Tripod Suggestions

[lassa8]

I'm looking to buy a new tripod for about $100 US or less. Any suggestions? I know I won't get the best quality possible for that price, but it's about all I can afford right now and I really don't want to get stuck with a lemon. Thanks!

[alan_rymer]

Velbon 250n or 450n is good. Sold in the US under a different brand name though. Someone here will know what the US version is called. The head is a PH157Q which I guess will not get a name change!.

[postcardcv]

On a limited budget it's always worth looking at secondhand/ex demo stock, it's probably worth looking at www.bhphotovideo.com and of course www.ebay.com

[Steve Gross]

You might be able to get a Bogen 3001 within your budget. It's not a bad tripod, but I eventually traded up for the 3021, a model with the flip levers on the leg sections. It was better for my heavy camera equipment.

The 3001 has turnscrews for the leg sections. In my view, they were time-consuming and there was always the chance that you might not fully tighten them down.

Of course, then there's the myriad choices among the heads.... More on that if anyone cares a whit.

Steve in Houston

[cthomas]

You might be able to get a Bogen 3001 within your budget. It's not a bad tripod, but I eventually traded up for the 3021, a model with the flip levers on the leg sections. It was better for my heavy camera equipment.

The 3001 has turnscrews for the leg sections. In my view, they were time-consuming and there was always the chance that you might not fully tighten them down.

Of course, then there's the myriad choices among the heads.... More on that if anyone cares a whit.

Steve in Houston

Yes I would like to here more about the heads. Up to around $150.00.

Carl

[GR Triever]

Carl,

3221 (055SSB) tripod legs and a 3130 (128RC) fluid head is hard to beat. If you need to go a bit heavier, try the 501 video head.

Regards,

GR

[cthomas]

Carl,

3221 (055SSB) tripod legs and a 3130 (128RC) fluid head is hard to beat. If you need to go a bit heavier, try the 501 video head.

Regards,

GR


Has anybody used the Manfrotto 3038 Super Mono-Ball Head? Would it work with a Swarovski 80 HD scope with a Nikon CoolPix 4300 attached to the scope?

Carl

[Bluetail]

I've been using a Manfrotto for the last ten years and regret the day I abandoned my old Slik D3. Sure the fluid head was nice and smooth, but it eventually went a bit wobbly and I've never found a way of tightening it. Also the separate screws for pan and tilt were immensely irritating. Now it's time for me to get a new tripod and I'm going back to the Slik.

[Steve Gross]

I use the Bogen 3130 head (~$75 US at Eagle Optics - standard disclaimer) and have found it very functional. I now use a carbon fiber tripod made by Slik.

As to ballheads for scopes, I found it quite exasperating to try and smoothly track a bird in flight in the scope when using a ballhead. Losing all three ranges of motion made for a lot of readjusting when the action was quick and dirty. I generally keep the pan and tilt knobs on the 3130 just a little loose, thus allowing for smooth tracking with quite a bit of stability.

Steve in Houston