Question re tripods?

Question

Does it really matter what tripod you get? They vary so much in price, and I only want it for taking landscape shots with my Nikon D40. Will a £30.00 one from Argos do the job?

Answer 1

If it will keep your camera stable, it will do. If you can only afford the Argos right now, then hey, a bargain tripod is still much better than no tripod at all.  But, if you've got the money, one of the most important accessories to your camera is the tripod, and it's not a good idea to skimp in this area if you can afford not to. Now, if you're serious about photography, you will almost definitely upgrade your tripod in the future to one of the more expensive options such as Bogen/Manfrotto, Gitzo, Giottos, Benbo, Slik, etc... These tripods will show great improvements in ruggedness, max load support, speed of setup, ease of use, weight, setup features (ie, horizontal-flip center column, independently moveable legs, and other options). Comparing a bargain tripod to a professional tripod is really impossible, if you felt the difference, you'd be amazed.

But, in the end, the purpose of a tripod is to keep your camera steady, the other stuff is fluff. If you can do that with a bargain tripod for now, well, it's only 30 GBP and it should be just fine.

Answer 2

The important things to remember about tri-pods is that they are an aide to keeping the camera steady when shooting. Many tri-pods feature a number of leg extensions and the more you have with these the more unstable it becomes. Pan & Tilt heads may not be necessary for stills applications. Weight comes into play when carting all your kit about, look at carbon fibre legs. A realy good sturdy tri-pod is essential for landscape photography IF you need to have long exposure times with great depth of fields and long focal length lenses(telephoto). In short, buy the most expensive one you can afford having the features mentioned.

Answer 3

wahey, thats the one I just bought! I have a Nikon D40 and I just bought that £30 tripod from Argos, it's perfect for landscapes!

Go buy one now :D

Answer 4

Pay cheap pay twice.

Plastic is nice and light, but full of play and prone to snapping.

Buy a manfrotto 190 & head once and you'll have a rock solid tripod forever.

If you can't quite run to a manfrotto then visit a calumet store near you www.calumetphoto.co.uk  they do their own line of tripods which are as sturdy as the manfrottos but at a keener price.

Answer 5

It's hard to explain, but you need something strong enough to support you're camera but still cheap....  Helpfull I know...

Basically try and find one with a metal head.  It'll last longer.  We have on in canada by Velbon called the Sherpa.  It's an all metal fluid filled head and it's about 70-80 dollars.  

anything you fell comfortable putting your camera on is fine...

Answer 6

Most tripods do the same job,for a camera

they only need to be able to support a camera

or binoculars,like mine,cost me fourteen

pounds off EBay and are just fine.

Answer 7

Get the very best you can afford you will only need to buy it once.

Manfrotto and Gitzo are good, a light tripod, other than carbon fibre are worse than useless.

A ball head is quicker to use with a DSLR than a Pan and Tilt type.

Chris

Answer 8

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_...

About £16 inc P+P. I got one, and its great.

After all. a tripod is a tripod.

Good luck with your choice.