8 replies to this topic

[mariah]

I am recently facing some difficulties choosing the right tripod for my camera. I use Nikon D 5300, where can I get a good tripod which will serve the purpose of good stable photography?. I would like to buy a professional tripod not the one which people buys for random uses. Please help me out.

[Merco_61]

What’s your budget?
How portable does it need to be?
What lenses?
Do you know what type of head works best for you?
Do you think you will be filming or only stills?

[Nikon Shooter]

What’s your budget?
How portable does it need to be?
What lenses?
Do you know what type of head works best for you?
Do you think you will be filming or only stills?

All the right questions for a safe investment.
 

 I would like to buy a professional tripod not the one which people buys for random uses.

I decided to go for series 5 Gitzo: great in every way but not cheap.
I suggest my students the Feizol top line. More reasonable in price
and performance.

A tripod is a life time investment. One won't save money when buying
cheap but use the same tripod for a loooong time. Like me, you pro-

baby know people with two or more tripods… lost money.

[Merco_61]

I can add that my personal preference is an old 4-section Gitzo Reporter, I think the current equivalent is a Series 3, with an RRS BH-55 ballhead as my very portable tripod.

My studio and short walk tripod is a Sachtler ENG 2 with one of the Sachtler fluid heads. It is too tall collapsed and too heavy to be comfortable on my backpack, but it doesn't move and it doesn't vibrate. Before I got the Sachtler, I had a Berlebach ash tripod with a Burzynski ballhead, a leftover from my large format days.

[Nikon Shooter]

Studio requirements are very different, weight is not an issue but more
an asset. I have 2x Manfrotto #058B Triaut both on dolly #181 and with
geared studio heads #410. All acquired 3 or 4 decades ago and all still
work perfectly.

On location — including wildlife — CF lightness and sturdiness is the
new standard — the market is full with potentially bad choices so be
wise. You still have the decision power just as long as the money is in
your pocket, once over the counter though…

[TBonz]

Here is an old thread with several different folks looking for tripods (including me!) 

 

Basic question on tripods. - Bags, Tripods, and Accessories - NikonForums.com

[Merco_61]

Here is an old thread with several different folks looking for tripods (including me!) 

 

Basic question on tripods. - Bags, Tripods, and Accessories - NikonForums.com

I still use the same Gitzo and one BH-55 as in 2014, but the Vanguard is history and the Sachtler has a fluid head these days. Most of the recommendations I made in the old tripod head still stand about 5 years later. Thanks for bringing it up, Tom.

 

My Gitzo is well past its prime, but I have put off replacing it as the market is muddier than ever. The problem is finding something carbon fibre with a 75 mm levelling base that doesn't break the bank. A Sachtler Speed Lock 75 or a Cartoni Smart Stop 75 would be ideal, but they are on the expensive side and a bit long folded.

[fallout666]

not sure been talked about or thought about by you. if have local camera store. why not go to place and try out tripods out. so you get feel of them and now which one will fit your needs better. also can see what different types offer too. be lucky that first monopod i got i love it and when time replace it after i broke it. went for same one again 

[Ron]

All good suggestions. Many of us have tripods that we no longer use because they either wore out or suffered some other milady that made them impractical. It's better to spend a bit more up front and get a good tripod than to spend a little over time replacing inferior tripods. 

 

Also, don't forget the head. That's just as important as the legs, perhaps more so because that's the part that you do the most adjusting with. And for that decision, you really need to first decide what type of photography you're going to be doing the most. For example, a gimbal head would be great for shooting wildlife with long lenses but not so good for landscapes with shorter lenses.

 

--Ron