Help needed - suitable tripod (1 Viewer)

[Mumofabuddingphotographer]

Hi,

I’m hoping someone on here can help me as I have very little knowledge, I have tried searching though existing threads but to honest I have no idea how they compare to my son’s camera - lens combination. I’m looking for a suitable tripod for my son for Xmas, I’ve tried ringing shops and asking their advice but they don’t seem to have specific enough knowledge of the most suitable. My son is the photographer he has just turned 13 so still very inexperienced but a good photographer for his age? He was finalist for young BPOTY with 3 of his photos, so can’t be too bad?

He has a Nikon D500 with a sigma 150-600 lens.

Price - cheap as possible, but most suitable.

Weight - nothing to heavy to carry for a strong man, he is quite big, strong and fit. (no idea how heavy they get)

Use - birds in flight, owls, osprey etc. Also stills so easy to turn.

Your help would appreciated greatly appreciated.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

I am sure others will be along to make specific suggestions, but where budget allows, a tall (ideally) carbon fibre tripod with a gimbal head seems most popular with bird photographers.
Some indication of budget is helpful, as is your son's approximate height, as this will determine how tall a tripod he needs.
You will need something strong enough to take the weight (perhaps a minimum of 5kg loading capacity?) of the full kit which is unlikely to topple over.
If you are happy to buy used, you will get better value for money, a head like this, this or this would probably work, whilst a used set of CF tripod legs can be found for less than £100 if you are lucky (apologies for the shameless plug!).
Hope this helps.

 

[Peregrine Took]

Price - cheap as possible, but most suitable.

You'll find plenty of people happy to help, but I think you'll have to be more specific about how much you want to spend, otherwise any suggestions are going to be at best guesswork and at worst misleading or confusing.

I have a carbon Manfrotto tripod (Google MT055CXPRO3) for sale - if he's a big strong lad he won't find much better, but while it may be 'most suitable' it's over £200.00 and that doesn't sound like anyone's definition of 'cheap as possible'... so this is not a gratuitous plug!

In general terms, carbon tripods are best - lighter, more stable, and less prone to vibration - but more expensive than aluminium.

The camera is fixed not to the tripod, but to a 'head' - a fully moveable base for the camera, that sits on top of the tripod. For his use, the head needs to be able to 'pan' (sideways movement) and 'tilt' (up and down movement) - so the head needs a handle that allows him to follow birds in flight, by moving the camera up-and-down and from side-to-side. The best type of head for this is called a 'fluid head'. They cost from £50.00 to a small fortune!

Hope this helps, but budget is the key thing.

PS. He's got an exceptional camera and a nice lens, lucky lad - it deserves a decent platform.
.

 

[Mumofabuddingphotographer]

Thank you to both of you, I really appreciate it, it really is not straight forward trying to find something you know nothing about and there is so much information and different products, you can research for days and still be no wiser of what you need.

I’m guessing he is about 5’8/5”9 and growing.

We are not fussed about new or used, his d500 was used, would like as little obvious wear marks as possible and preferably the original packaging maybe, like his camera had it’s box.

Money wise, we are not well off by any means but as with the camera and lens we are trying to get the best we can within reason. We also see it as investing in his possible future career. I was initially thinking before I came on here of between £200-£300 for everything needed like the head gimble thing, are they the same thing, but my knowledge is 0, that’s why I thought the best people to ask were people photographing the same things. BUT if the things he needs to make sure it holds the equipment properly and can get a smooth movement that he needs, then we can find more from somewhere, credit cards are a god send sometimes. There’s no point buying something cheaper that doesn’t do what you want it to.

After both of your suggestions I had a very quick Look, I only found one place selling the mt294c3, for £214, is it quite old as there was nowhere else selling it? dwatsonbirder, have you got any photos of yours?

The MT055CXPRO3 I found a few new and second hand, new £379, used £249. Peregrine took have you got any photos of yours?

What’s the difference between the 2 of yours?

While looking the the latter I came across the MT055CXPRO4, on offer for £299 instead of £379 is this an option, or totally the wrong thing?

