I bought a very nice, lightweight tripod at Wal-Mart for only $18.88. It seems very well made and I've drug it around and abused it a lot and it still is in very good shape. It even has a little level on it which I think is nice.
as much as I hate Wal-Mart, these suggestions are right on. They sell three Vivitar's that very in quality and features. I have the mx 2000, the middle of the three. It has stood up to airline abuse, is extremely light weight, and very functonal. Even has a level. A great travelers tripod.
as much as I hate Wal-Mart, these suggestions are right on. They sell three Vivitar's that very in quality and features. I have the mx 2000, the middle of the three. It has stood up to airline abuse, is extremely light weight, and very functonal. Even has a level. A great travelers tripod.
Yeah, I have the mx 1000 ad it is pretty sturdy and will do pretty much eveything you would need for basic use. I highly recommend it. Good, cheap, reliable.
not to steal the thread, but the only disadvantage that Ihave with my Vivitar mx2000 is that it is a little tall. It's too tall for the size suitcase that I prefer to travel with, so I end up checking it at the airlines. In addition, I try to walk around Mexico like I don't have a dime. I go places that gringo's don't go, and I'm always concerned that if someone knew exactly how much photo gear I had in my back-pack, that I would be exposed to robbery.
When I walk around with that tripod, it's pretty obvious that I have some goodies in my back-pack. Does anyone know of a monopod manufacturer that that sells a model that can extend for a very tall photographer, but collapse to the size of day-pack? Having difficulty.
Advice appreciated.
I have one word... eBay (that is where i bought my tripod for $1, stood up to a lot. It is very light-weight and it is a 54")[ok... actually that is like 25 words, but you get my point)]
I've been shopping tripods lately, and one of the things that I hate about my existing tripod -- an older Vivitar, oddly -- is the head. It's got 3 different knobs, plus a knob for the center column, plus a knob to lock the legs. It's really cumbersome. Anyway, I decided that rather than discard a perfectly good tripod, I'd add a good quality ball-head. The head unscrews and can be replaced. So, I'll wind up losing quite a bit of weight off the head, and I'll gain single-screw functionality.
The other problem is that the legs are too long and don't fit inside a bag. I am considering shortening the legs, but it would take a bit of work: the clamps would need to be removed and new clamping-holes (about 1cm square, where the lever passes through) would need to be cut -- in 9 places...
FWIW, here is a set of legs that I thought was a nice compromise between length, weight, capacity and cost (altho it's not cheap AND you have to buy a head of some type)
i have a promaster that is a tripod or a monopod
for monopod i pull the center out and and it then
is a fully ajustable monopod.
it dont have any restriction on how far out
can adjust my legs other than the center
post touching the ground.
not cheep but i dont get any camera shake
very strong for heavyer cameras.
by the time i add my battery pack an 70 - 300mm lens
my camera weight is about 3lb this makes my walmart
tripod to light i get to much camera shake for the
300mm end of my lens.
Oh well, I ended up spending more then I wanted but I think I got a nice tripod. Very compact, gets 7" to the ground, can invert middle pole for macro, 2.5 pounds, 3 levels.
I have one word... eBay (that is where i bought my tripod for $1, stood up to a lot. It is very light-weight and it is a 54")[ok... actually that is like 25 words, but you get my point)]
is it this one?
//cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=30094&item=3812888186&rd=1
That is the first tripod offered for sale by that seller.
don't understand
Save yourself the trouble and save some $$$ too by going to B&H (since you are in NYC) and actually play with the tripods. You won't know from a web page how the tripod handles. You have to actually manipulate it and get the feel of the tripood.
I originally bought a cheap Optex tripod for my little 2 megapixel Sony when I really didn't know what I wanted in a tripod. Guess what? I ended up spending more when I upgraded. Get a good one first off - Bogen.Manfrotto or Gitzo or something similarly sturdy.
I eventually bought a Manfrotto 3001 (190 in Canada/Europe) and a 486 RC2 ball head with a quick release plate for $220 and have not regretted spending a bit more at all. If you're serious enough to buy a tripod you're serious enough to buy a good one.
