If I recall correctly, Induro, Benro and MeFoto are all part of the same company and manufacturer. The Induro brand is exclusive to North America and is not sold anywhere else, whereas Benro & MeFoto are sold in most countries. The Induro brand has some models that are better constructed than what Benro and MeFoto have to offer. I think if you were to order them by quality of products, Induro would be first, followed by Benro and then MeFoto. The difference isn't so much in that Induro tripods are better made than MeFoto's, it's that Induro's top tripod models are better than MeFoto's top models. All of them are VERY similar in design, materials and function and all of them are made in China by the same company. Like I stated in an earlier post, I bought my dad a MeFoto Roadtrip and thought it was great. I'm getting myself one of their Backpacker models for short backpack trips.
Manfrotto is a great company, but huge - which means they have lots of products and at different price and quality points. They have very inexpensive and flimsy tripods as well as very sturdy and well-made tripods that are capable of competing against Gitzo and RRS. There are two things I dislike about Manfrotto tripod design: 1) the leg section clasps and 2) the camera quick release plate system. I guess you can get a different ball head and use Manfrotto legs if you like their clasp system, but their good tripods are just slightly less than Gitzo or RRS, so I'd prefer to go with Gitzo or RRS. Manfrottos are made in Northern Italy.
I've handled Feisol (made in Taiwan) and have been very impressed with their quality. I used one of their tournament series CF tripods and was very impressed at how sturdy it felt, even at fully-extended length with a large lens.
Sirui is made in Hong Kong and I have heard great things about their products, but have never handled their products, so I can't comment.
Frodge, you first need to come up with a budget and stick to it. Despite what everyone on here says, it's OK to buy a $200 tripod. We've all bought one in our life and I didn't regret my purchase. It helped me learn to use a tripod and get comfortable with it until I realized the limitations of a $200 tripod. Should I have jumped in and paid for a good tripod to begin with? Probably, but at the time, I was on a tight budget and $200 was all I was willing to afford.
So, once you come up with a hard number, you need to look at four things: leg material, leg design, head design and mounting plate design.
Leg material: If on a budget, this will be chosen for you: aluminum. If your budget allows, carbon fiber is lighter and typically more rigid than their aluminum counterpart.
Leg design: I prefer the screw-type tension knobs found on Gitzos rather than the clasp-style design on Manfrottos. That's a personal choice. Only you need to be comfortable with it. There is no better or worse, despite what people may have you believe. It's just personal preference.
Head design: I prefer ballheads. In most cases, the larger the ball, the more weight it will hold (yes, there are exceptions, but generally this is the case). If on a budget, you may not have much of a choice here since the really good ball heads sometimes cost more than the legs. Unless going with a top quality product like Arca, RRS, Markins, Linhof, Novoflex, Foba and other $500+ heads, most of the sub $100 heads will function very similarly and have similar limitations. I would get one that is either easy to use or comes with the tripod in a package deal.
Mounting plate design: I prefer Arca Swiss style plates. I have RRS plates on all my bodies and lenses and all fit my quick release plate. It's a wonderful system and can be used to adapt to more than just tripod stuff. I have my macro rig connected to my RRS L-plate with a flash head and arm. Others like Manfrotto's system, but I don't care for it. It was my first system and I disliked it. I liked the safety features, but I found it clunky and a bit awkward to use. Arca Swiss is much easier and I find it much slimmer and low profile. I'm sure there are other proprietary models out there, but they are probably not worth looking into.
I don't know if this helps or not, but I thought I would throw it out there. Good luck.