Sounds like the head needs to be good, so suggestions welcome.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Thank you to both of you, I really appreciate it, it really is not straight forward trying to find something you know nothing about and there is so much information and different products, you can research for days and still be no wiser of what you need.

I’m guessing he is about 5’8/5”9 and growing.

We are not fussed about new or used, his d500 was used, would like as little obvious wear marks as possible and preferably the original packaging maybe, like his camera had it’s box.

Money wise, we are not well off by any means but as with the camera and lens we are trying to get the best we can within reason. We also see it as investing in his possible future career. I was initially thinking before I came on here of between £200-£300 for everything needed like the head gimble thing, are they the same thing, but my knowledge is 0, that’s why I thought the best people to ask were people photographing the same things. BUT if the things he needs to make sure it holds the equipment properly and can get a smooth movement that he needs, then we can find more from somewhere, credit cards are a god send sometimes. There’s no point buying something cheaper that doesn’t do what you want it to.

After both of your suggestions I had a very quick Look, I only found one place selling the mt294c3, for £214, is it quite old as there was nowhere else selling it? dwatsonbirder, have you got any photos of yours?

The MT055CXPRO3 I found a few new and second hand, new £379, used £249. Peregrine took have you got any photos of yours?

What’s the difference between the 2 of yours?

While looking the the latter I came across the MT055CXPRO4, on offer for £299 instead of £379 is this an option, or totally the wrong thing?

Sounds like the head needs to be good, so suggestions welcome.

That sounds like a very reasonable budget to me, for that you may want to look into Gitzo kit, which is slightly better build quality than Manfrotto (Manfrotto is still professional level!). Try websites such as MPB, WEX or other camera shops to see what they can offer.

I hope PT doesn't mind me linking his ad here for photos - looks to be a good buy. There is a photo on my listing (linked above) also. You can compare between the two on the Manfrotto website if you are interested, for the 290 (mine) and the 055 (PT's), the differences will relate to loading capacity, height and other operational parameters, I believe I am correct in saying the 055 is top spec, whilst the 290 is mid/upper range.

I'll leave it to others to recommend heads etc, as I'm no photographer!

 

[Peregrine Took]

The MT055CXPRO3 I found a few new and second hand, new £379, used £249. Peregrine took have you got any photos of yours?

You might have seen mine on eBay, but it's also for sale here - thanks to Daniel for the link above - but I'll send more pics by PM.

While looking the the latter I came across the MT055CXPRO4, on offer for £299 instead of £379 is this an option, or totally the wrong thing?

The '4' at the end of that is for four-section legs - and the reason it's on offer is that a three-sectioned leg will be more stable and a bit lighter to carry, so it's probably more in demand.

PM sent.
.

 

[GrampaTom]

Thank you to both of you, I really appreciate it, it really is not straight forward trying to find something you know nothing about and there is so much information and different products, you can research for days and still be no wiser of what you need.

I’m guessing he is about 5’8/5”9 and growing.

We are not fussed about new or used, his d500 was used, would like as little obvious wear marks as possible and preferably the original packaging maybe, like his camera had it’s box.

Money wise, we are not well off by any means but as with the camera and lens we are trying to get the best we can within reason. We also see it as investing in his possible future career. I was initially thinking before I came on here of between £200-£300 for everything needed like the head gimble thing, are they the same thing, but my knowledge is 0, that’s why I thought the best people to ask were people photographing the same things. BUT if the things he needs to make sure it holds the equipment properly and can get a smooth movement that he needs, then we can find more from somewhere, credit cards are a god send sometimes. There’s no point buying something cheaper that doesn’t do what you want it to.

After both of your suggestions I had a very quick Look, I only found one place selling the mt294c3, for £214, is it quite old as there was nowhere else selling it? dwatsonbirder, have you got any photos of yours?

The MT055CXPRO3 I found a few new and second hand, new £379, used £249. Peregrine took have you got any photos of yours?

What’s the difference between the 2 of yours?

While looking the the latter I came across the MT055CXPRO4, on offer for £299 instead of £379 is this an option, or totally the wrong thing?

Sounds like the head needs to be good, so suggestions welcome.

This was a helpful read for me. The sizing advice is important. A Tripod Primer.