Sturdy cheap tripod needed

Mycroft H

Me and my a200 and my 70-300mm need a new tripod. While my old five pound 7dayshop one was fine for my old little light fujifilm s6500, Im not trustin pricy equipment on the top of it.

I do a lot of bird photography and the tripod needs to be sturdy, a lot of work is done on rough ground.
Im no expert on tripods and they all look the same to me. I rekon i can spend 70 but might stretch for somethin really good. Any ideas would be helpful

qwertz

Cheap or sturdy, not both. Take your pick.

AnCatDubh

A couple of things to think about which came up elsewhere today;

When buying a tripod don't rush into the cheapest thing you can find (not suggesting that you would). A tripod needs to have some substance mass so that it actually does its job correctly. The one i have (paid about €100) isn't great to be honest at full extension because the legs get too thin and flimsy. Then again I bought one in aldi for the craic - it cost €19.99 and its probably equally as good as my €100 one if maybe a bit rougher!

Buyer beware! Steel, Carbon/Graphite, and wood are all options. Carbon will probably be the dearest (could be more than the cost of a good camera if you were really serious about it) but its the lightest and sturdiest. Wood is just flippin eccentric (i'd say) so it will be probably something of steel / aluminium construct that you will go for. Again try to get something that is sturdy. That's the main thing.

Also foam grips on the legs are really useful. In cold weather you can literally stick to your tripod - being steel they go to freezing and below.

There are a couple of good primers over on tips from the top floor - tfttf.com - Throw the word tripod into the search box and it will retrieve a few podcasts on the subject.

Hope that helps.

Mycroft H

Hm good points. However if i was to say that extension height wasnt a priorty (ill knel on the ground and get wet knees for the sake of stability ). Angcatdubh wer did you buy your one??

A.Partridge

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Buyer beware! Steel, Carbon/Graphite, and wood are all options. Carbon will probably be the dearest (could be more than the cost of a good camera if you were really serious about it) but its the lightest and sturdiest. Wood is just flippin eccentric (i'd say) .....

On the contrary. My tripod is a Berlebach 3032 Report Series made in Germany and it is superb at damping vibrations, is light to carry and is warm to touch in cold weather.

Check out www.berlebach.ie

AnCatDubh

landyman wrote: »

Hm good points. However if i was to say that extension height wasnt a priorty (ill knel on the ground and get wet knees for the sake of stability ). Angcatdubh wer did you buy your one??

To be honest it's a couple of years back so i'm not sure but it may have been the photo store in Blanchardstown centre (the one on the upper floor) but they're no longer there. When i bought it i was pretty clueless - eh..., I think i went looking for a tripod that i could mount me camera on and no other requirements :eek: no advance research or anything. I just guessed if i paid €100 then i should get something half decent. The reality is you can spend multiples of hundreds if you want something specific.

As I say the second was one I couldn't pass - it was a €19.99 Aldi special which i thought would be useless but its ok for a €19.99. I wouldn't trust it in challenging times though - i'd happily mount a flash unit to it or something like that or place a camera on it in the middle of the sitting room floor maybe but it isn't sturdy enough in reality. Ok, if you hadn't anything else. I don't think it would take too much abuse. Fine value for money but i'd be careful about its use.

kgiller

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Hama-Star-61-Camera-Tripod-for-Photo-and-Video_W0QQitemZ120336059741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_TripodsSupports?hash=item120336059741&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

i got this and its fine. Holds my 400D and 70-300mm nice and sturdily. Cheap and cheerful. I cant remember what ebay shop i got it from, but only paid €20-25

mumof2

I bought a Slik Pro 340DX last week for my A200 and delighted with it. Easy to use, and has the foam grips. Cost E99.00. See http://photoimport.ie/database/Products_Anonymouslist.php?showmaster=Product_Type_Anonymous&ID=64

AnCatDubh

A.Partridge wrote: »

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Buyer beware! Steel, Carbon/Graphite, and wood are all options. Carbon will probably be the dearest (could be more than the cost of a good camera if you were really serious about it) but its the lightest and sturdiest. Wood is just flippin eccentric (i'd say) .....

On the contrary. My tripod is a Berlebach 3032 Report Series made in Germany and it is superb at damping vibrations, is light to carry and is warm to touch in cold weather.

Check out www.berlebach.ie

Sorry - I didn't mean to dismiss wood at all. OP I think in fact a good wooden tripod is in the premier league of tripods. As A.P points out - great for dampening vibrations and well respected.

The reference to eccentric was slightly tongue in cheek (sorry should've drop'd a smiley in there). Its just it conjures up an image in my mind of stately gentlemen/ladies with tweed jackets and knee high socks :eek: with sheets over their heads behind the camera. I know, I know, its all wrong in my mind - i'm sadly mistaken. I'm also a digging a far bigger hole the more i type so i guess i'll just stop now (and run for cover )

Calina

I bought my tripod in Argos for about 30E. It's doing what I need which is not costing me a fortune while being heavily abused.

Thirdfox

http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-pro330dx-a.html

Is the one I have - cost me 50 euro secondhand. very very stable (holds up to 8 pounds) and looks like it can take a lot of abuse.

Foam grips, changable heads, titanium legs (light!) - it's got all I need from a tripod (I had a 5 euro tripod before that and there is 45 euro's worth of difference in there )

democrates

A.Partridge wrote: »

On the contrary. My tripod is a Berlebach 3032 Report Series made in Germany and it is superb at damping vibrations, is light to carry and is warm to touch in cold weather.

Check out www.berlebach.ie

If they had an ie site it's gone, berlebach.de is up and running though.

The wooden pods look the business I have to say.

Mycroft H

Thirdfox wrote: »

http://www.thkphoto.com/products/slik/slik-pro330dx-a.html

Is the one I have - cost me 50 euro secondhand. very very stable (holds up to 8 pounds) and looks like it can take a lot of abuse.

Foam grips, changable heads, titanium legs (light!) - it's got all I need from a tripod (I had a 5 euro tripod before that and there is 45 euro's worth of difference in there )

Ill hav to look into these ones, seem to be selling for about 85 euro. The wooden ones are cool aswell though at an extra 100 its a bit out of my students pricerange!!

Thirdfox

The best thing is that it fits perfectly into a carry on luggage when you detach the head so no worries about flying with it. But it will still extend way past my eyes when using the centre column. The legs are independently adjustable too (and can be locked in 3 positions) - so if you're on unstable ground you can still get a stable photo

Currently I use it to hold my D40, 55-200mm and SB600 flash, not a bit of movement.