hey guys,
i know that many of you are getting sick and tired of my reviews but since i am in a good mood and i am not the nicest person, i will do one more just for fun. all kidding aside, the reason why i decided to do this review is because i recently had a chance to think of everything i have been through since starting this photography hobby and i realized that made many mistakes along the way. i am hoping that this review will at least help some of you avoid broken gear, wasted money and god knows what else.
anyway, i plan on focusing on 3 major things in my review: tripods and monopods, heads and general use. of course, if you have any questions or you would like to see more info, let me know and i will do my best to answer everything. all right, time to start this review.
1. Tripods
in my own opinion, a tripod is one of the most important accessory a photographer can ever buy. we see a question like "do i need a tripod?" here on POTN almost daily and the answer is ALWAYS YES!!!!. Now that we have established the fact that you are going to buy a tripod, we need to understand what needs to be considered while making the purchasing decision. i am sure that all of you have heard the line "strong, light, cheap. pick 2" and let me tell you, that line is 100% spot on when you are talking about tripods. i have yet to come across a tripod that can do all 3 (i know that someone will say ebay tripods but i have yet to test them and i also don't think that they are the kind of cheap people are looking for).
if you are anything like me, i am sure that when you were first looking for a tripod, you said to yourself "i am not going to spend $xxx when i can buy the same thing for $xx". well, i made that mistake and i bought a cheap tripod that looked solid and i had to experience true terror when my tripod's leg broke apart and i watched my entire rig going straight into the river (don't worry, i managed to save it by grabbing the strap at the last second and no gear was harmed during the making of that heart attack). right there and then, i realized that the tripod is not where i want to save money if i am going to put my camera and lens on it. so, i went back and reviewed the "pick 2" line and i decided on going with a strong and fairly inexpensive tripod. luckily for me (and you), there are quite a few options in that category. i ended up with a bogen manfrotto 3021Bpro for $150 and let me tell you, it is a killer tripod for the money and after using it in the field for over 6 months, i have no problem recommending it.
it is VERY important to remember that there are also many other things you need to consider before choosing the right tripod for you. because every tripod is different, you will need to examine things like height, center column, weight, ease of use (locking mechanism) etc.. i am a firm believer that tripod should be chosen based on personal preference which is why i advice anybody to go to the store and play with them before you make the choice. some people like clamps while some people like twist locks. some people are 6'1 while other are 5'4. some people like the center column while some don't ever want to use it. you should be very comfortable with your tripod which is not a good idea to buy a strong, light tripod that goes to 5'6 when you are 6'2. also, it is always best to give your self some headroom when you consider max load . personally, i like to always go for double my heaviest rig just for piece of mind. i don't think that it is a good idea to go for 10lbs max when your heaviest rig is 10lbs. you need to keep in mind that you are going to be putting a lot of expensive gear on this thing so choose wisely. you will never put a generic tire from Sears on your $160,000 Ferrari now would you?
2. Heads:
much like the tripod, i found heads to be very much a personal choice but unlike tripods, some heads are clearly better suited for specific applications. my very first tripod head was a cheap 3D head and it did do a decent job for landscapes but sucked for pretty much everything else. it was very light and wasn't well built so i was never comfortable with putting too much weight on it. i also found the motion to be extremely limiting in all but the most static and controlled environments which is not what you want in a head. 3D are also great for static objects like landscape etc.. but i found them to be completely useless when it comes to moving subject or action shots.
when it was finally time for me to upgrade, i did tons of research and finally decided on a ball head instead. ball head allows you nearly infinite movement and takes seconds to setup. however, i quickly found that much like the tripods, not all ballheads are created equal. my ball head at that time was the manfrotto 486RC2 and even though it was easy to setup and was very compact, i quickly learned that it was not really suited for the weight that i wanted to put on it (1D+100-400). i constantly got creep (movement of the ball after you locked it) and became very frustrated especially when doing product shots and macro. based on the recommendations of the fine people on POTN, i decided to go with the 488RC2 and i think that it has been a fine choice. i found that head to be fantastic for all but the heaviest rigs and it was extremely smooth in teh field. in my own opinion, this ball head provides great bang for the buck and even though there are better heads out there, for the avarage user with a decent kit, this head would be all they need.
