Need a tripod for HighSpeed DriveBy's, any suggestions

[Tortri]

I will hopefully be attending an event where such as Ferrari's and what not will be driving down a runway at high speeds.. I'm hoping I can get right at the edge. All I have is a cheap tripod I bought 14 years ago. The location will be windy as it'll be near a coastline so I'll need something sturdy but can hold a 5d mark ii with either a 85mm or 135mm w/1.4x extender. The current tripod will hold the setup with a small limp, I figured if I lowered the tripod the wind won't be a factor. I plan on taking mainly photos and some videos..


Any suggestions, or even if I need to buy a decent tripod.. but nothing too expensive, maybe $200ish, $250 pushing it.

[Electric Shepherd]

You may be better served by a monopod for that purpose, it should allow more flexibilty for panning fast vehicles than a tripod.

[Roy Mathers]

I may be wrong but I can't see how a tripod would be of much benefit. Surely you will be using high shutter speeds? I think Tortri is right - a monopod would be better - or even hand-held.

[bohdank]

I can see using a tripod and a fluid head for the video portion but not for the stills.

[Tortri]

Thanks for helping me out guys! Now to find a decent monopod! ;-)

[crn3371]

I'm thinking you're going to want to shoot handheld. You'll either be shooting at a fast shutter speed to freeze the action (kind of a boring shot) or shooting at a slower speed to do panning shots which will show a sharp shot of the car against a blurred background (better for conveying motion). Either way a tripod would be cumbersome.

[jhom]

Like in sports, a monopod would be the choice of shooters. You might want to consider the Manfrotto 679, 680 or 681.