Need a inexpensive tripod

[fmw]

The only important characteristic of a tripod is its ability to hold your camera and lens motionless during an exposure. There are other characteristics but this is the only one that really matters. I suggest looking for the heaviest used tripod you can find within your budget. At your budget stay away from travel tripods and those with carbon fiber legs.

 

[Braineack]

what stinks is under ~$150 everything is the same travel design, as soon as you want a more sturdy design the price jumps up significantly.

 

[dennybeall]

I've bought cheap tripods at the second hand store or flea markets for use with Trail Cameras and have found they just sit there once set correctly. The trail cams are not that heavy but sit there through wind and rain. The tripods may not be real stable but they don't fall if set and locked correctly.

 

[weepete]

I need an inexpensive tripod. I have now Canon 7D and I don't much about tripods. I will just shoot in doors of my family , kids and dog. Someone suggested one for 300 dollars but for a beginner it's not within my budget. Less than 100 dollars is where I want to go .All suggestions are helpful.

Sure. I've found Velbon to be excellent, been using one of their sherpa series for about 3 years now with very few issues, there are a couple of niggles but at the price point it's been very good. I've used mine for a week at a time, holding a 7D with battery grip, L bracket and it does fine even with my 150-600mm on. I've got 3 different heads for it: leveler with indexing rotator with a nodal slide, gimbal head and the standard 3 way pan head. Used it inside and out in all conditions from beaches to mountain summits.

Here's a link to one on amazon that's pretty similar
https://www.amazon.com/Velbon-Sherpa-200-Tripod-Panhead/dp/B000IGBB22

Newer versions have an option to do away with the central column so it'll go flat too, though the model in the link will not.

 

[TCampbell]

I really cannot "recommend" a tripod under $100. There are lots of them... I just don't recommend them.

The failure rates are usually high and the failure can cost you the gear ... but more often the tripod breaks and you have to buy another. Even when they haven't failed, they are not particularly solid. I have a friend that is on his 3rd "cheap" tripod and I've pointed out that while he claims not to be able to afford a more expensive tripod, he's already spent the money re-buying his "cheap" tripod 3x over.

Manfrotto has their "BeFree" line and there are also the "MeFoto" tripods which are relatively inexpensive... but even the least expensive of these start at around $150... and they don't really get into the decent quality until you get nearer to $200.

Benro makes their TAD18AIB1 tripod & head... it's an aluminum tripod with 4-section legs with flip-lever locks, and it comes with their B1 size ball-head. It's normally $190... but it's on sale for $170 (that's the price I see at B&H Photo anyway). I have had several Benro tripods, heads, and monopods so everything has had solid quality. They make the same tripod with the B2 size head (which can handle much more weight). The heads are screwed onto the leg assembly with the single 3/8" 16 bolt... which means you could get the cheaper B1 head... and then upgrade to a B2 head later (or just buy it with the B2 head ... it's only a little more money).

Basically I consider the $200 price point to be about what people should expect to spend to get a decent entry-level tripod. You can get an entry level tripod for less... but it wont be "decent"... it wont be very solid and may break more easily than you might guess.

 

[Derrel]

I need an inexpensive tripod. I have now Canon 7D and I don't much about tripods. I will just shoot in doors of my family , kids and dog. Someone suggested one for 300 dollars but for a beginner it's not within my budget. Less than 100 dollars is where I want to go .All suggestions are helpful.

Indoors. Family/kids/dog.

Sounds to me like almost ANY tripod could handle these situations. But what the heck...many here want to waste a lot of your money. The fact that you specifically said LESS than $100 means nothing here.

How about something in an $1,419 carbon fiber Gitzo, with a nice magnesium alloy ballhead? Ought to make those dog pics awesome!!!

 

[TCampbell]

Indoors. Family/kids/dog.

Sounds to me like almost ANY tripod could handle these situations. But what the heck...many here want to waste a lot of your money. The fact that you specifically said LESS than $100 means nothing here.

You say that. The friend of mine who is on his third cheap sub-$100 tripod ... this is EXACTLY what he used his tripods for. One of the kids would bump it, down it went, and that was the end of that tripod. Then he'd go out and buy another sub-$100 tripod.

Young kids... and dogs... get excited and playful and they jump... they knock the tripod and things break.

I think he told me they were basically $79... but x3 means he has now spent about $240 on tripods.

Part of the point of seeking advice is either to have what you might already believe validated... or by hearing a viewpoint that might change your opinion. The OP doesn't have to take our advice... nobody is MAKING the OP spend more money. You want to ridicule people because you don't like the advice? We're just giving guidance that if it were our purchase and knowing what we know now... we'd probably want to spend a little more on the tripod and have something durable that you buy only once and don't need to replace it.

 

[Braineack]

I bought a Chinese copy for $79 on amazon. It was just as sturdy as any other "travel" tripod. they are really all the same in that regard. I returned it for other reasons.

explain to me how this:

price at $60

could be any worse than this:

priced at $200.

same fork design, same locking mechanism design, same style legs...


it's not a sturdy design to begin with. My $250 tripod is a better design, and I'd still be worried about it around dogs and children...especially since it has a booming arm for my stupid work.

 

[Derrel]

Soooo much hyperbole here from some posters, others seem more realistically attuned to the OP's desire for a $100 OR LESS tripod

Is it truly neccessary for the OP to raise the tripod budget for his or her indoors shots of the kids in front of the holiday tree or the stockings hung by the chimney with care?

This $8,455 Schatler tripod ought to be able to resist scampering puppy dogs and gale-force winds caused by children rushing through the living room...

SachtlerVideo 18 S2 Fluid Head & Speed Lock CF Dual-Stage Tripod System

 

[Dave442]

The Chinese copy noted above is a typical example for many industries - not just photography. Go to the trade shows and one year you see a group from China picking up sample product, and the next year they are there with a booth with their copy of those items. It is now to the point that many companies do not put sample products out on the show floor. It used to be the copied product was noticeably inferior, now you see no visible difference.

With that said, I am sure there are now very cheap tripods that have the same design as that $400 model the photo store is selling. As I noted in my other post - I would look for a used model - it seems people change out their tripods with the frequency that people change golf clubs.