on all the (sub-£150) legs I've ever had, but on the FLM it's a 1/4 turn to lock and it locks brilliantly. Much prefer them to clamps. Again - cheaper legs will give you a poor impression of how good some twist locks can be. Same goes for droopy heads. You can account for it as Chris mentioned, which I found fine for landscapes. Macro though was irritating as hell. Again, with a decent monoball, these problems disappear.
 
Harlequin565 said:
As others have said this sounds like a problem that's almost always solved by buying something more expensive. There isn't a holy grail tripod out there unless you have limitless funds. I think it's been said here but with tripods you can have any 2 of performance, weight and cost. As a heavy tripod user, I ended up just spending the money and now have a setup I have no complaints about (FLM legs and a Z1 head).
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Question is how much is a tripod worth to the OP - and how flexible can they be on size and weight.

The tripod referenced is 1.1kg with the head and 31cm folded.

For somebody packing for a trip and carrying other stuff then those numbers are attractive. Might just about work with a smaller camera such as MFT in which case a compromise that succeeds (just) on those criteria.
 
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Dryce said:
Question is how much is a tripod worth to the OP - and how flexible can they be on size and weight.

The tripod referenced is 1.1kg with the head and 31cm folded.

For somebody packing for a trip and carrying other stuff then those numbers are attractive. Might just about work with a smaller camera such as MFT in which case a compromise that succeeds (just) on those criteria.
Click to expand...

I have an older style Manfrotto carbon Befree, that also weighs 1.1kg, folded length is 39cms with a FLM 24F ballhead
Ditched the Manfrotto head that was included, it was a droopy little devil
In outright tripod terms it's pretty crap, but to quote an old saying about what camera
Maybe the best tripod is the one you have with you.

Got one I keep in the car, it's a Manfrotto 055 Pro with Arca Swiss Z1 head, stable yes, lightweight definitely not.
So the Befree comes with me when I travel, I use m4/3 and Fuji, so nothing very heavy and it helps me get photos I wouldn't have without it.

I have owned Gitzo series 3 and still have a FLM that although not overly large or heavy is still not best suited to light travel photography.
My point is we can all suggest more expensive, stable tripod and head combos, but they don't always suit the intended use
 
Thanks again for all your input.

I’ve found two different Manfrotto tripods, can’t quite figure out the difference. Manfrotto Befree One or Aluminium Twist?

But will definitely have a look at the special offers. Thanks for the tip!
 
Personally I would return it.

My preference is for Benbo Tripods, I have a model 1, which is big and heavy but astonishingly stable, and a trekker which is much the same but smaller. These are very flexible, really good for macro work and built to outlast anything.

The key for me however is that you can easily get spares, so I wouldn't hesitate to get one from ebay - I have seen them go for less that £50.

Oh and I have had my model one since the 90s, all that has ever needed replacing were the plastic feet which wore out on a stone floor.
 
I also have a benbo model 1, it's very stable and versatile, but it's not something I would want to be lugging around the countryside. I thought about getting a trekker, but opted for a cheapish travel tripod, for the amount of times I will use it out and about, it will do just fine.
 
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