Tripod Recommendation

Tauriel

I have a SIGMA SPORT 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS for L-Mount and I am in the market for a tripod that can support such a heavy lens. I've never needed to use a tripod before so any recommendations on reliable and quality brands or even tips on what I should be looking out for would be most appreciated.

TIA

Gregor Samsa

What are you shooting? I'm guessing with the 150-600 it's action of some sort (nature or sports), but it could be landscape or other stuff too. And what you're shooting matters when choosing a tripod. And just as importantly importantly, the head matters.

I shoot Sony with a Tamron 150-500, which is a little shorter and lighter than your Sigma, but not much. Mainly birds, but a bit of astro. I've tried 3 tripod setups that each have different strengths.

Aluminium Manfrotto 190 Xprob tripod with a 3 Legged Thing ball head: It's fine and stable, but it's heavy, and the ball head is useless for anything that moves fast. Fine if you're doing landscapes, portraits, studio stuff, architecture or even some macro, but you just can't move your lens around on it (although there is a way to make a ball head work like a gimbal head, which is useful for action). I currently have it for use at home with a Velbon slider head for macro stuff.

Carbon Fibre Sirui Am-254 tripod with Sirui PH-10 gimbal head: Very lightweight and compact, so great for bringing out and about. A gimbal head is good for action - gives you freedom to point the lens anywhere safely and without effort. The problem is that to use a gimbal head effectively, you need to balance the camera/lens, and the problem with an externally extending zoom like your Sigma and my Tamron is that the balance changes between the lens being contracted and extended. The other problem is that it's not a tall tripod (you can get a centre column screw-on extension, but you lose stability), so I find myself crouching, and it's particularly bad for anything that requires pointing the camera up at all (the moon, a bird flying above you, etc). But this is my travel tripod.

SmallRig 73" Video Tripod and fluid head: This is what I've settled on now for nature. It's a bit big, heavy and bulky for bringing on a long hike, but it's rock solid and gives you complete freedom to point the camera wherever you want. So if I can carry it, it's the one I use. If you tighten down the head a little bit, you get enough friction that you can move it easily to follow the action of even fast moving birds, but when you let go, it stays exactly where you leave it. The legs extend to 73 inches, so with the head and camera on it, it can tower over me, and it's brilliant for un-guided astro, as you can point it high in the sky, but you can easily and smoothly nudge it as your subject slowly creeps across the sky. For birds, you can track them in flight, then just let go when they land and it stays perfectly set. It might not be robust enough for heavy video rigs, but for a mirrorless camera with even a long lens, it's perfect. It is a video tripod and head, so it's quick release plate isn't Arca Swiss compatible, but I just screwed a large, sturdy Arca style clamp onto it permanently. I'm really enjoying using it.

That's my experience anyway, for what it's worth.