Tripod for long exposures?

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a tripod to do some long exposures with. I've been looking at the 3 Legged Thing Frank, I'm not sure how sturdy that'd be for long exposures? The biggest draw to me is the arca-swisse plate on it, which means I could use the RRS L-plate on it, correct?

Does that also mean I could be able to replace the ballhead on it with a RRS ballhead in the future?

Any other tripod setup suggestions would also be welcomed..

Looking forward to your ideas..

Post added into first post.

No-one have any suggestions?

Any good tripod should work.

Yeah; any decent tripod should work. What are you most concerned with? Stability, portability, height, weight, cost....etc

I would try to separate legs and head purchases. What's your budget?

For the 600 bucks that the 3 legged thing frank and ballhead combo costs ($619 at adorama) you could get either the feisol ct 3442 (4 section and more popular) or the 3342 (3 section) and a good Photo Clam ballhead. I have not used either of these setups but have read many many great reviews on both the feisol and photoclam products. They seem to be the best you can get short of the setups that are over 2x the cost.

**** i just saw that you are in Australia. have no Idea if the products I suggested are available there and what the price would be.

mine1 wrote in post #17234473
For the 600 bucks that the 3 legged thing frank and ballhead combo costs ($619 at adorama) you could get either the feisol ct 3442 (4 section and more popular) or the 3342 (3 section) and a good Photo Clam ballhead. I have not used either of these setups but have read many many great reviews on both the feisol and photoclam products. They seem to be the best you can get short of the setups that are over 2x the cost.

Don't know about the head but I have used both of those Feisol tripods and they are good - especially for the price. Yes I do prefer my Gitzo tripods but, even though I got them very cheap, they were still expensive.
Feisol are making some very nice tripods at sensible prices - check them out, or look at the secondhand market for top brand models. You may get lucky - I did!

yep, anything decent will work, the more you spend the better it will be, of course, but you don't need to spend $1000 either. If you scroll down here to "similar threads" you'll also find some of the many tripod threads here regarding tripods and long exposure.

And as far as I know you can replace heads on just about any decent quality tripod quickly.

You might consider other uses before you buy though. Will you hike with it? Get something light that folds down small. More expensive of course if you go with carbon. Weight not much of an issue, but maybe height is? Or how low it can go for macro? Would you like a center column or not, if so, one that only goes up and down or can go sideways or even at any angle there is (great for macro)?

Go look at some if you can, the more research you do up front the more you'll like it down the road.

Also look at locking mechanics. Some have a 'flip lever', others you have to twist to lock, etc.

Will you take it to the beach or stand in water? You'll need something made for that.

What do you want to expose long? Stars? Waves? Will it be windy?

Make a list of must have, might have, doesn't need to have. Many options. Once you have a list of things you might want to do, go to a store or even just call B&H for example, a good sales person who knows different tripods might give you a couple models to consider and do some further search.

I know, seems like a lot to do for 'just a tripod', but it's easy to under or overbuy and be unhappy.

And there are endless combinations of legs and heads at many different prices.

Thanks for the replies guys!

I'd like it to be pretty stable in some wind.. I have a 6D right now with a 17-40..

I'm thinking of the BH-40 LR Ballhead but I don't know what legs to choose, I'd like to keep the price to $700ish so about $200-300 for the legs, any suggestions?

Thanks alot for the help guys!

Mitch,, it's very difficult to recommend a tripod, everyone has their own needs. I'd love to recommend a Benbo Classic No2

http://www.patersonpho​tographic.com/benbo-tripods.htm

which in my opinion is the best tripod on this planet.


Best thing to do is take your camera to a photography shop and try a few out.

MrMitch wrote in post #17234638
Thanks for the replies guys!

I'd like it to be pretty stable in some wind.. I have a 6D right now with a 17-40..

I'm thinking of the BH-40 LR Ballhead but I don't know what legs to choose, I'd like to keep the price to $700ish so about $200-300 for the legs, any suggestions?

Thanks alot for the help guys!

keep in mind that you can add stability to most tripods by adding sandbags to the legs.

Mitch, I bought a Sirui R4203 CF recently, and though it's a bit of a beast it is rock solid. I use a Manfrotto geared head on it, and it deals with the wind really well. It might be too big for your needs, but the next size range down should also be very rigid.

(I also bought the Sirui gimballed head for my 600 f4L and everything works really well with that combo.)

My only suggestion is to buy a quality tripod - at least $500 - so you are not buying another, and then another....

Pay once, cry once, and be done with it.