best tripod and carrying case?

[tekstyle]

what is a good and affordable tripod and carrying case (those big shoulder bags, not the small handheld ones) for a g5? i don't want to spend too much and hopefully the tripod doesnt weight too much.

[verT]

I just bought a really nice trii pod and it is very light and folds up quite small it's a Slik Sprint Tripod. It has a ball head on it and comes with a case.

[tekstyle]

do you think u can give me the link of the site u got it from or a pic of it? how much did it cost u btw?

[verT]

http://www.blackphotostore.com/english/proddetail.asp?sku=2397

It's a Canadian store and it's priced in CAD I got it on sale for 69.99 plus a bunch of ridiculous taxes.

I'll see if I can find a manufacturers web site or something for you.

[dbump]

If you're not in a rush, you might browse through some of the posts on:
http://www.photo.net/bboard/forum?topic_id=1544

Folks tend to fall into two basic camps on the tripod/head question: One crowd likes to buy something cheap, and make do. The other crowd, tell a tale of going through several iterations of cheap (and then broken or insufficient) equipment, and finally buying an expensive tripod that has since lasted longer than all the cheap ones in sequence. They then suggest that newcomers invest in the more expensive end first, rather than spending $Y 3 or 4 times, and then eventually having to spend 3 times Y on a single tripod that will last the rest of their life.

I'm guessing that some folks in the first camp are quite happy with their cheap tripod for life. The question you need to answer is which camp you'll fall into :)
I guessed I'd be in the second camp, so I invested in a Manfrotto 3001 Pro, and I've been tickled with it. Really, it's not that much more expensive, and it allows me a lot more flexibility, especially for macro shots.

Check www.bhphotovideo.com for good (but not scary, fly-by-night) prices; I've had great experience with them, and have read numerious good reviews of their service.

There are also a couple of good threads on this forum, regarding tripods, heads, and especially bags (which is great, since they are from folks with a camera like yours). As I recall, the Lowepro Nova AW1 was very popular--sort of a compromise between tiny bags and the enormous ones that come with a voucher for a chiropracter.

[Papaw]

I hate to sound cheap, but last week I saw a tripod (Velbon CX 300) in a pawn shop and they sold it for $15.00. It works great but since this is my first tripod- I don't know if its a good one or not---but it works great for me.

[Ballen Photo]

what is a good and affordable tripod and carrying case (those big shoulder bags, not the small handheld ones) for a g5? i don't want to spend too much and hopefully the tripod doesnt weight too much.

I bought a Slik U9000 for my lightweight work, which makes it PERFECT for My G-5. It's tall enough, stable enough, has snaplocks on the legs, has a quick release, but is a LOT lighter than my Bogen setup. I think it was around $50 when I picked it up a few years back. Anyway, here's a link to it. http://www.slik.com/u/4906752101155-e.html
-Bruce

[tekstyle]

thanks everyone. i really appreciate all the replies and effort to make my shopping experience easier and headed in the right direction. keep them coming :wink:

[REDSC400]

I am often on the go, and as such do not have the time to set up a traditional tripod. At a recent visit to NY City I had the chance to visit B&H photo. There I tried about 10 interesting monopods and quick set up tripods.

After all was said and done, I walked out with the Manfrotto 684B Neo Tec Pro. This is a monopod which is a one button setup monopod. You open the monopod and to adjust the height there is a single palm grip squeeze to operate lever. When you squeeze this lever you can ajust the monopod up an down and then when you release the lever, it locks in place.

I have been using this monopod now for two weeks with great results with my Canon PowerShot PRO1. This monopod runs in the $100 range and it is built very well and is a snap to carry around.

I would highly reccomend this accessory.