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I'd like a few tripod recommendations

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Sir SnapaLot said:
An L-bracket (or elbow bracket) allows you to mount the camera on the tripod head in either a horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait) orientation.
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...the advantage of an L-bracket is mainly for portrait orientation. It keeps the weight of the camera central on the tripod. This gives two benefits.

First, it means no loss in height (it can be frustrating to frame a landscape shot, then when you rotate to try a portrait view a conventional tripod head would drop the camera down slightly as it swings it through 90°).

Second, it means any twisting action of the camera due to gravity is only through the tripod head, and not the weak point of a non-L-bracket mount, which is the connection between the tripod plate and the camera base.

For most users I'd think these two advantages are negligible - the greatest benefit is when using heavy equipment with ultra long exposures. But once you get used to an L-bracket, there's no going back.

Note that lenses with tripod collars do not benefit from an L-bracket, they don't need one as a mounting at the balance point on a long lens/camera combo is far superior to all but the shortest of lenses. Plus the lens collar allows for the easiest 90° rotation of all - and all through the very centre of the lens. A win win.
--
http://www.johnleechstudio.co.uk
http://www.johnleechstudio.blogspot.com
 
I've got a Slik 780Pro DX...it holds my D7000/70-200mm VRII, with no problems at all. I do want to replace the pan/tilt head with a good ball head though.
 
With the internet and the ability to gather so much info and opinions from others, you often end up unable to make a decision. Just keep in mind there are lots of ways to go and no decision will be the perfect decision. I just went through this deciding on a simple polarizer.
 
Did a lot of research when picking out my tripod + ballhead + clamp + bracket. I thought about it the same way, it was going to be a one time purchase / investment to use for a long time. Some details that I recall when going through the process.

-A tripod without a center column is going to be more stable. Some tripods come that way with just a base plate to screw the ballhead onto. Some you may have to purchase a separate base plate and replace the center column with it.

-If you go with / use a center column the more you raise it the less stable the setup will be. For example, purchasing a short tripod where you have to raise the center column 6 inches every time is going to be less stable than getting one tall enough that you may only need to raise it a couple inches.

-The most popular ballhead brands included Arca-Swiss, RRS, Markins, Kirk, Acratech

-When looking at clamps you can choose between screw-in and lever. Lever seemed to be very popular but there were reports that some of them could interfere with rotating the ballhead down into a side socket. More importantly lever clamps must be used with compatible plates / brackets. The Arca-Swiss style plate seems to be the most common but different manufacturers use different sizes. If you use lever clamp from manufacturer X and a Arca-Swiss style plate / bracket from manufacturer Y it might not secure properly and could dump your setup onto the ground. If you go that route make sure they're from the same manufacturer or verified as compatible. Screw-in clamps on the other hand can be used with any Arca-Swiss plate / bracket from any manufacturer. You simply open it wide, drop in the plate / bracket and tighten it down.

-Also when looking at clamps determine if you want / need a spirit level or not. If yo do, make sure it's usable. Some put the spirit level inside the channel where it's unusable once you mount the plate / bracket into the clamp (you're not going to take it on and off every time to look at the level). Some only put one on the side where you can only get an indication of 1 plane of movement. Note for a few bucks on ebay you can find spirit levels that mount on the hot shoe.

I ended up picking a Gitzo GT3541LS (the 2xxx series looks great as well), Arca-Swiss Z1 ballhead (has an elliptical ball, a single large lock-down knob with integrated tension adjust, and a very small pan lock), RRS clamp (B2-Pro II with Metric 6 screw), and RRS L-bracket. Eyeing the RRS pano gear for sometime down the road as well.
 
ahiggins333 said:
Did a lot of research when picking out my tripod + ballhead + clamp + bracket. I thought about it the same way, it was going to be a one time purchase / investment to use for a long time. Some details that I recall when going through the process.

-A tripod without a center column is going to be more stable. Some tripods come that way with just a base plate to screw the ballhead onto. Some you may have to purchase a separate base plate and replace the center column with it.

-If you go with / use a center column the more you raise it the less stable the setup will be. For example, purchasing a short tripod where you have to raise the center column 6 inches every time is going to be less stable than getting one tall enough that you may only need to raise it a couple inches.

-The most popular ballhead brands included Arca-Swiss, RRS, Markins, Kirk, Acratech

-When looking at clamps you can choose between screw-in and lever. Lever seemed to be very popular but there were reports that some of them could interfere with rotating the ballhead down into a side socket. More importantly lever clamps must be used with compatible plates / brackets. The Arca-Swiss style plate seems to be the most common but different manufacturers use different sizes. If you use lever clamp from manufacturer X and a Arca-Swiss style plate / bracket from manufacturer Y it might not secure properly and could dump your setup onto the ground. If you go that route make sure they're from the same manufacturer or verified as compatible. Screw-in clamps on the other hand can be used with any Arca-Swiss plate / bracket from any manufacturer. You simply open it wide, drop in the plate / bracket and tighten it down.

