Advice for novice buying tripod

Metric Tensor

Hi All,

Amazon Warehouse have a deal at the moment where if you spend £200 you get a £50 discount and I've a few bits and pieces picked out for myself but I need to push it over the £200 mark.

So I thought about investing in a tripod from what's available in the amazon warehouse.

I'm not much of a photographer (yet) but I really enjoy taking long exposure (evening/night) photos.

My choice will be limited by what's available so I'd appreciate advice on good brands, features I should look for, gimicky things to avoid, etc. rather than a specific make and model.

I've a Nikon D90 and the heaviest lens I have at the moment is an 18-200. I'd like something that will fold up pretty small - which I'm sure is what everybody wants. I'm unlikely to be using the tripod for any studio shots but I might also set it up with a timer for some family shots at Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

secman

Metric Tensor wrote: »

Hi All,

Amazon Warehouse have a deal at the moment where if you spend £200 you get a £50 discount and I've a few bits and pieces picked out for myself but I need to push it over the £200 mark.

So I thought about investing in a tripod from what's available in the amazon warehouse.

I'm not much of a photographer (yet) but I really enjoy taking long exposure (evening/night) photos.

My choice will be limited by what's available so I'd appreciate advice on good brands, features I should look for, gimicky things to avoid, etc. rather than a specific make and model.

I've a Nikon D90 and the heaviest lens I have at the moment is an 18-200. I'd like something that will fold up pretty small - which I'm sure is what everybody wants. I'm unlikely to be using the tripod for any studio shots but I might also set it up with a timer for some family shots at Christmas.

Thanks for reading.

I rushed into buying a tripod, thought it was all about the weight, so purchased a neat , not too big carbon fibre one with a regular head on it.

2 years on, it's not tall enough, head is not easiest to manage and in certain circumstances it is too light.
I would get a good sturdy one for long exposure, definitely with a ball head.

Dr_Bill

I use two tripods, one for travelling and one for chucking in the back of the car. Travel tripods are a compromise, with weight and how sturdy they are. Don't be sucked into the carbon fibre trap, you pay a massive premium for saving a few grams.

I use a Manfrotto Befree aluminium travel tripod which comes with a ball head, its ideal for chucking in the suitcase when flying away on holidays & does suffer from the limitations as described above.
Something like a Manfrotto Manfrotto 190XPRO aluminium 4 section tripod with a horizontal column is excellent at around Eur140. You do need to buy the ball head separately. I use an earlier model and it is an excellent solid tripod, it is heavy but it it is also very solid and stable.

I've seen plenty of folks buy really expensive carbon fibre tripods which are light only to go on and buy bags of lead shot to hang underneath the tripod!! seriously!

If you're thinking that Eur80 tripod in the corner will do the job, you'll only be kicking yourself in a few months time out of frustration due to blurred shots caused by camera vibration when the shutter fired. Can't really stress this enough go the distance and invest in a decent tripod it will last you for absolutely years, 7 years on mine is still going strong!

Metric Tensor

Dr_Bill wrote: »

If you're thinking that Eur80 tripod in the corner will do the job, you'll only be kicking yourself in a few months time out of frustration due to blurred shots caused by camera vibration when the shutter fired. Can't really stress this enough go the distance and invest in a decent tripod it will last you for absolutely years, 7 years on mine is still going strong!

Thanks a mill Dr_Bill and secman.

Laughing here because I pulled the trigger on an €80ish one this morning!! Oh well!!!!

I suppose it'll give me an excuse to buy another one this time next year.

Appreciate the advice.

CelticRambler

Dr_Bill wrote: »

If you're thinking that Eur80 tripod in the corner will do the job, you'll only be kicking yourself in a few months time out of frustration due to blurred shots caused by camera vibration when the shutter fired.

Ah now it depends on what you get for your 80€. In my case, I bought a Manfrotto Compact Action tripod for 60€ in January and it's been a great investment. Light enough to take on many a long walk and legs that aren't constrained by a tie, so they can be placed in all kinds of difficult terrain, which also makes it easy to add stabilising "accessories". The only time I've had unusable shots due to vibration has been when the ground itself has (literally) been shaking - bridges - so my other, much heavier, video tripod wouldn't have fared any better.

Manfrotto France have a 15% sale on this week, so I've just ordered a second quick-release "plate" to make it easier to switch cameras in the cold.

TheQuietFella

That's good thinking!!!