What cheap tripod would yous recommend?

[pixmedic]

Dolica seems like the current best-of-breed in the inexpensive tripod game. Products - Tripods and Monopods - Dolica

You know, if tripods were automobiles, then almost every single TPF driver would as a matter of status, drive a Bentley on the weekends, and would have a nice Rolls-Royce as his drive-to-work car.

My God...not everybody needs a $1,300 Gitzo tripod. Or a $1,500 Hermes purse. Or a pair of $3,000 Swarovski binoculars. Or a $34,900 Phase One digital back.

What kind of tripod do you use Derrel?
Just out of curiosity.

 

[Rick58]

I used to use an aluminum surveyor's tripod with an adapted head for my LF. That sucker could stand up through a hurricane. It doesn't have to be expensive, but it has to be steady and rock stable or you would be better off hand holding.

 

[nmoody]

Tripods are a great thing to buy used! I've bought most of mine through Craig's List or similar 'sites and you can typically find good quality gear for less than half of new. In my area a nice set of Manfrotto 055 legs and a 079 head can be found for $100 - 125.

This is what I think is the best route to take. Check out what ever classifieds you have around you. Craigslist and such are also awesome options. Lots of film/video tripods will work with only a little work.

 

[Derrel]

Dolica seems like the current best-of-breed in the inexpensive tripod game. Products - Tripods and Monopods - Dolica

You know, if tripods were automobiles, then almost every single TPF driver would as a matter of status, drive a Bentley on the weekends, and would have a nice Rolls-Royce as his drive-to-work car.

My God...not everybody needs a $1,300 Gitzo tripod. Or a $1,500 Hermes purse. Or a pair of $3,000 Swarovski binoculars. Or a $34,900 Phase One digital back.

What kind of tripod do you use Derrel?
Just out of curiosity.

I loathe tripods, but I own three. One I own but have not used in a decade is an old Bogen 3040, the two-section model with the "crutch" style legs...it's packed away with my view camera stuff, in storage.

My second tripod is a most-unusual one, the Bogen 3051, a sort of an unusual "automatic" tripod. It's unlike any other tripod, except the larger model variant of it they also make. It weighs about 15 pounds with a lightweight ball head on it.

My current most-used tripod is a cheap, $99 (plus free shipping) carbon fiber model, Adorama's house brand, the Flashpoint 1127. It's a Gitzo-imitating tripod that has probably about 80% of the rigidity of the Gitzo it imitates, but was sold at 1/10th the price.

I seldom shoot off of a tripod.

 

[pixmedic]

Dolica seems like the current best-of-breed in the inexpensive tripod game. Products - Tripods and Monopods - Dolica

You know, if tripods were automobiles, then almost every single TPF driver would as a matter of status, drive a Bentley on the weekends, and would have a nice Rolls-Royce as his drive-to-work car.

My God...not everybody needs a $1,300 Gitzo tripod. Or a $1,500 Hermes purse. Or a pair of $3,000 Swarovski binoculars. Or a $34,900 Phase One digital back.

What kind of tripod do you use Derrel?
Just out of curiosity.

I loathe tripods, but I own three. One I own but have not used in a decade is an old Bogen 3040, the two-section model with the "crutch" style legs...it's packed away with my view camera stuff, in storage.

My second tripod is a most-unusual one, the Bogen 3051, a sort of an unusual "automatic" tripod. It's unlike any other tripod, except the larger model variant of it they also make. It weighs about 15 pounds with a lightweight ball head on it.

My current most-used tripod is a cheap, $99 (plus free shipping) carbon fiber model, Adorama's house brand, the Flashpoint 1127. It's a Gitzo-imitating tripod that has probably about 80% of the rigidity of the Gitzo it imitates, but was sold at 1/10th the price.

I seldom shoot off of a tripod.

the flashpoint sounds nice actually. and carbon fiber??
makes me wish i had seen those before I bought my heavy $200 manfrotto. not that i dont love the manfrotto, but its heavy with a camera on it.

 

[Tailgunner]

i wouldn't recommend a cheap tripod at all if you are going to put anything more than a point and shoot camera on it.
if you are on a budget, look for a used tripod in a good name brand like manfrotto, gitzo, velbon, vanguard....im sure there are others.

This^^

I started out with a cheap Tripod and I could kick my self in the rear for it! A tripod can truly make or break you, especially if you're shooting long exposures.

Check out Ebay or Craigslist for a good used quality tripod as mentioned above.

