light tripod recommendations

[davidsmeaton]

i'm looking to start traveling again and i'm a bit concerned about the weight of

my gear.

 

one area i'm looking at is my tripod. i have a slik pro 330dx which weighs in at

4.5 pounds (2.3 kilograms). it's a titanium alloy tripod which is sturdy and has

a decent head.

 

i'm considering carbon fiber tripods, but can't afford too much.

 

are there any good recommendations for a sturdy and light tripod, including

head, for around $500 or less?

 

thanks for your help.

 

david

[alan_chan4]

You might check out the Velbon EL or Neo Carmagne.

[bruce_margolis]

I have a couple CF tripods I travel with. One is a Bogen/Manfrotto with pan/tilt head, the other a Benro with ballhead. I use the Bogen only with smaller lenses. Both are just a little over your budget but not much.

 

Even with CF, the weight is still about 4-5 lbs with a decent head. There are a few carbon fiber tripods that weigh maybe 3 lbs with a small head. They are nice for traveling/hiking but I wouldn't expect really good support with larger lenses. But they are certainly better than nothing.

 

Check out some of your options here for legs........

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/2636/Tripod_Legs.html

 

And here for ball heads.........

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/140/Tripod_Heads_Ball_Heads.html

 

And here for pan/tilt heads......

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/106/Tripod_Heads_Pan_Tilt_Heads.html

[lilly_w]

You should state the max load capacity you're seeking.

 

I recently acquired a carbon fibre Gitzo Mountaineer 6X; extremely light and includes great features such as removeable column for ground-level shooting and rapid leg-locks.

[nate_kinnee]

Feisol makes some nice carbon fiber tripods for less money than the comparable Gitzos. When I bought mine, and a Kirk BH-3, I'm pretty sure I came in under $500.

 

http://www.feisol.com/english/feisolen.htm

[carbon_dragon]

I have a Gitzo carbon fiber 1228 tripod. It's several years old now, maybe you can find one used. These days, the image stabilization systems are getting awfully good. Maybe you don't need to carry one anymore?

[kaiyen]

Under $500 for a Feisol and a Kirk BH3 should tell you how affordable the Feisol is. I think it's about $250 for the truly light weight one? About 2.5 pounds? feisol.com They are good tripods, too, not just knock-offs. nikonians.org has a lot of reviews, as well as here on PN.

 

The only thing about them, and this is true for, say, the Gitzo 1228 (which isn't made anymore, I don't think, but I don't keep track of the current model lineup), is that the last and smallest leg section is quite small. But it's not like it'll snap in half or anything. Just keep the load right.

[graham_line]

You can save some weight on the head with an Acratech ($270, 1.5 lbs) and have $230 left to buy a set of legs.

 

http://acratech.net/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AOS&Product_Code=ubh

[umesh_bhatt1]

After much deliberation and thinking (I was almost ready to get the new Gitzo 1550/1540/1541 Traveller series tripod) - when i was offered by a good seller (www.reallybigcameras.com) - to try out Feisol's new tripod called 3441S.

 

I have so far used it only once - on my most recent photoshoot at Cape May. It is really tiny and light - I use it with Markins Q3 - and it fits it perfectly. It does not fold up quite as compact with the ball head on it and does not fit the included bag, but - it still is very compact and light.

 

I think i will keep it. I have used in the beach, in the water, on land and slush (damn birds!) and other such places....it holds up my 70-200 VR with tele converters and all other such things quite well....and was still very sturdy (in fact the other person i was shooting with had a 3021 and i bet, my setup was just as sturdy).

[william_bean]

This is one of the classic questions. If you ask 100 photographers this question you'll get 100 different answers. Here's mine:

 

First, I think when you mention the $500 price for tripod and head some of the folks here need a bit of a reality check on current pricing when they start talking about Gitzos. Even the Feisols are a bit pricey given a $500 cap for legs and head. I recently added a CF tripod and a new small ballhead to my arsenal and stayed at the $500 level only because I found a good used tripod at a great price.

 

I currently have 2 sets of legs and 2 ballheads to choose from and for the most part the length of my trip dictates which one goes with me. (shorter trip, smaller luggage=smaller legs) The leg sets I use are Manfroto 190XB and Manfrotto 441 which is CF and a little lighter but about 4 or 5 inches longer than the 190XB. The heads I use are Markins Q3 and a Graf Mini-Studioball. Both are good heads but the Markins is amazing so the Graf is mostly a paperweight these days.

