Tripods

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Rosebud44

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Karen
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Hi everybody

I am in the middle of doing a Photography course and in my next course work it says I will need a Tripod as I will be playing about with the shutter speeds. I was just wondering if anybody could maybe recommend some as I know there are tons out there.

I will also be taking group photos soon for a friend so wanted one for that anyway. Budget is about £150.

Thanks very much

Karen
 
You would not be disappointed with a Manfrotto 055 with I think its a 141 or something pan and tilt head. This is a very popular tripod, a little heavy maybe but there are times you will need this for it to be steady, in high winds or with heavy camera/lenses etc.
 
RedSnapper have a very good rep on here, and I think they give 10% discount to TPers.

I'm about to buy this one for a friend. Spec is very good, good size, nice ball head. http://www.redsnapperuk.com/tripod-283+RSH-12ballhead.html It's made by Slik, which is one of the leading brands, but you can only buy direct, hence the price of £99.

You can pay a heck of a lot more, but basically the next move up is to carbon fibre as opposed to aluminium. About a third less weight, but double the cost.
 
for that budget I'd go redsnapper,

if you go for a 055 you'll have to skimp on the head (I did) and a badly suited tripod head sucks donkey balls
 
david1701 said:
for that budget I'd go redsnapper,

if you go for a 055 you'll have to skimp on the head (I did) and a badly suited tripod head sucks donkey balls
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He's right. And he puts it so beautifully.
 
HoppyUK said:
I'm about to buy this one for a friend. Spec is very good, good size, nice ball head. http://www.redsnapperuk.com/tripod-283+RSH-12ballhead.html It's made by Slik, which is one of the leading brands, but you can only buy direct, hence the price of £99.
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One correction. I don't think Redsnapper tripods and ballheads made by Slik - the manufacturer I believe is called Tristar, custom made to Joe (redsnapper) specs (they have a similar range of tripods TRI-283 being the one sold as Redsnapper 283). They cost much more than Joe sells them for though if you buy it elsewhere...

To OP, for your budget you can actually get redsnapper carbon tripod (RS-283C) and RSH-528 panning head. That tripod is fantastic - light and solid. I have been using for more than a year and can't say a bad thing about it. Fantastic quality that will cost you a lot more if you go and buy a similar quality tripods of well known brands.
 
Thanks guys, have a few to look at there so will go and have a read up of them :-)

David - may have to use you then when I have something to get off my chest to my boss!!
K X
 
dalex_257 said:
One correction. I don't think Redsnapper tripods and ballheads made by Slik - the manufacturer I believe is called Tristar, custom made to Joe (redsnapper) specs (they have a similar range of tripods TRI-283 being the one sold as Redsnapper 283). They cost much more than Joe sells them for though if you buy it elsewhere...

To OP, for your budget you can actually get redsnapper carbon tripod (RS-283C) and RSH-528 panning head. That tripod is fantastic - light and solid. I have been using for more than a year and can't say a bad thing about it. Fantastic quality that will cost you a lot more if you go and buy a similar quality tripods of well known brands.
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You may be right Alexey. Just recalling my conversation with RS Joe, he might have said something like 'made by the same manufacturer as Slik' meaning Tristar, who I think make stuff for a lot of big names (including some 'leading European brands' it has been alleged :eek: ).

Some RS products are clearly the same underneath as Slik, eg the Trigger Head. The more you look into who makes what for whom, the more complex and confusing it gets! Most of them buy in carbon fibre from a third party as that's not a core engineering skill, and sell their multi-layering CF skills as their own.

Glad you rate your RS so highly :)
 
Rosebud44 said:
Thanks guys, have a few to look at there so will go and have a read up of them :-)

David - may have to use you then when I have something to get off my chest to my boss!!
K X
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always available, mine has been known to shift her shouting to afrikaans :p

worryingly the abuse is what I'll miss as I get closer to being self employed
 
How do people feel the different types of head compare? I'm probably going to order a Red Snapper soon, I currently use a really cheap Velbon, tilt and pan (horrible thing, if given half a chance the head falls off).
 
Hi everybody

Me again thanks for the advice, I asked my tutor for the course I taking which ones he thinks would be best and he said 'Manfrotto and Giottos tripods are particularly good' Has anybody else got any feedback from them?

K XX
 
i would also recommend the camlink pro series, i have the tppro28b i think its called, excellent quality and can be had for around £70. i know you get what you pay for normally but it doesnt apply to this tripod.

this is probably the best budget tripod on the market.
 
I gave my Manfrotto away before it drove me mad and I now have a Benbo. Years of frustration have now ended. Anything is possible with a Benbo. Everyone should have a Benbo :love:
 
I go ball head but thats because I HATE my 3d head, but always spend the money I want to spend on replacing it on something else first
 
To continue in the tone set above, get a decent quality ballhead with q/r

Three way heads blow goats
 
I have a reasonable quality ball head. I bought it as it's more compact than my previous pan and tilt which I gave away when I gave the tripod away. With the ball head it's hard to avoid a drop and I think I'll change to geared.
 
It's really important to chose the right legs and head (normally sold separately).

For the legs, things to consider include: Max and min height, range of adjustment, weight (for carrying), folded (carrying) size, sturdiness etc.

For the head, things to consider include : Weight, ease of removal, range of adjustment, ease and flexibility of adjustment (e.g. a ball head is easier to move in all planes), sturdiness and grip (i.e. how firmly it holds), max load etc.

Within this you should consider it's use. If you are going out a lot with it then folded size and weight are important. If you're using it indoors then weight and size is less important.

I use a Manfrotto 055 with a 322RC2 head btw, but it's about £180ish.
 
kartracer, I had an 055 but don't worry too much about my opinion. The reason I didn't like it was that I found it impossible to get into the positions I wanted. The Benbo can be position pretty much any way you can imagine and when upright I actually find it to be more stable than my Manfrotto was. I've no doubt that the 055 can be an adequate portrait and landscape tripod but the centre column straight through the middle of the legs design was far too limiting for me.
 
Cistron said:
Jepp.

Anyone tried this seller?

Alternatively, I've been eyeing the Benro B1 or B2. Anyone like them?
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They're excellent. V high quality. I have the J-2 which is the same basic design as the B-2, just different adjustment mech. B-series v good value.

PatrickO said:
Has anyone used a pistol grip head? E.g. like this one from redsnapper

http://www.redsnapperuk.com/tripod-RS-PistolGrip.html
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Grip heads are very fast to use, but often don't have a very big ball underneath. Some people swear by them, if speed is important. Also, since they always lock when you let go, the camera can't accidentally smash down.
 
HoppyUK said:
They're excellent. V high quality. I have the J-2 which is the same basic design as the B-2, just different adjustment mech. B-series v good value.
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Did you get yours from DC-stuffs? Hmmm, the B-2 with QR plate is ~80 quid, tempting...
 
Cistron said:
Did you get yours from DC-stuffs? Hmmm, the B-2 with QR plate is ~80 quid, tempting...
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Yes, I did. Good supplier :thumbs:

The dollar exchange rate has rather taken the shine of things lately though. It's dropped over 15% since I bought :(

You shouldn't get hit for tax though, or at least nobody I've heard of has been so far.
 
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