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Hello,

I am totally new in this forum. Can anyone recommend me well built and cheap tripod?

I found proaim 75mm tripod and fluid [ur=http://www.thecinecity.com/eshop/PROAIM-Fluid-Head-Drag-Head-P-FL-DH.htmll]head[/url]. This is of carbon fiber tripod.

What you think about these?

Anyone of you have any experience?

Thanks

Hi Chas. Welcome to the forum. Firstly, please indicate a location in your user details as this will be appreciated. We like to know roughly from which part of the world you are coming from. (If you are from QLD, you will be instantly banned... Not really!)

I no longer have a 5D but I do have a nice cheap Manfrotto aluminium tripod, model 294, with a 3 way head. It's solid, cheap and heavy. I think CF tripods are the way to go, but as they say, you get what you pay for.

Cheers.

Ozi

Welcome to the forum and we are looking forward to see your work.
I second what Ozi said. I have a number of tripods. I bought a couple of aluminium cheap ($30) for my point and shoot cameras. They are light and good for light pocket cameras, but totally unuitable when you put an SLR with a heavier lens (e.g. a Cannon 100 -400mm); unless you want the risk of damaging a few thousand dollars of gear. Please believe me it is a thrill when you see your expensive SLR and lens topping over.
So, I bought a heavy and very solid Manfrotto for about $350 (and this is a cheap tripod), which I found in a sale and I love it; it is quite solid but heavy - when travelling is a pain to carry.
Carbon Fibre tripods are very sturdy and can support heavy gear for a fraction of the weight so for about $200 (this is also a cheap tripod), I bought one which I take with me in a suitcase whenever I travel with an SLR, but without heavy long lenses. It is strong, supports my gear and it is light on my back.
So, please don't think of a tripod as an expense; think instead that a good solid tripod as a good investment that it will last you for years and will support and protect your gear. Research tripods and match it your your gear, but buy the best quality you can afford. If you cannot afford what you need, save your money and buy nothing till you can buy a good quality tripod you can trust with your expensive equipment.

There are no cheap, good tripods.

There are cheap tripods which end up being VERY expensive and don't really do the job very well
They end up being expensive as eventually you will replace it with a better one, then an even better one. Which will be the one you probably should have bought in the first place.

And there are good tripods.
Gitzo and Really Right Stuff come to mind.
Manfrotto (made by the same company as Gitzo but at a lower price/quality point) and a couple of brands out of China are a reasonable compromise.

you need to assess what weight you need to support. The tripod that is suitable for a Phone Camera will not cut the mustard when you put your 6D with a 600mm Super telephoto on it.
Also if you are mainly working in a studio, you can save a lot of money by getting a metal tripod. If you are planning to trek the Annapurnas you will want to outlay for Carbon Fibre.

You also need to think about your eye level. You will want to be able to look in the viewfinder without stooping. Unless of course your name is Gerry.

The third thing to consider is packing size. If you will be travelling a lot, one that packs up small will be worth sacrificing some stability for. I have seen recommendations for the MeFoto Backpacker in this class. But I haven't any personal experience.

Personally I use my Gitzo GT3541LS nearly all the time. I have others (see second paragraph) but nearly always go for the most stable option. I usually team it with the RRS Levelling Base. I even took this combo to Antarctica. So it IS possible to travel with it. I would have bought the RRS equivalent tripod, but they were not available at the time. I have since played with one, and they are MORE stable than Gitzo. I do have a ball head, but the levelling base provides me with enough movement for most purposes and is much lighter so is my head of choice.

Value for money....Benro tripods. I have 2 of them and have used them extensively. They do the job very well.

I definitely agree that CHEAP and WELL BUILT don't come together. You can get cheap and relatively well built or well built and relatively cheap though.

I use a Sirui T2205X + K10x ball head and a Manfrotto 055XPROB + RRS BH40LR ball head depending on my needs. The carbon fibre Sirui is light and perfect for travel but does not have the same rigidity as aluminimum Manfrotto (which I will replace with a similar sized carbon fibre tripod eventually). The RRS ball head is miles better than the Sirui K10x. However both systems can happily hold my D700 kit or my Hasselblad, it is the right tool for the right purpose, if I need light then the Sirui comes out, if I can afford the weight then the much larger Manfrotto.

Ideally I would go for:
-high quality carbon fibre legs (RRS, Gitzo are the best but Sirui/Manfrotto is not bad either)
-twist lock (they dont pinch)
-decent diameter tubes (esp the smallest tube)
-good arca-swiss compatible head (I prefer ball heads, RRS/Markins are the best)

I suspect you will need something at least the size of a Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 or 190CXPRO4 (carbon fibre 3 and 4 section models) if price is an issue then check out the aluminimum equivalents.

Cheap and Relatively Well Built:
-Manfrotto (290 series - alu only)
-Velbon (Sherpa 600 series - alu only)

Well Built and Relatively Cheap
-Sirui (look at the Nx and Tx series as well as their ball heads - both carbon and alu)
-Benro (not a huge fan due to very poor early personal experiences - both carbon and alu)
-Manfrotto (055 and 190 series - both carbon and alu)

I had a look at the tripod you linked to.
I see a number of problems
It has a "spreader". These are of use only on flat level ground. i.e. in a studio. Absolutely no point on a tripod intended for use in the field. And as the system is designed with the spreader in mind, Tripods like these tend to lack rigidity without it.
Also look at the feet of the tripod. They are designed to clip onto the spreader. My suspicion is that they won't work well without it.

It is Carbon Fibre. Absolutely no point in paying for this in a studio tripod. And the spreader says it is a studio tripod.

Minimum packed size is 600mm. Too big for travel.

