Tripods

[jedinite]

Hi there, wondering what you guys use and/or recommend for tripods and a good price for your recommendation (either what you paid or the best deal you saw).

I was checking out some Manfrotto Tripods and the two models that were recommended to me where the 055XPRO and the 190CXPRO.

055 was quite heavy compared to the 190. I know it's good to have a good heavy solid tripod for heavy cameras but how much does that matter when you can add weight to it?

I plan on taking a tripod with me for hiking trips, perhaps overseas vacationing and when I go snowboarding to take landscapes and action shots over jumps.

So light weight is a definite plus for traveling and boarding. Though for boarding I may decide to grab a decent monopod to stabilize the camera.

A good recommendation for a ball head would be nice too, something easy to use, stable and light preferred. I want to do some night sky photography so having a head that I can point my camera straight up would be great.

And finally, the largest lens I intend on using for my photography is the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L for the time being, but in the future I'm looking at 400-500mm lenses also.

[achuang]

I have the 055ProB, the older non X version of it. It's a great sturdy and solid tripod but I would not recommend it for travelling. I have used it for travelling a couple times and it just sucks the fun out of walking/hiking. The 055Pro plus 486RC2 weighs about 3.5kg. I have been thinking about buying a travel tripod like a slik sprint pro. I chose the 055 because it's tall enough to use without extending the centre column and without me bending over. The 190's centre column has to be extended to get to eye level. Depends how tall you are.

I guess you have 2 choices here.
1. Buy the 055XPro for the local/non travelling shoots. And buy a separate lightweight traveling tripod.
2. Buy the 190XPro as a compromise between the two as it is a fair bit lighter than the 055 and reasonable for travelling.

I haven't tried enough ball heads to recommend one, all I'll say is don't buy the 486RC2. It has a lot of creep, and no tension adjustment for when the ball head is loose.

[erichlund]

The lighter you want to go with a tripod, the more it will cost to get one that is worth bothering. I've had some lightweight, cheap tripods. I still have them. I wouldn't mount a camera on them, but they are OK for mounting an off camera flash.

Light weight that gives quality is achieved by replacing metal with a composite, usually carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is not cheap, but it is light and stiff. For field work, I recommend a Gitzo or knockoff. These can be taken apart and cleaned. Manfrottos with lever locks cannot.

If you really want a quality, lightweight ball head, Markins makes some very good ones. They are highly recommended on the Nikonians site. I have Really Right Stuff, and it's top drawer, but it doesn't qualify in the size and weight area. Mine is 26oz, but will hold up to 50lbs. They also have 13 and 4 oz models. The 13 is rated to hold 18lbs, and the 4oz model will hold about 8 lbs.

Remember, moment arm has an impact if you mount the camera and have a long lens hanging off the front.

The Markins smallest model is about 14 oz but will hold an astounding 66 pounds!!!! * I suspect one of the reasons for the high rating may be an aspherical ball. Since it's not round, it better resists slippage. However, I would also suspect it's not downright sexy smooth in operation like an RRS ballhead. I'm only guessing, as I've never seen one in the wild.

* Of course, ratings lie. My stereo amp doesn't have the ratings numbers of a Japanese amp, but it depends on how you test. My amp type was turned on full volume and left on for 24 hours, then tested. A typical Japanese amp is turned on until it just reaches its best temperature, and tested before it starts to degrade. Best performance vs. Guaranteed Performance. I'll take guaranteed.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Here's a couple links to previous threads.

I'm pretty happy with my 055XPROB but wish I'd had the cash to pony up like Erich advised in the ideal world. NB Erich gave a good link in this 2nd thread that link is well worth reading.

http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39206&highlight=tripod
http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38477&highlight=tripod

[jedinite]

I guess you have 2 choices here.
1. Buy the 055XPro for the local/non travelling shoots. And buy a separate lightweight traveling tripod.
2. Buy the 190XPro as a compromise between the two as it is a fair bit lighter than the 055 and reasonable for travelling.

I haven't tried enough ball heads to recommend one, all I'll say is don't buy the 486RC2. It has a lot of creep, and no tension adjustment for when the ball head is loose.

I didn't take the height into consideration but you're right I have to bend over a bit to get the right height on the 190XPro.

Excellent suggestion about watching out for the ball head, stuff like that sales people don't tell you.

[TheWengler]

I have the Manfrotto 055XWNB legs with the 322RC2 head. It works well for me but I don't have any heavy lenses. Not sure how well it'd work with more weight. I got the larger tripod because it's taller so I don't have to bend over too much or use the center column. This is really nice when I have the tripod all the way extended. However, half the time with landscapes I have the thing set up to be 1 foot off the ground anyway. I usually take this on hikes unless I know I won't need it. It can be a pain to carry around.

[stanj]

* Of course, ratings lie. My stereo amp doesn't have the ratings numbers of a Japanese amp, but it depends on how you test. My amp type was turned on full volume and left on for 24 hours, then tested. A typical Japanese amp is turned on until it just reaches its best temperature, and tested before it starts to degrade. Best performance vs. Guaranteed Performance. I'll take guaranteed.

The tripod information is very useful but I wanted to make a comment about the way your amp was tested versus Japanese manufacture amplifiers.
In 1974, the Federal Trade Commission in the US created a standard for testing amplifier specifications because dozens of incompatible and incomparable ratings were confusing consumers. You might remember RMS, Music Power, IHF power, Peak Power, Peak Absolute Power, Chassis Power, Peak Chassis Power, and many others that could give figures over a 240:1 ratio between the different values for the same amplifier. For 34 years it has been illegal to promote or specify an audio amp or amp section of a combo unit in anything other than FTC power rating that is essentially the RMS power measurement with the addition of power bandwidth at a specified Total Harmonic Distortion into a specified load impedance. The specification requires a preconditioning period of 1/3 peak power at 1kHz for 1 hour into the lowest specified load impedance. The 1/3 power point is used because, a A/B push-pull amp topography produces the most heat at that duty cycle, not at full power as many would assume. Some amp topographies such as some Class A amps have lower heat generation at peak power than at 0 power. Both the Japanese amp and any other country of manufacture use the exact same procedure for published specs or else they could face major fines, for units offered for sale after 1974. The very worst offending companies in inflating their specs were US made "Brown Goods" brands such as TV/Stereo combo console cabinets. One example was a G.E. console stereo that was rated at 420 PCP watts and when measured in a more reasonable and honest method, it was 12.5 watts RMS into a 4 ohm load. That common practice is why the power spec became a matter of law.
For the last 34 years comparing numbers is a practical way of determining the power generating characteristics of different amps. The current ratings in speakers however are not required to adhere to a standard so they are generally useless in determining their power handling abilities.

Camera do not have such easy-to-measure( audio power output can be accurately measured with very little equipment) objective characteristics so far as I've found but the consumer base is so much more aware of the details and are not afraid to speak up if something is not up to snuff. As a result, bogus claims would not go unpunished by generating a bad reputation. In the case of a rating for a camera mount, more is left out of the rating than is needed to mean anything. I have a small plastic folding desktop tripod that has no weight spec but it could probably handle a perfectly balanced point contact weight of 50lbs but surely could not keep a camera with a lens sticking out steady at 1/20th of that weight if the weight was off balance from the vertical center-line. I doubt that matters to anyone who might need a stable tripod and mount, they would just know what their extra length lens would require subjectively even with no spec published.

Sorry for the off topic comment but I thought you might be interested if you like hi-fi.
Stan