Lightweight tripod

[Berserker]

I'm considering attempting some astrophotography next year while on holiday, so need a tripod that'll survive checked baggage handling without blowing the weight limit. It'll need to be able to handle a 7D and 100-400L, possibly mounted on an Astrotrac.

Budget £200-ish. Will stretch to include a decent ball head (I have a cheap one but it's virtually impossible to control with all that weight on top).

PS - I know about the Astrotrac kits, but don't know if they'll fit in with the luggage constraints, and don't yet know if I actually want an Astrotrac (I'm heavily light polluted here so don't want to get something that I can only use once, especially given the price).

 

[D.P.]

http://bythom.com/support.htm

What is will say is that more important than just the weight of the gear and the physical capability of the tripod to hold that weight without breaking is the effective focal length of the lens you are using and the ability of the tripod to resist vibration.

Furthermore, supporting a weight without breaking and supporting a weight in a balanced manner that makes adjusting compositions easy without any dreaded flop are 2 entirely different things.


Your lens has an effective focal length of 640mm or so in 35mm terms. That is a very small field of view that highly amplifies vibrations.


There is a saying in the world of tripods you must choose 2 from cheap, light and sturdy.

 

[Amp34]

On a more realistic/less technical note... The Manfrotto 190x Pro is a pretty good tripod if you're not to concerned about weight (about 1.8KG). It will hold what you want pretty well. Manfrotto also do a couple of carbon versions, the 3 and 4 section 190CX Pro at around 1.3Kg which are both nice. The carbon will deaden vibration much more efficiently than Aluminium as well, which is useful for long lenses.

I'm currently looking for a lightweight travel lens and the other option I'm looking is the three legged thing Adrian. It's aluminium rather than carbon but still light and very sturdy. They also do a carbon version called the Brian but that's about £100 more.

While weight is always useful in a tripod it also makes things significantly more awkward when you have to carry it. D.P. is right to an extent with his quote, but it's not finished..."choose 2 from cheap, light and sturdy, however the best tripod is the one you have with you". All of the above should be stable enough for what you want, evidenced by them being some of the most popular travel tripods around at the moment...

Gitzo do do a lovely set of travel tripods (mountaineer and traveller), however at ~£500 the are significantly over budget... There are also a company beginning with B that do "copy" Gitzo tripods however they are still £300+.

EDIT: A thread I started on a similar subject a few weeks ago with some more information and "debate" http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18460937&highlight=travel

EDIT 2:If you do think you need a heavier tripod then the 055 XPro is an excellent tripods. Very sturdy, however it packs "down" to only 60cm and is 2.5kg in weight, not exactly travel friendly (I've taken mine on trips once or twice because I needed a tripod, I don't any more...

As for heads, I use a either the mini or compact ball head from manfrotto (http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/product_list/8374.31708.1040786.0.0/Classic_Ball_Heads) when travelling and the 804 RC2 when not which are both nice heads, not too expensive but don't suffer from any droop or problems that are suggested in the link DP gave. I've used 300mm primes on them and they have been fine so your 100-400 should be ok. £200-250 would get you a nice 190xPro or Adrian with a compact ball head at less than 2kg (for extra sturdiness you can weight down the tripod with the centre column hooks on some).