-Also when looking at clamps determine if you want / need a spirit level or not. If yo do, make sure it's usable. Some put the spirit level inside the channel where it's unusable once you mount the plate / bracket into the clamp (you're not going to take it on and off every time to look at the level). Some only put one on the side where you can only get an indication of 1 plane of movement. Note for a few bucks on ebay you can find spirit levels that mount on the hot shoe.

I ended up picking a Gitzo GT3541LS (the 2xxx series looks great as well), Arca-Swiss Z1 ballhead (has an elliptical ball, a single large lock-down knob with integrated tension adjust, and a very small pan lock), RRS clamp (B2-Pro II with Metric 6 screw), and RRS L-bracket. Eyeing the RRS pano gear for sometime down the road as well.
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Thank you much for the time and detail you put into this. Its going to help a lot.
 
Forgot to include that one of my reasons for picking the GT3541LS was it's collapsed length. It's short enough to fit diagonally in my carry-on / roller bag so I can easily take it anytime I travel (with ballhead removed of course). Haven't had a problem yet taking it through airport security.
 
 
Just finished spending two days rebuilding a friend's tripod that has the flip levers to clamp the legs. He was complaining the screws were always coming loose and he would tighten them then the legs would slip again later on. I thought a bit of Locktight on them might be the fix. Boy, was I wrong!

Turns out many of the screws were stripped. Some were stripped into the aluminum clamps so I had to re-tap and use new fasteners. Some were too short from the factory. Some of the locking flip levers had burrs from casting that chewed into the plastic clamps that tightened into the leg to prevent slipping so they slipped too as they were thinner. Some that were beyond tapping I had to use a bolt and acorn nut to fix as the metal was gone.

The hex-shaped cam lock was another matter too for the quick-connect plate. The flip-lever lock was out of adjustment (it is a cam that can shift and loosen). The Arca-type dovetail units work much better, imho.

One would think some $300 worth of tripod legs would be built better, but the thing was a nightmare to fix. I could imagine the mess in the field should the thing strip and legs slide around. It has 3 extensions per leg and was quite shakey too when raised even though it weighed a ton.

Go with the carbon fiber and get the twist-leg locks and it might stand up better to use than his stripped-out rattle-trap thing. Less screws, bolts, and nuts the better too.

Mack
 
Hi

I would recommend you read this

http://www.bythom.com/support.htm

Its worth the read but you really dont need to go to the expense of Gitzo & RRS equipment. Take a look at the Giottos MTL 8361B carbon fibre tripod (I removed the centre collumn from mine) and Giottos MH3300 ball head.

Regards
John
 
So I see Thom Hogan and some here recommend skipping "cheap" tripods/heads all together and go straight to the $700-1000 ones. Even the $150-300 ones are worthless according to Thom. As a someone who needs a new tripod (my $20 one from P&S days can't seem to support my DSLR), I'm a little shocked. What do those $1000 ones give me that $200 ones don't? Resistance to wind vibration? How much of a difference are we talking about here? $200 ones are not worth using at all or does it bring me to, say, 75% of what I get with $1000 ones? Is there a detailed photo comparision demonstrating the difference?
 
an aside, but that water in photo two looks pretty smooth for a windy day...
 
Ok, I pulled the trigger and made the best buying decision based on the avail info and the time I had to research it and of course the help of you good people.

I purchased the Gitzo Carbon Fiber series 2 GT2542L and a Gitzo GH1780qr ball head from B&H. The sales guy didn't seem to knowledgeable so Im glad I knew which Tripod I wanted more or less. I hope the head is adequate.

Thanks all for the help.
 
I am sure that you get what you pay for. I have a cheap tripod as well from my P&S, and it is barely useful with my D3100. It is difficult to adjust pitch/yaw accurately due to the crazy swing side to side or up and down while adjusting. Also once everything is set pressing the shutter causes vibration.

This is indoors, I would hate to see how it performs outdoors or with a heaver setup than a D3100+55-300+SB700

I just haven't invested in a better one since I would just never use it due to inconvenience of lugging one around.
 
Just looked at your ballhead. Hmmm.

The tripod seems a good choice. I was looking for similar a couple of years ago - I'm 6'2", and I was trying to (belatedly) follow Thom Hogan's advice in his excellent tripod article. (In my case I'd already gone through the years of wasting money on bad tripods).

I ended up with a Gitzo 3550 LSV. It's barely tall enough, and it's actually not tall enough when shooting upward, so your choice sounds like a good one for the legs.

I got a BH-55 ball head from RRS, and I've been quite happy with it. What I was not happy with was the RRS plate I got. It fit just fine, but it was not an L-plate. It lasted two weeks. I used to shoot a 3-way pan head, and at least it wasn't all that bad to flip vertical (although the mounting plate always wanted to unscrew from the camera or let the camera swivel just a bit with a long lens).