 

As far as expenses, I paid full dollar ($285) for the Markins and haven't blinked. The Graf I got on ebay for $40 and have had no issues though it's not nearly as deluxe as the Markins. Both are good ballheads and support a 40D with 100-400 nicely.

 

The 190XB is aluminum alloy and is about the same weight as the larger 441 because it's smaller. Cost on the 190XB was about $140 and I got the 441 used for $200. Bottom line is: How deluxe do you want to go and, more specifically, what are your height requirements for a tripod? Given a choice I will ALWAYS use the 441/Markins combo unless I'm taking a small suitcase which simply won't fit the 441 even without a head.

 

I should mention that I did weeks of research and touched a lot of tripods before buying the stuff I now have. I really liked the Velbon El Carmagne series and also Benro and Feisol though I tend to lean more towards lever leg releases instead of twist locks. In fact, I was on the way to one camera store to buy the El Carmagne 630 and decided to stop in another store that has lots of used gear where I found the 441 for about $175 less than the new price of the El Carmagne.

 

Good luck sorting through all this stuff...lots of different opinions and none any more or less valid than the next. Except yours.

[Larry_G1664882113]

Try the Induro carbon fibre tripods. Check out www.indurogear.com

I recently took my Induro C214 to the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego. It traveled

easily and held up in fierce winds.

[gungajim]

Gitzo 1540T - Also there are many informative posts on this subject over past couple of years. They are in the tripod section of the equipment forum (or something like that!). GJ

[nick_warrener]

David, I'd seriously recommend a Benro tripod, also called Induro I think (as stated in Larry's post). For the last few weeks I have been researching into travel tripods, finding the market to be quite confusing due to the amount on offer. I'm fairly new to photography so can't go into detail about technicalities and stuff but like me I'm sure you're after a light, small tripod but can still support a decent load.

 

I settled on the Benro A-069 with a BH-0 head. It's not top of the range but set me back ﾣ100, new on ebay (from Hong Kong). I'm pretty sure it's a new model since it seems non-existent in the European market, hence why I got it off ebay from Hong Kong.

 

It just came through today and I'd seriously recommend it. Although not as good as its carbon fibre counterparts, it appears to be at the top end of Benro's aluminum range. The main differences I could see was that the carbon fibre pods are a touch lighter and probably a bit better all round, however I'm really pleased with my purchase. I don't have too heavy gear so I didn't need a mega 10kg-supporting tripod.

 

If you research a bit into Benro, you'll see it's a Chinese company that makes decent copies of Gitzo's but at a much lower price. If you want go for a carbon fibre but what I learnt was the models go up and up in price so rather than getting a CB tripod at the low-end of the range why not stick to an aluminum one at the higher end. Also, the A-069 is in Benro's 'travel angel' series, therefore ideal for travel photographers. It weighs in at around 1.3kg with the head and so doesn't weigh my bag down at all. Check it out on ebay and see. Of course buying a tripod is a really personal decision, however it you're in the same boat as I was it seems this one may be the one for you. Plus I did a lot of researching and also was on the fence about a CB tripod but found after all my research I went for a Benro. When it came through I was proud of the 'made in china' sign!

 

cheers, Nick

[jaxphotocat]

I would second the earlier recommendation on the Feisol tripod. I was at the big

photo PMA trade show in Las Vegas this last February and got to take a good look

at the Feisol Traveler (model number: CT-3441) and was very impressed with it.

Well crafted and lightweight. I will be ordering one any day now for some upcoming

travel.

 

Good luck.

 

Mark

[davidsmeaton]

hey everyone,

 

thanks for the comments so far. i've got some great info on tripods. it's been very helpful.

 

at this point, i'm quite tempted to buy a feisol CT-3441B. it seems to be a top notch tripod ... and $450 is reasonable (with shipping). 1.1kg, ball head and 180 degree legs will be very useful on the road.

 

it's only rated to 6kg, but none of my gear is too heavy, since i'm not carrying big lenses.

 

however, i'm not decided yet, so i'll keep an eye on this thread and continue my research.

 

thanks again everyone! :)

 

cheers

 

david

[angkordave]

If you have IS or fast lightweight lenses you might consider a lightweight monopod, and a bean bag? With the good low light performance of some cameras and baggage restrictions with airlines I am finding a tripod less useful and more of a hindrance when travelling.