Please help me choose a tripod...thanks

Picked up a 5D II a few months back and have been taking tons of pictures with it. More than once I've wished that I had a tripod and now I'm done wishing and want to buy. I'm 6'2", the longest lens I expect to use is 70-200 f/2.8L, and I'm not doing this for a living. I've been shooting family portraits and landscapes so far but would like to do some macro as well. Help me spend some money.

Let me know if you need more info on what I intend to do with the tripod.

Thanks,
Mike

Budget would be helpful.

Without that, I can happily suggest any of the higher end Feisol or Benro models. Good balance between price and performance (personally I don't really see the need to spend more on gitzo and RSS unless one tends to shoot in hurricanes, during earthquakes, or with the 800mm 5.6L)

I personally have been lookin into the feisol ct 3442 tripod as it is a fair price, a good height, carbon fiber, optional center column, optional leveling base, folds small enough, can sit low for my macro, and will last me a while.

Feisol ct 3442 - $399

here's a link to a short article by Thom Hogan on tripods/ballheads. IMHO it's worth reading.

http://bythom.com/supp​ort.htm

Gitzo 2531 mountaineer,and a RRS BH-40. I love mine.

Check this review of the Feisol 3441T.

You pay for the light weight travel 3441,and the 3442 might be better for you. Feisol makes a great tripod and a great value. They're made in Taiwan, not China, and have a very good warranty and parts replacement policy.

My recommendation, if you decide to buy one, is to get it from the US rep in North Carolina rather than another vendor.

I've been happy with this Benro: http://www.amazon.com …1ZLU/ref=ox_ya_​os_product

It's kind of heavy though at 4.5 pounds but it will get you close to eye-level without raising the center column (I'm 5' 10" and it goes above my eyes when all of the legs are fully extended and center column down)

Taking a different approach, I have been happy with my Bogan 3021s for about 30 years. I have retired one (actually broke a leg on a very rough back country horseback ride) and am on my second one. They are now made by Manfrotto and the current model designation is 55XB, I think.

It has aluminum legs so it's a little heavy but solid as a rock. There is a carbon fiber version made also. I use a solidly made Manfrotto ball head with a hexagonal quick release plate with which I am very happy.

This is a less expensive set up than others have suggested. It's pretty basic but very solid. If you want to spend less, take a look at Manfrotto.

rgs wrote in post #14966294
If you want to spend less, take a look at Manfrotto.

Agreed. I have a couple of Manfrotto tripods, one of which is the 055XPROB.
These tripods are incredibly durable, with both having survived treks through
an abandoned mental hospital, several times. I've knocked them across
steam pipes and metal ladders, many times, and both have held up very well
to the inadvertant abuse I've subjected them to.

mcoomer wrote in post #14959301
Picked up a 5D II a few months back and have been taking tons of pictures with it. More than once I've wished that I had a tripod and now I'm done wishing and want to buy. I'm 6'2", the longest lens I expect to use is 70-200 f/2.8L, and I'm not doing this for a living. I've been shooting family portraits and landscapes so far but would like to do some macro as well. Help me spend some money.

Let me know if you need more info on what I intend to do with the tripod.

Thanks,
Mike

Gitzo 3532LS you would never need another again.
I got my 3530LSV (now an older model) about 7 years ago, best tripod I have ever used. Still feels brand new, incredibly stable, and quick to deploy.

Work out your budget.
Now double it.
This is one decision you will never regret.

Not to hijack this thread, but RGS mentioned a hexagonal quick release plate. Is quick release good or bad? I want to get into macro, as a matter of fact, this coming Thurs I'm going to buy a Canon 100 f/2.8L lens.

Regards,

Rick

Nothing wrong with a good QR plate that fits your camera well, but the hex plate RGS referred to is a bad size for most DSLRs, being a more appropriate size for a medium-format camera. At the low end of reasonable QR plates are Manfrotto's RC2 plates. The high end would be the Really Right Stuff L plates, which let you flip your camera between landscape and portrait orientation without moving the head or losing your framing, and are custom-machined to hug your camera so they can't slip under load.

Jon wrote in post #14978624
Nothing wrong with a good QR plate that fits your camera well, but the hex plate RGS referred to is a bad size for most DSLRs, being a more appropriate size for a medium-format camera....

Agreed. My hex plates and the heads that go with them are left over from my film days with a Pentax 67 and a 4X5. They are a little big but I'm used to them.

rick_reno wrote in post #14959620
here's a link to a short article by Thom Hogan on tripods/ballheads. IMHO it's worth reading.

http://bythom.com/supp​ort.htm

Great article, a must read. I'm probably the poster child for this when it comes to tripods.

I recommend a Gitzo GT2541 or 31 Mountaineer (or now maybe a 42 or 32) with a Markins Q-10 ball head. To me it's the most versital Gitzo, light enough to take with you but sturdy enough to do serious work with. I also bought a GT1542T traveller and a GT3530LS. Ones much lighter and the other really sturdy but the Mountaineer is the more versital IMO.