Are Red Snapper really good ?

RedDanDoc

RedDanDoc

RedDanDoc

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Are Red Snapper really good ?

I bought a tripod from them last Sunday and when it came it had a scratch on the shoulder of one of the legs, this I was prepared to overlook as long as it worked but then I noticed a crack develop and then one of the legs is totaly broken around the bolt on the top of the leg.



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Would you say that this is a one off and that they are normally good or should I get my money back and go with a different vendor ?

In a bit of a pickle actually as I only bought the tripod to photo a friends wedding and now I'm stuck without a decent tripod for the day I'm a bit dissapointed but that's life.
 
You get what you pay for and red snapper are cheap. They may be better than the throw away super market junk but I wouldnt say they are good.

I saw one of the bigger models in a camera shop, put on my d90 and 70-200mmf/2.8 ad found the head sloppy. Tapping then of the lens would snd vibrations through the whole setup. Pretty useless.

It is sad that it s seemingly impossible for most companies to make usable tripods and heads. And the goods ones out there costs the saw as a pro glass.
 
Oh I thought that it was cheap because it was ion special offer. I only got it because a few people posted on here about them. Must say I'm happy with the ball head that came with it.

I'll give them a call tomorrow see what they say not to keen on paying for return postage though.
 
This is one of the reasons I like my cheap-ish Hama tripod from the rainforest. The legs sit inwards into the base through these big rivety bolts.

Its not all that stable at 300mm though. Although I doubt all those people who say they can slap their rigs and have no vibrations :/
 
Have to say I don't think that's representative of how the majority of Red Snapper tripods are built. Mine has been absolutely bomb proof.

Obviously in comparison to a £300 set of legs, they're going to come up short, but they are excellent and better than budget options from the more well known manufacturers.

Get back to them - I'm sure they'd be happy to sort something out for you.
 
Never had any issues with mine. I did pull the legs apart by accident once but it all went back together fine. You need to spend a fair bit more to get anything appreciably better. Mine held a 1D3 with various lenses no problem, including a Sigma 120-300 f2.8 with x2 TC, Canon 24-70L etc.
 
I only just got mine on Tuesday, seems rock solid for the price, mine is the RS-283 & RSH-528 Head £75. Hopefully that problem is just a one off,
Think I will go have another closer look at mine in case (with a magnifying glass:eek:)
 
As I said in another tripod thread, buy a tripod which is way over spec for what you need. Mine's rated for 25Kg iirc although my kit is 6 or 7Kg, maybe a little more if I hang my bag off it. Rock solid though, even fully extended in windy conditions. I'm not saying pick up one rated for such a weight unless that's what you need, but you get the picture.
 
snow patrol said:
i had a redsnapper for a year or so...I now have a manfrotto which cost about twice as much but is about 10 times better.
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I used a manfrotto and it was very good but very heavy, not a problem for many situations but I need to hike with the tripod. The carbon fibre tripods that are as stable then cost a fortune but to me are ultimately worth it to get both stability and light weight.
 
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And said:
As I said in another tripod thread, buy a tripod which is way over spec for what you need. Mine's rated for 25Kg iirc although my kit is 6 or 7Kg, maybe a little more if I hang my bag off it. Rock solid though, even fully extended in windy conditions. I'm not saying pick up one rated for such a weight unless that's what you need, but you get the picture.
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You also have to be careful here but some cheap Chinese brand rated to 40kg won't be as stable as a Gitzo rated to 20kg.


The weight rating is the max weight the tripod can support without breaking, not the weight that can be properly stabilized.

More important than your camer weight is often the length of lenses, both physically and importantly in terms of focal length. A lighter but longer lens can put more force on the head than a heavier shorter lens. But what is really important with a tripod is the vibration resistance at long focal lengths. At 400mm the smallest vibration will be magnified so you need rock solid support.

And with crop cameras you find very quickly you are at very long lengths and need a lot of good support, even if the camera and lens is not the price of a car. A 70-300mm begginers wildlife lens has an effective focal length of 450mm and will magnify vibrations more than $10,000 400mm f/2.8 prime lens on a full frame body. What's more the weight of big glass tends to dampen vibrations and also minimize wind effects.
 
D.P. said:
You get what you pay for and red snapper are cheap.
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many of their models are about expensive as manfrotto tripods - if thats cheap id like to see expensive.

\I have had mine for a few months now, not a problem at all. One of the leg stems came off but I realised that was my fault as I yanked it hard when deploying lol and it was really easy to put it back in again.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
many of their models are about expensive as manfrotto tripods - if thats cheap id like to see expensive.

\I have had mine for a few months now, not a problem at all. One of the leg stems came off but I realised that was my fault as I yanked it hard when deploying lol and it was really easy to put it back in again.
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Gitzo carbon fiber starting at the 35 series, and Really right stuff are good tripods.
 
Just got my Red Snapper at lunch. Checked it over and it's looking good, a good bit of weight to it but that suites me :D
 
After re-reading the description on red snapper, shoud I have got a short centre colum along with the one in place? I bought the 283 and the 528 head combo.
 
:eek: Oh noo! I had just emailed saying it was missing before asking the question... Found it :( silly me, I thought the bag was a wee bit heavy haha.
 
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