What tripod do you use and aren't many identical?

Andersonm wrote:

My impression is that you can get 80-90% of the utility out of a cheap tripod, and the multiples of price is really for the last few percent of safety.

You're photographing an olympic sports competition - what risk is acceptable that the tripod head suddenly moves much easier than you're used to and overshoots, causing a lost few seconds?

You're driving with a camera and tripod across Africa - someone brings you something heavy and throws it into your car - what chance is acceptable that a tripod joint breaks from the impact?

Like the "pro" cameras vs "enthusiast" cameras, you are paying a lot for a bit because the last bit might be what you need.

I've never had any issue at all using cheap tripods, but then I have never done any life-critical photography.

It is also about ease of use. A cheap tripod head often tends to have lockdown creep which makes accurate framing with long lenses a pain in the butt. Using a tripod can be a bit of a chore at the best of times, but battling with cheap equipment which is awkward to use is a sure way to ensure you don’t bother using it!

A decent ball head allows you to pre-tension it so that you can move the camera smoothly to compose, let it go and it keeps the exact framing. Tighten it down and the framing doesn’t change.

I’ve had my arca swiss Z1 for years and it still works great. The asymmetric ball also increases the tension when the camera is off-centre, helping to prevent the camera and lens from flopping over to one side when it isn’t directly over the ball.

I also invested in a Gitzo series 2 traveller tripod for when I want to travel ‘lighter’ and it has been excellent. For its weight and size the stiffness and damping are outstanding. Of course that comes at some cost, but in terms of cost per year of use a good tripod is one of the cheaper photographic purchases.