Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT Aluminum Tripod?

I've got a Promaster FW23t which is kind of mediocre.

I saw recommended on YouTube the Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT Aluminum Tripod. At $150 w/o head (I already have a Vanguard ballhead), it seems like a good deal.

Does anybody have any comments about this tripod?

Thanks.

This certainly looks like an advance over your existing tripod. I should say that I am not familiar with this particular model but I have tried several Vanguard tripods.

I think that you may be on course to making the same mistakes that I did. I started with a budget model, upgraded, upgraded again! Finally I bit the bullet and got a proper tripod! Yes it was expensive, but cheaper than the total of the tripods that I had bought before and discarded and (more importantly) it will probably never need replacing! In other words if I had bought a Gitzo in the first place it would have been cheaper and I would have had a top quality tripod in the first place instead of several years of faffing about with bendy things.

If the likes of Gitzo and RRS are simply too expensive (they are FAR from cheap) then have a look at the used market. Either of these brands will outlast most of us and can often be found quite cheap used, for example a picked up a Gitzo 3 series Carbon fiber tripod a few years ago for about $125 in your money. This tripod was quite happy with 600mm F4 + lenses, very rigid and not too heavy (only 200 grams more than the Vanguard!). Have a look at FleaBay and similar - if you are patient there are bargains to be had.

Another alternative is to have a look at the Chinese/Korean etc tripods. They make some very nice products at more sensible prices. A particular favorite of mine is the Feisol 3342. Nice and rigid, ridiculously light and great for lenses up to 300mm F2.8 or so;
http://www.feisol.net …s/tournament-tripods.html
Yes a bit more than you want to spend - but far more rigid, about half the weight (so you will actually bring it along) and better built.

In a nutshell I would say wait a little longer, save a bit more and get a quality tripod as it is cheaper in the long run. Just my thoughts.

Weight isn't a consideration. In fact, the heavier (within reason) the better.

80% of what I do these days is macro. I like the hinged center column of the Vanguard.

What do you think about the Manfrotto MT190XPRO3 Aluminum Tripod?

Why would you want a heavier tripod? Yes weight does damp down vibration well but only when you are looking at studio/large video (or similar) tripods - I don't want to carry one of them

As to the Manfrotto 190? That was my second tripod (different model but same legs) - I thought it was great until I tried a Manfrotto 055 XB Pro so much better. Then I tried a 2 series Gitzo. A piece lighter than the Manfrotto 190 and it made the Manfrotto 055 look very bendy to say the least! The horizontal column feature on the Manfrotto 055 is pretty much useless IMO as even with the light Canon 20D that I used at the time vibration was a big problem. I tried it several times for flower photography but just gave up.

Swivelling/hinged center columns greatly increase vibration and reduce rigidity, they can work (if you have the patience) but they are far from ideal You will also need a wireless shutter release - even a wired remote will upset them for macro use and remember to use mirror lockup.

I mostly do wildlife photography with long lenses with some informal macro and landscape and I have found that my 100mm F2.8 Macro is every bit as demanding on a tripod as my Canon 800mm F5.6 LIS.

Please remember that I am a bit of a tripod freak and that these are just my opinions.

johnf3f wrote in post #18268239
Why would you want a heavier tripod? Yes weight does damp down vibration well but only when you are looking at studio/large video (or similar) tripods - I don't want to carry one of them

As to the Manfrotto 190? That was my second tripod (different model but same legs) - I thought it was great until I tried a Manfrotto 055 XB Pro so much better. Then I tried a 2 series Gitzo. A piece lighter than the Manfrotto 190 and it made the Manfrotto 055 look very bendy to say the least! The horizontal column feature on the Manfrotto 055 is pretty much useless IMO as even with the light Canon 20D that I used at the time vibration was a big problem. I tried it several times for flower photography but just gave up.

Swivelling/hinged center columns greatly increase vibration and reduce rigidity, they can work (if you have the patience) but they are far from ideal You will also need a wireless shutter release - even a wired remote will upset them for macro use and remember to use mirror lockup.

I mostly do wildlife photography with long lenses with some informal macro and landscape and I have found that my 100mm F2.8 Macro is every bit as demanding on a tripod as my Canon 800mm F5.6 LIS.

Please remember that I am a bit of a tripod freak and that these are just my opinions.

Heavy is good for me because 80% of my photography is indoor macro.

I don't do any hiking as such. On odd occasions, I'll "hike" from the parking lot in the Metroparks fifty yards to the edge of a lake. Other than that, it's up the street from my house to take pictures of Rocky River from the bridge. Given that I just purchased a 500mm mirror lens, heavy is an asset.

Ah I see where you are coming from!

You might be able to find a used studio tripod if you hunt about - heavy, rigid and probably cheap too.

johnf3f wrote in post #18269068
Ah I see where you are coming from!

You might be able to find a used studio tripod if you hunt about - heavy, rigid and probably cheap too.

I've actually been thinking about making one out of galvanized iron plumbing pipe. it'd look vaguely like the tripod from a WWI era Schwarzlose water cooled machine gun. This is a long term project as I don't have the tools I need. I'd have to borrow a friend's drill press, and probably his welding gear.

I used to be a bit of a Gun Nut so I am familiar with what you suggest. I think that would do the job!

I was thinking more about something like a Manfrotto 075 (an 055 on Steroids). They used to be pretty cheap this side of the pond - a used one should be reasonable and not silly heavy - just in case you want to move it once in a while. Image attached so you can see the sort of thing that I mean.

http://markbaigent.co.​uk …/2014/11/DSCF37​09-800.jpg

johnf3f wrote in post #18269843
I used to be a bit of a Gun Nut so I am familiar with what you suggest. I think that would do the job!

I was thinking more about something like a Manfrotto 075 (an 055 on Steroids). They used to be pretty cheap this side of the pond - a used one should be reasonable and not silly heavy - just in case you want to move it once in a while. Image attached so you can see the sort of thing that I mean.

http://markbaigent.co.​uk …/2014/11/DSCF37​09-800.jpg

Do you know if the center column is reversible?

No I don't think it is.

johnf3f wrote in post #18270699
No I don't think it is.

Unfortunately, that's a requirement for me, at least for macro.

Any tripod that i ONLY use for the 500mm mirror would have to be ridiculously cheap.

Sorry - running out of suggestions in your price range. On the odd occasion that I want to go low I use a Gitzo 3320BS. It goes from about 35cm max height to about 6 cm. No longer made so you may struggle to find one - but it is quite happy supporting 110 + kilos = me!

I ended up getting the Alta Pro 263AT.

I haven't had much time to work with it yet, but last weekend I sat down and carefully got my existing Alta TBH-300 ballhead properly mated to the legs.

So far, I've been very impressed with the combination.

I find the legs heavy enough to be stable while not being ridiculously heavy. As I believe I said, I don't do any hiking or traveling outside of Greater Cleveland for photography, and most of my photography is indoor macrophotography, so the the weight is an asset rather than a hindrance.

I did some work with my Tokina 100mm macro with a 50mm manual Minolta reversed onto it. All of the shooting was vertical with a set of Chinese focusing rails. I had more trouble with the budget rails than the tripod, and even that was just a matter of learning to use the set screws.

I think this tripod/head combination is going to work out quite well for me for the foreseeable future.

Thanks to everyone who had suggestions.

So far, this tripod has worked very well for me doing indoor macro photography.

It's more than stable enough while still being light enough to carry to a friend's office to shoot from his office window.