of course, you can't talk head without some mention of the different Arca systems. there are a few companies out there that makes very nice ball heads with insanely high load limits but of course that comes with a price. a good ballhead from the likes of RRS, Kirk, Marking, Arca Swiss etc.. will cost you anywhere from $300 all the way up to $500 and that is not including the lens and body plates that you will need after converting to an Arca system. however, there are some great advantages to the Arca system which are: compatibility with many other accessories (flash brackets etc..), ability to adjust balance etc.. i recently moved to a Marking M20 head with all Wimberley plates and even though it is fantastic, i still think that my old 488RC2 was just as good (i had to switch in order to use the Sidekick with my 500).
The last type of heads that i am going to talk about are the Gimbel type. these heads are designed to work with long and heavy lenses and they allow you to balance your camera and lens so it will be remain in the same position while still allow you to move the rig freely. these work perfectly in the field and will allow you fluid movement while still getting very sharp shots at low shutter speeds (providing the right technique of course). however, they do have some weaknesses as well. for one, the price on a gimbel system is very high even when going with a cheaper alternative like the Manfrotto 3421 head (great value btw). you will need a very solid tripod and the right plates in order to use these heads which means extra money.
another weakness is the weight and size. gimbel heads are very big and can be very difficult to carry comfortably. the last weakness and the biggest one for me is the fact that they are useless with smaller lenses. if you like to take shots of wide variety of subject, the gimbel is probably not the right head for you unless you are willing to carry two tripods with two different heads. one product that allows you to avoid such sacrifice is the Wimberely Sidekick. this strange arm sits on top of your Ballhead and transforms it into a gimbel head thus allowing you to quickly and freely change from regular ballhead to a gimbel head. keep in mind that you will need a very good head (this is where Kirk, RRS etc.. come into play) in order to use the Sidekick and you will also need to convert to the Arca system. if you do the quick math, you will realize that a sidekick setup will cost you close to $700 after everything is said and done but it will allow you to have the fluid motion of the gimbel while still have the ability to take that beautiful sunset shot with your 17-40L.
the bottom line is that you must evaluate your needs and gear before you decide on which head to buy. the right head can make a shot while the wrong head can either break your gear and frustrate you enough to make you break the gear.
3. General Use:
even though this might seem like a stupid section to some of you, i think that it might be a good idea to actually explain why a good support system is so important and why i said it was a must have in any kit. the main reason for a tripod is to provide stability and prevent camera shake. however, i think that there is much more to that than just that one purpose. a tripod will also allow you to do things that are not possible otherwise and will help you explore new photography styles that you never thought possible before. i think that almost every style of photography can benefit from a good support system. for example:
night and low light shooting- a tripod will not only allow you to avoid camera shake due to slow shutter speeds but it will also allow you to explore things like long exposures, light trails, shadow trails etc. for exmple, without a tripod, these 2 shots would have been impossible to take:
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you can find similar examples in birding, macro and almost every other category.
4. Conclusion and final thought:
as you can see, there are a lot of things that should affect how you choose the right setup for you. evaluating your needs will help you make the right decisions while at the same time, help you avoid making costly mistakes. also, i realize that spending $1000+ on a support system is not for everyone but luckily, there are planty of companies and ways that you can enjoy great support at a reasonable price. you don't need to go for a CF Gitzo with full Gimbel mount when all you want to do is put your 30D +17-4 on a tripod to take night shots. for that, a $100 solid tripod will do everything you need. in contrast, using a $100 solid tripod might not be the best idea if you are planning on hiking 10miles with a 1D+ 500mm lens on and this is where a CF tripod with the right head will be the right the choice.
btw, i tried not to get into specific products too much because this review is a general one.