 

[Derrel]

the flashpoint sounds nice actually. and carbon fiber??
makes me with i had seen those before I bought my heavy $200 manfrotto. not that i dont love the manfrotto, but its heavy with a camera on it.

Yeah, the Flashpoint F-1127 is good for the money, and very light in weight due to the carbon fiber, but I see that Adorama has STOPPED SELLING the doggone thing. I suspect that the profit margin was not high enough for them, or that they just found a new supplier of low-priced tripods.

It seems to me that Adorama is now left with some remaining stock of higher-end Flashpoint models, and ALL of the lower-priced ones are discontinued.

Tripod Legs | Buy, Compare & Review | Adorama

The reason I suggest Dolica is that they make low-priced tripods that fulfill the needs of many people. If all a person needs is a tripod to hold the camera in one place for a selfie, or the once-a-year family Christmas card photo, snapped using a remote timer, or the self-timer, a low-cost tripod is plenty good.

Low-cost tripods have been around for many years. Many people are happy with a light, small, easily carried tripod that does what they need it to do: hold the camera in one position, so a shot can be taken from a tripod. There are low-cost tripods for the same reason that there are low-cost, Chinese-made cheapie flash units and low-cost Chinese-made cheapie flash triggers.

There's a reason Nikon and Canon sell more 55-200mm kit zooms than they do $2,499 f/2.8 image-stabilized 70-200mm ultrasonic motor lenses. There's a reason that many people buy cheap Yongnuo flashes, rather than $599 Canon 600 flashes. There's a reason the Nikon D5200 outsells the Nikon D4.

There's a huge market that realizes why the Dolica tripods exist. They do what many people want, at a price many people are willing to pay. Not everybody can afford $1,000 bottles of Dom Perignon up in da' club, like Whiz Khalifa can...

 

[table1349]

I'm searching for a cheapish tripod that works well..

What tripod would you recommend?

There ain't no such thing. Buying a tripod is like buying Chinese take out. You can only pick two.

Cheap, Light, Sturdy. Which two do you want?

Read this and save your money. Tripods and Ball Heads by Thom Hogan

 

[yioties]

I got this tripod as a gift and am happy with it so far. They paid $100 for this including tax. MANFROTTO-MK394-PQ-TRIPOD-W-BALLHEAD-4SECT I don't have any heavy lenses so this works well for me.

 

[Derrel]

THIS is the tripod I have used the most. It was originally called the 3051 when it was imported by Bogen. Now that Bogen is out of business, it is marketed at the Manfroto 058B. It weighs around 15 pounds with a head.

Every other tripod is ridiculously,ridiculously slow and awkward to set up quickly, or to adjust quickly.

As you can see at around the 5 minute mark, there is more to a tripod than just "steadiness"; there is also sheer SPEED, and convenience in actual use.

The old-style flip-lock legs with 9 or 12 or 15 individual locks to open, then lock, are ridiculously slow, but the tripods are very compact when collapsed. God forbid you have to loosen, then tighten, 9, or 12 twist-locks...

 

[NancyMoranG]

Dumb questions of the day...'integrated head' ...does that mean fixed, or can I swap it out? What should it say if I want to take in portraiture 'mode'? Or what will I look for when purchasing a head?
thanks, Nancy

 

[Derrel]

My feeling is that "integrated head" means the head is more or less permanently on there. On the so-called three-way head, often called a pan-and-tilt head, or 3-way pan and tilt head, there are two levers, with screw-tighteners, that allow the user to tilt the camera to "tall" or portrait orientation. Once the camera is set up correctly, the users tightens the handles, and locks the tripod head into the right position.

Integrated heads are usually found on lower-priced tripods, and are almost always of the pan-and-tilt or "3-way" style, which is a very easy to manufacture design that is also low in cost.

Here is an article that might help you, Nancy.

http://www.shutterbug.com/content/tripod-heads-buyer’s-guide-match-your-shooting-needs

 

[480sparky]

Personally, I just drive steel pilings down to about 40 feet (or to bedrock, whichever comes first), then pour an 8-foot diameter concrete pier filled with 800 pounds of #2 rebar to the height I need.

 

[Aakajx]

Thanks all. Well I don't have $1000s to spend on a tripod. Like I'm not after something that's crap. Just a tripod thats affordable and study.. Thats still good. Thanks derrel and bossy.

 

[EIngerson]

Anything from Wal-mart should do the trick.