Recommend me a tripod

Auraomega

Auraomega

Auraomega

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I've been looking for a new tripod for a week or so but I still can't find anything that ticks all the boxes so I figured I'd get some advice from you guys!

I'm looking to use it with my D3100 to take landscape and mountain photography while backpacking so based on that I need something sturdy, lightweight, cheap and decent height that packs small. I figure I'm not going to get all of those, after all sturdy implies heavy and height implies it'll be large when packed down. The heaviest lens I'll be using is the kit lens and eventually a wide angle and I'll get another tripod for other scenarios. I've narrowed down what I want to:
Must pack to less than 50cm in length
Must have a hook so I can use my bag for extra weight/stability
Must be no more than £50 so if it gets trashed I'm not going to lose much sleep over it
Preferably be 1.5kg or less in weight
Preferably be at least 1.1m tall fully extended so I have when it's not windy.

Is there any brands that are cheaply priced but well made that I should check out?
 
Aye, for your budget you won't get all three unfortunately. I initially had the same requirements as the OP. I looked at the Redsnapper range of tripods but decided against them in favour of a Benro tripod, I was dissuaded by a few people on another forum about the legs being a bit flexy at the joints, I can't say whether this is true or not so am only going by what was said.

Err'ing on the side of caution I gave the Redsnappers a miss, I had looked at the Gitzo traveller tripods but almost had a heart attack when I saw the price of them! Plenty of reviews online suggest that Benro tripods are meant to be on par with Gitzo, who're meant to be the rolls royce of tripod makers. I decided to go with a carbon fibre Benro travel angel, mine cost £250 with a decent ball head (yeah I know, slightly over my initial £50 budget :o) but I can safely say it's amazingly sturdy and folds down to 41cm, includes a carry case and weighs in at around 1.7kg with the head, it has a hook on the bottom too. You can get the aluminum versions which are slightly heaver but a fair bit cheaper, still highly regarded though.

There are bigger better benro tripods but I opted against them as portability and weight was a key issue for me.

Overall I think it was well worth paying the extra.
 
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Thanks for the feedback guys!

I've looked on the Red Snapper website and found the RS-284 and RSH-24 in budget, it looks good quality too and I especially like the thought of spikes although I'm not sure how good they'd be. Right now this seems to be the leader, unfortunately slightly heavier than I'd hoped but what's an extra 2kg up a mountain? :o

The Benro ones are way out of my price range, maybe in the future or for something a little less risky they'd be great, but I'd be devastated if I ruined one.

I looked at the Manfrotto one previously but I've read a lot of dodgy reviews on the plastic clamps snapping, I'll be passing a high street store tomorrow which sells them so I'll nip in and see if they have one in stock I can play with before ruling it out!
 
I've got the 3-section Redsnapper and ball head. Great quality kit for the price - certainly never seen any real flex in the legs (unless you were to lean on it or something), responding to the above.
 
Depending on how much walking you will be doing 2KG could be a lot, especially with the size added.

I wanted something with similar specs to you a couple of years ago and decided my initial Tripod (a Manfrotto 055 ProB) wa sway to heavy for trips where walking and photography were going hand in hand (rather than walking to get to a spot to shoot). I decided to forego height and get a Giottos GB 1060 which is pretty good, however it is rather short.

I did a little review here if you're interested. http://wildaboutlife.net/wp/archives/122

:)
 
I tried to look at the Modo but the place didn't have them in stock, going on the reviews I've read plus the lack of tripods to play with I'm going to rule it out.

The Redsnapper ones are very very tempting as with the exception of weight pretty much fit the bill.

The Giottos one looks really good to but I am slightly concerned about using a tripod that close to the ground for various reasons.

What is everyones opinion on the Redsnapper RS-284 and RSH-24 for general use rather then specifically what I'm planning on? I think if it's going to be a good all round tripod that I might go for that for now and if it causes me problems the next time I'm backpacking I can buy the smaller Giottos one too.
 
I have the RS284 tripod and the ball head rsh-12?

I find the ball head to be excellent.

I find the tripod to be excellent to.

I use 450D, 70-200 lens and 11-16 mainly.

Because it's not carbon fibre the tripod and head do weight quite a bit, IMO. Not so bad if you're out and about for a few hours, but if you're on long walks up steep areas it can take it out of you depending on how you transport it. I currently have it on a Flipside 300, but maybe a better bag with better weight distribution would help.
 
Auraomega said:
I tried to look at the Modo but the place didn't have them in stock, going on the reviews I've read plus the lack of tripods to play with I'm going to rule it out.

The Redsnapper ones are very very tempting as with the exception of weight pretty much fit the bill.

The Giottos one looks really good to but I am slightly concerned about using a tripod that close to the ground for various reasons.

What is everyones opinion on the Redsnapper RS-284 and RSH-24 for general use rather then specifically what I'm planning on? I think if it's going to be a good all round tripod that I might go for that for now and if it causes me problems the next time I'm backpacking I can buy the smaller Giottos one too.
Click to expand...

The height of the Giottos can be a but if an issue and I would definately not recommend it as an everyday tripod for that reason, as a throw in your bag and forget its an excellent tripod as its just like having another lens in ur bag.
 
Your specs are pretty much exactly the same as I had with regard to size, weight and sturdiness. I quickly realised I wasn't going to be getting all 3 for £50.

Ended up with the Giotto MT8240B. 1kg excluding head, supports up to 3kgs and bang on 50cm long. If it weighed 2kg I probably wouldn't take it to half the places I do. 2kg plus head is close on a bag of spuds to carry around all day on top of warm clothes, camera gear, lunch, coffee etc etc.

Sorry, not even close to £50 but anything else that's as light will be flimsy.
 
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A quick question about the Giottos tripod, does this require an head or does it come with one, if not will the Redsnapper ones fit? I've decided I'm going to buy both that way I have the Redsnapper for general use and the Giottos one for when space and weight needs to be kept low.
 
Usually the tripod doesn't come with a head so you'll have to source one, unless you get one as part of a kit but I'm not sure if Giottos do this. As for the head fitment, if it's anything like my Benro travel angel (which looks similar to the giottos) if the head is too big the tripod won't fold up fully.

I think 50mm was the max diameter my head could be at the base before the legs started to slant outwards a bit, your milage may vary with the Giottos though. I wouldn't see it as being a huge issue I guess, it's just that it would take up a bit more room folded up, there's then the risk that if you had an included tripod bag that the legs might be folded out too much for it to fit in.
 
Not sure if you're asking about mine or mhk1058's Giottos but if mine it doesn't come with a head no, but will fit any standard head. I got a Manfrotto mini ball head because I already had a Manfrotto 3 Way, means the quick release plates are identical and it makes swapping over quite easy (I have the quick release plate attached to my camera most of the time so I don't forget it...). I bought the mini head because it was a lot smaller and lighter than the 3 way. No need to buy two heads though.:)
 
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