willrobinson

You can always increase the stability and rigidity of a light/less expensive tripod by hanging a sand bag (or camera bag) from the bottom of the center column. The increased weight increase stability by putting the legs into compression. This extra weight will also reduce vibration but you have to be careful that the weight isn't swaying during exposures.

I've seen that trick and notice that many have hooks for that purpose too

Without commenting on the specific brands, carbon does generally absorb vibration better than aluminium. When I got my Manfrotto 055CXPro3 (carbon) it was visibly less prone to vibration and more rigid than the plain aluminium version, although Manfrotto have upgraded that model since mine.

 

Generally: light, rigid, cheap - pick two. Are you able to narrow it down a bit?

 

What camera are you looking at? A long exposure with a 500mm lens or a 5x4 is a different story from a long exposure with a small compact (or consumer dSLR with kit lens). What are you trying to support it against? If you're somewhere sheltered, I've done long exposures with very iffy support that would barely hold the camera (but shook less than me); if you want to set up in a hurricane, you need more, but otherwise you might be able to rely on the exposure time to hide any vibration. You might find something with spiked feet useful if you want rigidity and don't mind the set-up time. How much can you carry? In my experience tripods are lighter than you might think given the weight of a typical decent head (what are you looking at head-wise, or is that part of the question?) but if you don't mind carting something heavy about, that may help. I'm not fit and despite having a relatively expensive and light tripod, don't carry it all that far - but it wouldn't kill me to use a cheaper and heavier tripod. If it's more of an issue than you admit, there's no point going crazy.

 

A friend recently donated a really heavy tripod to me (which may relate to it falling on his foot); I believe it was cheap, and certainly old, but it's at least fairly rigid, if not quite the match to my carbon pods; if I remember what it is, I'll post back. Checking carefully, eBay might help - it's hard to make a heavy tripod that's not rigid (check the size of the leg sections), it's making a light one rigid that's hard. I'm sure there are plenty of current options that are affordable - I think of the Manfrotto 290 as relatively flimsy (by some standards; that's not to say it's bad, just built for lightness), so if that's your bar, you should be able to match it.

Good stuff thanks...I'm working with a nikon D7500 and a 17-50 lens, so my camera/lens weight is on the lighter side will likely be exposed...beaches and such is what I'm interested in...I can carry a bit...pretty fit for an old guy...but I also don't want to make it such a chore I don't enjoy it...As I'm going to want to smooth out water I expect that most of my exposures will be at least a couple of minutes so vibration will be an issue...sounds like carbon fiber would be best

I'm looking for a tripod mainly for long exposures...that won't break the bank. Realistically I'm not going to be flying around the world with this so size and weight are not my top concerns. That said I will be doing landscapes so I have to get it from the car to the photo spot. The Mefoto Road Trip gets good reviews and at $150 looks nice, but maybe too lightweight. The Globe Trotter even more robust and still in my price range. How do they compare in stability to say the Manfrotto 290 xtra. Clearly different categories but which is more stable? (i.e. just because it's heavier is it better?). Also the Geekoto is reasonably priced in carbon fiber...besides being lighter does that make it less prone to vibration?

Thanks for your incites...Will