Tripods..Talk to me!

[Comacchio]

So for my 21st birthday my parents are getting me a Canon 550D to start me off in 'getting into' photography. Ive been looking forward to it for quite some time now and thinking of what essentials i need. My brother has asked what he can get me and I think that a tripod would be a good addition to the kit.

However im assuming budget is an issue. So im looking for what tripod would be a good buy for inbetween cheap and cheerful and expensive.

Id put a guess at the budget being between £50 and £100.

Any thoughts on what I could suggest to him?

Thanks,

-Allan

[pernod]

Hi Allan,

I can't be that much help on Tripods, but mind if I'm brave and suggest another essential?

A 50mm f1.8 lens is a magical lens which will help you learn a lot when first starting out. 2nd hand on ebay they are around £60 so would fit your brothers budget well. As an added plus I can assure you it will be on the camera a lot so he'll get to see you use the gift he gives all the time.

When starting I opted for the lens over a tripod (I used a bag of rice to rest the camera on whatever item I could find rather than the tripod). If I was starting again I'd make the same call again

Just food for thought.

[RedWhiteMonkey]

You can pick up a perfectly servicable tripod from ebay for silly money normally.

[Comacchio]

Thanks for the reply Pernod

I have money set aside for a 55-255 and a 'nifty fifty' already.

I know for sure i want the 50mm 1.8, just not so sure on the 55-255 whether or not there is a better option for a zoom lens.

Cheers,

-Allan

[mybrainhurts]

Comacchio said:

Talk to me!

Aaaaaaaaaagh......KILL ..

[Comacchio]

Talk to me...please?

You have my apologies for that overused, non funny statement.

[Zaxxon]

Manfrotto as far as I'm concerned, but you thenm have to pay £0-50 for the head unit.

OP, your not up in Arbroath are you?

[Comacchio]

I'll have a look at the Manfrotto thing.

Ayrshire matey.

[Mroad]

mybrainhurts said:

Aaaaaaaaaagh......KILL ..

Glad it's not just me that hates the 'talk to me' term. Images of 80's yuppies in stripy shirts and braces having 'power' lunches always pop into my head.

Anyway back to the question.
Have a look at Redsnapper tripods.
I recently bought this one http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/RS-...
after recommendations on here and I must say for the money (£50) it's an absolute bargain. It's well built and comes with a decent bag (worth £20 by itself). The legs are twist lock rather than the snap locks which I prefer as cheaper snap locks tend to...well...snap! The only slight let down is the head, certainly usable with a quick release too but probably worth upgrading at a later date if you are going to use it a lot.

[markmullen]

I've got a Manfrotto 190XDB which comes into budget, well made, light enough to carry and packs down small. I might change it for a 055 model but only because I'm a tall bugger and don't want to have to put the centre column up

[illmonkey]

Zaxxon said:

Manfrotto as far as I'm concerned, but you thenm have to pay £0-50 for the head unit.

OP, your not up in Arbroath are you?

+1, I got a Manfretto for Christmas. It's fairly heavy, but solid as a rock.

[Zaxxon]

Comacchio said:

I'll have a look at the Manfrotto thing.

Ayrshire matey.

It's just that I was a member of your user name for a couple of years.

[GetCarter]

This is a good tripod (I have one) They are £140 new but plenty on ebay (will last a lifetime)...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/benbo-trekker-mark-3-tripod-...

[Dibblington]

You can't go far wrong with Manfrotto or Giottos kit. Just pick whatever falls into your budget and you'll be away.

[Gad-Westy]

I don't think it's been mentioned on this thread yet but Red Snapper always seem to get great write ups. They seem to offer great value. Manfotto heads are worth the investment too. I have one on a Giotto Tripod and am very pleased with the setup.

[Comacchio]

Zaxxon said:

It's just that I was a member of your user name for a couple of years.

Ah. I took the name from my radio callsign back when i was in a cadet group geared towards the marines

Thanks for the replies, i'll have a look at the Redsnapper and Manfrotto ones suggested and give my brother a link and see what he goes for.

Much appreciated,

-Allan

[manek]

Whatever you do, don't buy a cheap tripod. It will be too light, not robust enough, and be a waste of money.

The point of a tripod is to hold the camera still. When it's windy and you've got a long lens on the front, a solid, tripod is worth its weight. If it's lightweight, it will be worse than useless, and a total waste of money - you'd do better handholding. I don't see a decent tripod that will hold an SLR with a decent lens for less than £120 or so, minimum.

[Dibblington]

Most light carbon fibre ones have a mechanism of hanging a weight to weigh it down so you don't have to lug extra weight around if you don't need it

[Gad-Westy]

Dibblington said:

Most light carbon fibre ones have a mechanism of hanging a weight to weigh it down so you don't have to lug extra weight around if you don't need it

Yep, mine isn't CF but it still gets the camera bag hung from the bottom when required.

[manek]

Same here - the more weight, the better.