-=FAQ=- Choosing a Tripod, How too and Reviews (Updated: 2009/03/20)

Choosing a Tripod, The Long form.

Follow one man's quest for the perfect Tripod. Never has a tripod purchase been researched so thouroughly!
This series of posts should answer everything you wanted to know about tripods,. and more.

-Head vs Legs Budget Proportioning-

-Ball-Head vs 3-Way Head-

-Ball Material- ( ballhead )

-Tension Control-

-Quick Release Plate Systems-

-Arca Type Quick Release-

-Panning with Ball Heads-

Additonal Support related links;

-Blonde's Tripod/Support Primer

-Camera/Tripod Vibrations.

-Looking for a new Ballhead-

-Pan and Tilt Vs, Ballhead-

REVIEWS --- Tripod, Heads and Support --- REVIEWS

Amvona Dynatran AT-A105T enDurance Tripod Teardown – A Copy of a Copy?

Benro C-269 Tripod with B-1 Head (and pictures)

Benro KB-2 Ball Mount Tear Down

Benro C128 & C328n6 Tripod Teardown

Benro C-228 With Markins Q3

Benro C-068m8 + B-0 +PU-50 Travel Angel

Benro C-069 M8 Travel Angel Kit

Cullman magensit 35Nm Ball Head

Feisol CT-3442 tripod, Photoclam PC-40NS ballhead

Feisol CF 3402n tripod + CB-50H ball head

Feisol CT-3442 and Kirk BH-3

Feisol CT-3442 & Center Column Kit + Manfrotto 488RC2

Giottos MT-7371 Tripod and MH-3300 Ball Head

Gitzo GT0530 + Markins Q3 Complete

Gitzo 1541T Tripod, Markins Q3T Ballhead w/ RRS B2 LR II Clamp

Gitzo GT1541 + Markins Q3 + RRS B2 LR II

Gitzo 2941 Basalt Tripod + Manfrotto 488rc2

Jobu Jr gimbal mount

Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with Markins Q3 Ball Head

Manfrotto 055xprob and Manfrotto 488RC2

Really Right Stuff BH-55

Slik 330 Pro with Adorama Flashpoint F-1 My lightweight tripod setup...

Slik Pro 713 CF Tripod

Weifeng Fancier FT-565H Ball Mount Tear Down

Yong Nuo (Gitai) Y-560 Tripod Review

Misc Support related links;

Show us your tripod/monopod rig

Gitzo GM5561T monopod

Gitzo GM2541 Monopod, RRS High Capacity Monopod Head w/ RRS B2 Pro II Clamp

Quick review of the (Arca Style) NovoFlex Q=Base

Do it Yourself - Tripod Pads

I highly recommend this article on tripods
http://www.bythom.com/​support.htm.
It has convincing arguments on why one shouldn't cheap out on tripods.
A comparison of light and affordable tripod legs
http://members.bellatl​antic.net/~vze2gkrc/Tr​ipod-Test.html

More Tripod Info;

-=Thom Hogan's "Serious Support"=-
A must read article for anyone either thinking of buying there first tripod, or anyone who has allready gone down this path... this article is so spot on it is both frightening and hilarious!

Past puchase thoughts and excellent advice I got on different quick release systems:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=65907

Carbon Fiber Tripod for Less!!!

I wanted to tell you that I got a Hakuba HG-503MX tripod with tilt and pan head (comes with!) last week. It is beautiful! The fit and finish are excellent, it's very stable, its motion is smooth, the locks are nice and tight, it sets up and puts away in a snap, and it has three position legs with a two section center column for getting down low to the ground. Who could ask for more? I think its just about perfect.

I also got a large size Tamrac tripod bag. It fits the Hakuba just right, leaving the head with control stems in place. The vinyl bag that comes with the Hakuba is OK, but not as tough as the Tamrac, and requires that one of the control stems be removed and stowed separately.

On the Gitzo web site there is a calculator for choosing the Gitzo tripods that are best for your camera and lens weight and lens size.

http://www.gitzo.com/J​ahia/#

Here is the one for Manfrotto

Tripod selector

Tips on how to use a Tripod

Not many reviews for Giottos. Here is a review I wrote for my Giotto MTL9315B. Apologies for it being on another forum.

I have not tried the tripod out in the field yet, hopefully will get an opportunity soon.

http://www.talkphotogr​aphy.co.uk …d.php?p=882238#​post882238

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=493232
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=596611


Please add these.

I hope it is ok for me to post this here, if not please remove it and let me know.

I found this Review / Article and thought that it was very informative especially due to the fact that I am one of the people that he describes in it that ended up buying over and over. If only I invested properly. Hopefully this will help others.

http://bythom.com/supp​ort.htm

I did a review, with photos, of my Giottos, early last year ...

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=493232

Maxdave

If anybody has any tripod or related review threads they'd like to linked to in this "stickied" thread, please contact one of the moderators.

And thanks for sharing your reviews or contributing material for this thread.