Recommend a Tripod + best place to buy.....

gline

Looking to get a tripod for a Canon d30.

What can you guys recommend? Where is te best place to buy?

Any advice appriciated

rymus

any budget you want to stick to? My first tripod was out of Argos and lasted me a few years of use & abuse. I think it was only like 30 quid too.

My second tripod was €480 and will hopefully be passed onto my childrens childrens children

I'd guess you want to come somewhere in the middle of that...

gline

well upto €100 id be willing to spend, doesnt have to be made out of titanium or anything

what sizes do tripods come in?.. any recommendation, its mostly just for closup stuff using a macro lens... not for scenic shots

peter1892

Take your camera & pop into Gunn's on Wexford st & check out what they have on offer...

gline

peter1892 wrote:

Take your camera & pop into Gunn's on Wexford st & check out what they have on offer...

yeh my mate used to use them for all his photography stuff, would you get a decent one for €100??

peter1892

gline wrote:

yeh my mate used to use them for all his photography stuff, would you get a decent one for €100??

I got a Manfrotto travel tripod for €75 - weighs about 1.5 kg, is pretty good & easy enough to lug around (it has it's own bag). €100 should get something decent. They'll be able to give you good advice anyway.

gline

peter1892 wrote:

I got a Manfrotto travel tripod for €75 - weighs about 1.5 kg, is pretty good & easy enough to lug around (it has it's own bag). €100 should get something decent. They'll be able to give you good advice anyway.

thanks

leinsterman

Hi,

Some things to consider -

Budget - ok €100, but this gives you limitation ... and bear in mind also that the likes of Manfrotto often price the head separately.

Weight & Size - If you plan to travel then you need something compact and light ... Otherwise get the heaviest, most stable you can afford. One useful feature is a hook at the centre where you can suspend a weight to increase stability (e.g. your back pack) ... this is something you can add yourself with some gaffer tape.

Sturdiness - you need something that will support the weight of the camera and lens in the conditions you are using it ... The 30d body & standard lens is not too bad but big lenses need lots of support. e.g. if you plan to use outdoors in very windy conditions than ... well ... good luck getting something for €100 ... but there are options in this price bracket, it's just difficult to find good ones.

In my case I do a lot out outdoor work in sometimes extreme conditions ... I have four forms of support / tripod for different conditions -

A Manfrotto 190PROB with three position head. This is an excellent tripod I got for around €180 in Gunns of Wexford St (talk to Cathy, she is very helpful). But you do not want to be hiking too far with this on your back. It weights a ton. I use this when I have the car handy.

A Velbon Ultra Max iF (see http://www.jessops.com/Store/s29074/0/Tripods/Velbon/Ultra-Maxi-F-Tripod/details.aspx?&comp=n) I got this at Jessops in Yeovil recently. It is very light and compact and fits in the top compartment of my Lowepro Rover II rucksack. It is surprisingly stable and you can splay the legs wide and/or opt not to extend fully for greater stability. I am quite impressed with it even with a Canon 20d and 100-400mm L lens (which has its own tripod mount) ... but I would not recommend using it a full extension in even the lightest winds (which is tall enough for my 6'3") ... This is my travel tripod and will get more use than the Manfrotto.

A bean bag ... extremely useful to rest the camera on something. You can pay enormous money at a camera shop for a "specialist" one ... or in my case get the same for about 1/4 price from a toy shop... another option here is a fold away wind cheater ... dual purpose!!!

A Tricks Walking stick / Monodpod - great for hikes as it is dual purpose ... I have used this on snow capped tops of Volcanos in the Andes ... at Croke park for the GAA ... so it is very versatile.

hope this helps ...

gline

id say i wont be using it in extreme conditions, mostly indoors the tripod will be used for. so doesnt have to be really have, i like the idea of the hook though

B0rG

pop in into any of the shops (Dawson st, grafton st, camera exchange is in that area as well). they have a bunch of selection. Look for something reasonably heavy (30D is heavy itself + the lens) and something that matches your height
I bought mine there for about 50E.
need to buy a monopod as well at some stage...

gline

yeh im gonna pop into town tomorrow, and see what i can find

gline

picked a tripod up in town on the weekend

in the camera centre on grafton street. cost €60, seems OK

they wanted to sell me one for 100 but tbh i probably wont use it too much yet as i am a beginner so i thought the 60euro one will do

i cant remember the brand of the one i bought, but it seems sturdy enough

mikeanywhere

I am after one too so the info on here is very useful. Ideally I was after a carbon fibre tripod but they are very expensive especially with a seperate head so I will need to look around more camera shops when the opportunity arises.

gline

mikeanywhere wrote:

I am after one too so the info on here is very useful. Ideally I was after a carbon fibre tripod but they are very expensive especially with a seperate head so I will need to look around more camera shops when the opportunity arises.

how much u wana spend?

mikeanywhere

gline wrote:

how much u wana spend?

I was looking at from the place I got all my gear from and they had them between £500-900 which is obviously quite expensive.

My wallet is saying no yet my heart is saying get the expensive one now and you wont have to spend more money in 1-2 years time!!