tripod

[stevechoi]

Does anyone know a good cheap tripod for a slr camera? thanks!

Steve

[defordphoto]

Good? Yes. There are many. Cheap? Nope.

Depends on your version of cheap. However, Manfrotto has this neat little legs/head combo that's a great deal. In fact, it's what I bought and I love it, though I did upgrade the head.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=284778&is=REG

$199.95

[jaypie77]

STEVE - It sounds like you may be on track to make the same mistake that I made a while back when I wanted to pick up a tripod. I went to a photo store and saw that the cheapest thing they had was $100. I thought "for $100, I could practically buy a lens" (another former misconception). Anyway, I went to the national store where the owner puts his face on every advertisement and bought one of their best products for $40.00. WHAT A MISTAKE. That's $40.00 down the toilet and I have regretted that purchase ever since.

Just to let you know what makes a cheap tripod crap:
-cheap plastic and CHEAP metal components break and come apart within a month
-temperature changes make parts warp and not work together
-flimsy construction and instability

By the way, anybody want to buy a sweet tripod? A steal at $40.00!

[Scottes]

I bought a Slik 9000 at Ritz for something like $50 or $60. It worked and did fine until I dropped $300+ on a proper Manfrotto rig about 3 months later.

But if I still had that tripod I'd be going nuts right now. It would definitely not handle big lenses or birding or anything like that. But now my wife has it and it suits her just fine.