Tripods - What's the best?

JohnJ80 wrote in post #5799724
You are going to have a very limited selection to choose from. light and cheap means probably not stable. $200 is pretty cheap for light legs.

Check out http://www.feisol.com. They might work for you, I'm not sure of pricing but I think they were close to that.

J.

Hi John,
Thank you for the comments. Had heard of Feisol before, but wasn't sure how the quality measured up with Manfrotto or Giotto. Feisol prices from $209 to $519 at reallybigcameras.com.

Was looking at the Feisol CT-3401 and CT-3442. Both folded down to less than 20" and have 4 sections-?stability? rather than 3.

travelbuds wrote in post #5800867
Hi John,
Thank you for the comments. Had heard of Feisol before, but wasn't sure how the quality measured up with Manfrotto or Giotto. Feisol prices from $209 to $519 at reallybigcameras.com.

Was looking at the Feisol CT-3401 and CT-3442. Both folded down to less than 20" and have 4 sections-?stability? rather than 3.

Quality is a click below - castings are less robust etc... However, they seem to hold up well with care and their customer service appears to be good. Feisol appears to do their own design and is not as much a knock off. This is in comparison to knockoffs like Benro that do not have a particularly good - or at least very mixed - reputation.

Look at ordering directly from Taiwan. Often that is cheaper, and their customer service is reported to be pretty good. I'd have no fear of doing this.

That said, a light weight tripod is one of the hardest to design and make. If you can find a way clear to either find a used Gitzo or save for a new one, you might be well served in doing that.

J.

JohnJ80 wrote in post #5802909
That said, a light weight tripod is one of the hardest to design and make. If you can find a way clear to either find a used Gitzo or save for a new one, you might be well served in doing that.

Hi John,
Maybe I will look on ebay for used Gitzo. Thank you for the reply.
Bruce

"the best" really is a good Gitzo CF.

Bogen I would say remains "best bang for your buck" but that's not quite the same as "best"

I'm happy with the Slik Pro Series. Does the job.

Quality has it's price. What you need to decide is the cost worth the increase in "Quality". Is something that is 25 percent better worth a 75 percent increase in price.

MilesW wrote in post #5826135
Quality has it's price. What you need to decide is the cost worth the increase in "Quality". Is something that is 25 percent better worth a 75 percent increase in price.

.. or maybe it is something that is 75% better for 25% increase in price.

The "best" will provide noticeably sharper images and do it in more difficult conditions while lasting longer and being more reliable.

J