VELBON tripods - Pos/Negs

[Todd Jacobsen]

I have been a BIG fan of Velbon QR's and my tripod selection has been influenced by this.

I am getting ready to purchase a second tripod but still want to utilize the VELBON QR's (since I gots lots of them).

What other tripods ($300 range) allow for non-native QR's to be utilized? Why SHOULDN'T I choose Velbon as my next tripod?

Current tripod is Velbon Chase 4L (not real good for panning).

[BartS]

When I was a kid I had a Velbon tripod which I really hated... Aluminium legs, wobbly and a useless tilt/pan head that just wasn't level. So my opinion of Velbon was not very high...

Last year I saw a great deal on a Velbon NeoCarmagne (a.k.a. Sherpa) tripod. It's carbon, sturdy, tall, not too heavy and rock-solid. And at the same price as a aluminium Manfrotto/ half the price of a carbon Manfrotto it's excellent value for money.
And at least I've some money left to buy a good Manfrotto head (still trying to decide)
I also got the Velbon quick leveler (to fit my panohead on), let's say it's worth it's price (20 euro)... ;-)

Mogwyth is right, I got the 630 as well.

[Mogwyth]

I have got the Velbon 630 Cf, possibly the same as model as Barts and it's a good solid tripod, thoughly reccommend it.

[Tapeman]

I have 2 Velbon tripods - the 450 and the mini F

The 450 is useless, except for holding one of my EX 550 flashes IMO.

The mini F is much better. It has a little shake to it, but if you "load it " , it is OK for macro or table-top use.

[Paul_O]

I've only recently bought the 450n and IMHO it's a great tripod for the money. I did a lot of looking around and found it to be equivalent to many brands that cost twice as much. For the record I use it with a 300D and use lenses up to a 75-300 IS.

http://www.velbon-tripod.com/sherpa.htm

Have a look in store though if you can, that will be the best way to do a comparison

Paul

[Todd Jacobsen]

Thanks for the inputs. I'll probably stick with Velbon (640).