Tripods!

8utters

8utters

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Went on a shoot for my friend last night without a tripod...which was a mistake (I would have taken mine but my sister has taken my car which has my tripod in the back...and it's a rubbish one anyway, cost me £7 for Argos, so unsteady and generally crap).

So, probably in the market for a new tripod soon. The thing is, I have no idea which are good, and which heads or whatever I should be looking at.

Anyone got any recommendations? Not looking to spend a fortune, but want a good solid one that will support a 40D + 70-200 f/2.8 and in the future a 1D with bigger lenses. I ideally want to spend a bit of money on one now and be able to keep it for years and years.

Budget is probably around £100.
 
You'll get a good sturdy tripod and ball head from 'Redsnapper', for around £100. He advertises on this forum. It'll be as good as any combo you'll get from Manfrotto for a lot more. The ball head is especially good!
 
In the last hour I have just received my new manfrotto 055xprob coupled with the 804rc2 tripod. Cost me just under £160 and seems really good on first impressions with the camera. Easily capable of supporting weighty lenses.
 
I've got the redsnapper combo and i'm pretty sure you won't do better for £100.
 
can't speak in terms of redsnapper,but they get rave reviews from lots of folk on here....it would be nice if they were available to look at before purchasing,just to make sure your happy with your purchase...perhaps they are :shrug:

i can highly recommend the manfrotto range though,and i'm very happy with the 190XPROB and 804RC2 head :thumbs:
 
Slime said:
I've got the redsnapper combo and i'm pretty sure you won't do better for £100.
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Agree with that, I have both tripod and ballhead, I rate them.
 
Redsnapper here as well.
I really can't fault it.
 
Have you looked at Benro from http://photopal.co.uk ?
They are Chinese copies of Gitzo and Kirk but much lower price. We have a carbon fibre job from them and it is very good.
 
DonnaM said:
Have you looked at Benro from http://photopal.co.uk ?
They are Chinese copies of Gitzo and Kirk but much lower price. We have a carbon fibre job from them and it is very good.
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I have to say from what I've read and heard, that these are of poor quality. Poor quality alloy, not up to the job.

The CF tripods may be different but the ballheads seem to be very sub-standard, as are any of their alloy legs.

Have never used one but credible sources report numerous problems with them
 
I was going to buy a cheap one but so many people said "buy quality, it'll last for years" so I went for a Manfrotto 190XPROB + 804RC2 Tripod Kit from Morris Photo which is excellent. Having said that though if I'd seen all the rave reviews for the redsnapper tripods I may have got one of those instead.

LookUp
 
I went for the Manfrotto range and the RC4 plate for versatility, I have the 055 tripod with the 808rc4 head, spare 410pl plate, mn394 adapter, mn454 slide plate for macro and am waiting on a RC4 ball head so that everything will be hot-swappable without removing the plate from the camera/lens mount.
 
Another Redsnapper thumbs up from me, great build quality!! :)
 
Thanks to this thread I've ordered the Redsnapper tripod and ballhead. Let's hope it lives up to its reputation.
 
Willo said:
Thanks to this thread I've ordered the Redsnapper tripod and ballhead. Let's hope it lives up to its reputation.
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Good choice, I have a redsnapper + 804RC2, excellent tripod and head.
 
8utters, your photography interests should influence the type of head you get first (3-way, ball, gimbal, geared etc.).

As GarynLea points out, you can swap plates between different styles of head, and you should bite the bullet and spend more now and (if buying Manfrotto) go for an RC4 type head which are for heavier setups and use the 410PL plate. While the RC2 range are useful, you can use light equipment on a heavy duty head but it's better not to use your big guns on a lightweight. I don't mind using a P&S for video on my 488RC4.
 
I borrowed a gitzo at the weekend; i dont know how much they are but that was really good!
 
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