Weight is nearly 3Kg. That's awfully heavy for a Carbon tripod. I have metal tripods lighter than that.

thumbscrews for locking the legs. These 1. Get lost making the tripod useless; 2. get overtightened damaging the tripod

The head claims a "standard 1/4 inch" mounting bolt. At the tripod end. Sorry, but the standard here is 3/8 inch
I was once given a tripod with a head like that. I threw it in the bin. It was worse than balancing on a rock.

Re-entering the thread here.

I'm in the market for a good ball head. I've tried the Sirui brand. It was OK but nothing great. I just sold my 3 way Manfrotto head which I hated. I would like a lightweight RRS ballhead but they're frightfully expensive. Anyone have experience with RRS ballheads? What about other comparable quality brands? Thanks.

ozimax wrote:Re-entering the thread here.

I'm in the market for a good ball head. I've tried the Sirui brand. It was OK but nothing great. I just sold my 3 way Manfrotto head which I hated. I would like a lightweight RRS ballhead but they're frightfully expensive. Anyone have experience with RRS ballheads? What about other comparable quality brands? Thanks.

Plenty of people here with the RRS stuff. Love my RRS BH-40LR, Greg has the same and a RRS BH-55, not too sure if anyone has one of the newer BH-30 or BH-25 models though. The RRS is a lot nicer than the Sirui, and tonnes better than anything Manfrotto fields (458MG Hydrostatic and 054 series included). They are robust and once you have the friction set up correctly they are dream to use. A bit of advice though, if you don't intend to use RRS brackets then opt for a screw release as opposed to a lever release, otherwise you may be finding yourself adding gaffer tape shims to your "acra swiss" plates.

Thanks Cameron.

I will second Cameron's high praise for RRS/
I have the following RRS gear.
BH40-LR mounted permanently on my Gitzo Explorer tripod.
BH55-LR mounted permanently on my column for the Gitzo System 3, but as mentioned above this rarely gets used. Mainly when I want to close adjust the height in my "studio" (aka living room)
2x PCL1. the screw type not the newer lever release. 1 is mounted permanently in my Pano setup. The other lives on my Leveling base. The latter is my most used option as mentioned above.
I also have the BH25 on the RRS mini tripod. Useful for a point & shoot. and for an emergency with a larger camera. I have used it successfully with the d800 with 105 Macro
Some other bits and pieces as well. Including my patented shoulder straps.

I do not regret buying any of it. Yes it locks you into a system, but the system works and works well. I expect my grandchildren to be still using it to take photos of their grand children.

as Cameron said, if you don't want to be locked into the system, get the screw clamps. they are far more forgiving of non RRS gear. Yes the electrical tape trick Cam and I sussed out works, but would you trust $6,000 worth of gear on a piece of plastic tape? But keep in mind the screw clamps are a lot less convenient.

What would I get if I was starting over again?
RRS Versa 3 tripod with the Levelling base and the Lever clamp version of the PCL1
and possibly the Versa2 with the BH40-LR for travel.
And RRS L-Plates on all my cameras. Including the iPhone (Yes they have one. No I don't - yet)

Mr Darcy wrote:I also have the BH25 on the RRS mini tripod. Useful for a point & shoot. and for an emergency with a larger camera.

This I didn't know....I will have to check it out next time we meet (or the next time I am up your way).

Ozimax, I am considering making a purchase of some more plates so keep us in the loop as it may be more prudent to do a group buy (if convenient).

Mr Darcy wrote:I will second Cameron's high praise for RRS/
I have the following RRS gear.
BH40-LR mounted permanently on my Gitzo Explorer tripod.
BH55-LR mounted permanently on my column for the Gitzo System 3, but as mentioned above this rarely gets used. Mainly when I want to close adjust the height in my "studio" (aka living room)
2x PCL1. the screw type not the newer lever release. 1 is mounted permanently in my Pano setup. The other lives on my Leveling base. The latter is my most used option as mentioned above.
I also have the BH25 on the RRS mini tripod. Useful for a point & shoot. and for an emergency with a larger camera. I have used it successfully with the d800 with 105 Macro
Some other bits and pieces as well. Including my patented shoulder straps.

I do not regret buying any of it. Yes it locks you into a system, but the system works and works well. I expect my grandchildren to be still using it to take photos of their grand children.

as Cameron said, if you don't want to be locked into the system, get the screw clamps. they are far more forgiving of non RRS gear. Yes the electrical tape trick Cam and I sussed out works, but would you trust $6,000 worth of gear on a piece of plastic tape? But keep in mind the screw clamps are a lot less convenient.

What would I get if I was starting over again?
RRS Versa 3 tripod with the Levelling base and the Lever clamp version of the PCL1
and possibly the Versa2 with the BH40-LR for travel.
And RRS L-Plates on all my cameras. Including the iPhone (Yes they have one. No I don't - yet)

Long post Greg, many thanks. I tend to rationalize my gear. If I don't use it often, it's gone. However, I think a nice RRS ballhead would last a lifetime. A small one would be plenty for my Fuji kit.

aim54x wrote:

Mr Darcy wrote:I also have the BH25 on the RRS mini tripod. Useful for a point & shoot. and for an emergency with a larger camera.

This I didn't know....I will have to check it out next time we meet (or the next time I am up your way).

Ozimax, I am considering making a purchase of some more plates so keep us in the loop as it may be more prudent to do a group buy (if convenient).

I'll keep this in mind. Might save some postage, unless there's an Australian dealer somewhere?

ozimax wrote:Might save some postage, unless there's an Australian dealer somewhere?

There is definitely no Australian dealer. I also keep an eye out for plates on KEH.com and BH as sometimes the right one pops up 2nd hand. Usually a lot cheaper