Tripod advice
 

As I'm into still life and portraits I've decided to head towards a tripod as my next accessory instead of another lens. I'm experimenting with the creative camera settings and lots of my photos are either blurred or have strange anomalies.

What I'm unsure of is manufacturers - who are the good ones and what one are best left alone?

My mum's hobby is video editing and she spent £150 on a second-hand one although with a video camera she wanted to make sure the picture was steady while panning, not something needed with a camera, although I know it's important to be able to move ever so slightly and have it stay there!

On a fair budget... :(

I have a Uniloc 1600 which is very versatile and remarkably sturdy. It is also relatively inexpensive. My Uniloc is 8 years old and going strong, albeit with a replacement bent bolt and locking handle. I would avoid the Benbo Trekker. I owned one and it was poorly made and not sturdy. It ended up in a land fill after 18 months of amateur use. Manfrotto get good reviews and are well priced.

You will also need a head. A Manfrotto 488 is well made and some people here have recommended it.

Check Bird Forum and you should find some good discussions on tripods.

Jamie & I have got the manfrotto 190, £109 I think, bit weighty but rock solid in my opinion. We got a shock using a cheaper lightweight pod at full extension one day, you could actually see the camera vibrate at shutter actuation! As I see it with the manfrotto range, as long as you get a decent set of legs you can upgrade the head unit at any time. Hope this hepls..
Al.

Manfrotto and Velbon are two manufacturers who have come along way in recent years. Both of these have some good models out at the mo.
If you want to go for something a little more specialist, checkout some of the secondhand units around, try out some of the later black finish Uniloc makes (the earlier brown uniloc didn't have as tight a quality control). In my opinion a good one will give many years service.
Incidentally, the Uniloc company was formed by one of the Kennett Benbo company partners who had a falling out. Benbo products are generally very good units, but do get the right model, and also checkout that quality control, which is variable at the best of times.
Slik are also a good manufacturer from years gone by, but at the mo I don't feel they offer the same value as Velbon or Manfrotto......years ago the Slik 88 and black diamond models were best sellers. Unfortunately I bought an 88! (very heavy by todays standards).

Bottom line....check any potential model out. Don't rule out the lighter weight carbon fibre ones if the budget allows. (your back will thankyou for it).
This would be one thing I WOULDN'T buy via the net. (try them out/ open them out first)
hope this helps
good luck

As Joe says, Manfrotto and Velbon are well worth looking at. The Velbon stuff is good value for money if you can't quite stretch to Manfrotto, but I would avoid the cheaper Velbon carbon legs as I think they are too light for their own good.

You do get what you pay for by and large and it's worth spending a lot on a pair of legs that you'll be happy with. The cut-price short term option is just that, short term, you'll end up disappointed and spend more in the long run as you later pay for the legs you should have bought first time. If that makes sense.

Heads are yet more cash to spend. Having a quick release plate system is essential in my mind. Faffing around trying to screw and unscrew your camera off the head without a QR is hassle and you end up being less likely to use the tripod.

The best tripod is the one you are going to USE. It can be the most rigid item in the universe, but if you can't be bothered to get it out of the cupboard, it's no use at all.

I compared the Velbon 635 Sherpa Pro (carbon) with the Manfrotto 055 (aluminium) at Bristol Camera who are offering the Velbon at an amazing pice of £130 including a Velbon head (these legs are £189 without head at Warehouse Express). I concluded that the Velbon legs were every bit a rigid as the Manfrotto and a lot lighter to carry. Bristol Camera will even allow you a discout for the free head against an upgrade - what more could you want :D

Clive,

I was tacitly referring to the Velbon 530 or 531 legs, I have a set of 530s and find they are great for indoor still-life, but take them outside in a breeze and they vibrate like a jelly in a heatwave. I've tried wobbling a set of 631s and found them to be nearly the match of the basic carbon Manfrotto 055s, for just over half the price at the time.

Not giving you a hint on name but just remember few investments in photography are for life time.

One of them is tripod.

Buy the best you can afford as anything now cheap, will cost you a lot on long run.

I have to agree with Sassan, the more you can afford now, the cheaper the outlay becomes as the years pass by, what I mean is, the longer the tripod last you the less you pay for each years use, where as if you skimp now in 5 years time might well have to replace them, also bear in mind that what may be sturdy enough today, may, as you buy bigger, longer and heavier lenses, not be sturdy enough in years to come.
Just my opinion,

John

Thanks for all the replies, it's been a very interesting read.

I've got my camera sat on a Manfrotto 136 at the moment which belongs to mother. I've taken a few sample pics but not yet downloaded them to the PC so I'm yet to see what the quality is like. Mother has two tripods (for two camcorders) but when she goes out she only takes the digital and the smaller tripod as it's lighter leaving the Manfrotto behind - it's big and quite heavy - maybe I don't have to get one so soon afterall!

The only time she uses both at the same time is when using both camcorders like weddings or other such events.

I'm going to start saving anyway as its going to be nice to have one of my own without the worry of her sayingshe's going to need it when I do.