Ball heads are not very convenient to use in portrait position with a regular plate. You have limited options for lining things up to flip the camera over, and then even more limited options for adjustment when you get there. It just drove me nuts until bought the RRS L-plate. Now it's just a quick clamp release, flip the camera, and tighten the clamp again.

The mounting plate you have looks similar to the Manfrotto plates I used to use. Hopefully yours will mount tightly to the camera. Mine didn't, and they were a constant distraction. Plus, the plates were very uncomfortable to hold so I almost always took them off when not using the tripod. In contrast, the RRS L-plates I used now (D300 and D700) have rounded edges and are pretty comfortable. They never come off.

--
Craig
http://www.cjcphoto.net
 
PHXAZCRAIG said:
Ball heads are not very convenient to use in portrait position with a regular plate. You have limited options for lining things up to flip the camera over, and then even more limited options for adjustment when you get there.
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True, and I've had to fix some badly damaged cameras where once flipped to portrait on a ball-head with a tripod, especially in the shortened position, the entire thing fell over due to the CG being off to the side of the center plate. Tends to be an issue with heavier rigs and flash units where the fall usually snaps off the flash foot and damages the top cover in the fall = yacht payment for me. ;)

The L-plate with a ball head is a much better idea and keeps the CG over the center of the tripod.

The 4-section legs are nice for travel, but in the field they are much slower to set up having four sections over three, imho, and they wobble too. More maintenance too.

Mack
 
blue_cheese said:
I am sure that you get what you pay for. I have a cheap tripod as well from my P&S, and it is barely useful with my D3100. It is difficult to adjust pitch/yaw accurately due to the crazy swing side to side or up and down while adjusting. Also once everything is set pressing the shutter causes vibration.

This is indoors, I would hate to see how it performs outdoors or with a heaver setup than a D3100+55-300+SB700

I just haven't invested in a better one since I would just never use it due to inconvenience of lugging one around.
Click to expand...
Yeah my $20 P&S tripod is also very inadequate - its head tilts forward quite easily under D7K+lens weight. It's obvious I need something better and more expensive. I was just wondering if the $200-300 ones will get me most of the benefits of those costing $1000.

In the audiophile world, there are people who spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on accessories (AC power cleaner, turntable spikes, etc) for that extra 1-2% fidelity improvement that most people can't hear. I suspect the image quality difference in this case is a little less subtle but by how much? That's the question I had.
 
michael2011 said:
So I see Thom Hogan and some here recommend skipping "cheap" tripods/heads all together and go straight to the $700-1000 ones. Even the $150-300 ones are worthless according to Thom. As a someone who needs a new tripod (my $20 one from P&S days can't seem to support my DSLR), I'm a little shocked. What do those $1000 ones give me that $200 ones don't?
Click to expand...
Here's the truth of it: cheap, stable, light - pick any two.

OK, so you want to compromise on price? You give up either stability or light weight. Since a lack of stability is obviously not what you want in a tripod, you go for the heavy tripod. And that heavy tripod will be just fine, as long as you aren't carrying it much. Once you start trekking around time after time with a heavy tripod, the tendency is to leave it at home, or in the car. You just start using it less and less. Of course if you are primarily work in a house or studio, there isn't a problem with a heavy tripod at all.

I worked with a Bogen 3221 and Manfrotto 3-way pan head for almost 15 years. I bought the Bogen to make up the mistake ($$ wasted) on a do-everything-and-light-and-cheap Slik I bought with my first Nikon. There was a light, cheap tripod that I still have, and it is so unstable that I can hardly use it with my LensAlign on it, much less a camera. The Bogen had some flaws - level locks pinched my fingers a lot or bound up, weight wore me down, and being metal it was unbelievably cold to carry in the winter up in the mountains. But the 3-way pan head was more of a pain than anything else, though I didn't really know that until I got a ball head. But sure enough, I quit using it because it was too heavy.

One day I decided I had spent enough money on cameras and lenses, and I needed to upgrade my support structure for photography. All the non-sexy stuff that you need, or wish you had. Software, better PC, backup system, fast card reader, tripod, bag, etc, etc. It was hard to justify that $1000+ Gitzo plus RRS Ballhead purchase, but I'm sure happy I have it now.

At some point you come to the conclusion that you just don't have the time left to 'grow into' better equipment, and if you have the money, you spend it on your 'no compromise' stuff.

If you don't have the money, you just can't do that. But it doesn't mean you're not compromising somewhere. If you could really build a super quality light, cheap and stable tripod, there would be plenty of companies out there selling them, and Gitzo wouldn't be in business.

--
Craig
http://www.cjcphoto.net
 
For the money and price, check out Feisol 3342 (3-section) or 3442 (4-section) carbon legs. Half the price of the mountaineer, and much lighter, and tad taller. Beware of the leg diameter for stability ... I think the GItzo you suggest is 25mm, and the above Fiesols are 28mm ... far more lateral stability. And you'll always be more stable with a 3-section leg ... fewer moving parts and overall larger average leg diameter. Spend the extra money on the best ballhead you can afford.
cheers
 
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