Tripod for studio use

[sweetypie925]

Which would you recommend? I was on the edge of buying the manfrotto/bogen that most people recommend with the ball head. Any others?

[PacAce]

You can't go wrong with a Manfrotto tripod for studio use. And there are several to choose from.

[TomHuckWa]

My studio/video pod is a very heavy Bogen 3046 with 3063 head It is beyond stable.

[sleibrand]

If you're thinking about shooting people, give some thought to how you'll get the camera into portrait orientation. With pan/tilt heads it's not too bad. With cheap ballheads, you end up in the drop notch and lose much of the benefit of the ballhead.

If you can swing it, an L bracket is the best thing since sliced bread. You can check out the basics at www.reallyrightstuff.com - they have good tutorial/how-to information (and killer products with prices to match.) Kirk and Markins also make top-notch gear. Acratech seems to be on a slightly lower level but would probably be fine for studio work.

[PacAce]

If you're thinking about shooting people, give some thought to how you'll get the camera into portrait orientation. With pan/tilt heads it's not too bad. With cheap ballheads, you end up in the drop notch and lose much of the benefit of the ballhead.

If you can swing it, an L bracket is the best thing since sliced bread. You can check out the basics at www.reallyrightstuff.com - they have good tutorial/how-to information (and killer products with prices to match.) Kirk and Markins also make top-notch gear. Acratech seems to be on a slightly lower level but would probably be fine for studio work.
I concur. If you have an Arca-Swiss type QR system, the L bracket is indispensable for working in the portrait orientation.

For those who have the Manfrotto QR system, an equivalent is the Manfrotto elbow bracket, such as the following for the RC2 QR system:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/283710-REG/Bogen_Manfrotto_341_341_Jr_Elbow_Bracket.html