I know NOTHING about tripods

But am getting a $250 gift card from best buy, and decided that it's probably time for me to invest in a tripod so that I can take a handful of portraits with the family instead of being out of every one because I'm always behind the camera.

So my questions are these:

-Is the Manfrotto-Bogen 190xDB a decent tripod? I don't really care about the weight of it because I will hardly ever use it except around the house

-Will it steadily support my gripped 40D as well as a 70-200 f/2.8 IS?

-The tripod comes with the 390RC2 head. Is that decent or would I look at buying another?

Disclaimer: Even though I know nothing about pods, I know that Best Buy is a rip off for most camera gear. Since I'm using a gift card given to me by my job, it's pretty much where I'm getting it from .

read the sticky.

HyperYagami wrote in post #6281169
read the sticky.

+1 to that!

::thinks to himself, "why does everyone practically almost make the same entry-level mistake with the exact same tripod/head rig?"::

Maybe I'm missing it, but the only sticky that I see is a review of the Manfrotto 055x. Please feel free to link me to what I missed as it seems I'm not the first to ask this question.

And I also did a search on the forum, and the only threads that came up were a bunch recommending the 055xPROB, but nothing about the 190 except that it's not great for tall people. No sticky about THIS actual tripod.

Sell the gift card on ebay. They sell surprisingly well and people do it all the time. Then save the tax and shipping and get the tripod setup from amazon.

ben_r_ wrote in post #6281300
Sell the gift card on ebay. They sell surprisingly well and people do it all the time. Then save the tax and shipping and get the tripod setup from amazon.

Amazon charges tax to NY now . I'm just damned close to saying screw it and sticking to my no-pod policy.

TaDa wrote in post #6281316
I'm just damned close to saying screw it and sticking to my no-pod policy.

Sometimes it's frustrating when people respond with "read the sticky" but don't say which one. I think the reference here is to this one. The links in it are well worth following.

jgrussell wrote in post #6281551
Sometimes it's frustrating when people respond with "read the sticky" but don't say which one. I think the reference here is to this one. The links in it are well worth following.

Yep, that one I read through most of, but mentions very little about this specific tripod. Oh well, cest la vie.

TaDa wrote in post #6281316
Amazon charges tax to NY now . I'm just damned close to saying screw it and sticking to my no-pod policy.

Oh no! Dont do that, using a tripod for ALL pictures that you can is a MUST! No better way to increase the quality and sharpness of your images! Provided that you are shooting through good glass of course

Manfrotto 190 is the "little brother" of the 055.
It's okay, if a bit small.

I'd definitely get a ballhead instead of a 3 way.

(More info about that in theSticky)

Since you're so close to B&H, you should go to their second floor tripod section and check out the tripods there. There's a lot of different models and ballheads, you'll be completely overwhelmed in your online research methods.

It depends on your shooting style, but I think you'll like the no-pod solution as you have recently moved up to 2.8 IS. A lot of people in the tripod camp say blah blah cheapie tripods' ultra-resonating vibration causes my picture to shake at liveview magnification x100, but they're using super-long or super-heavy glasses. 190 is probably fine for the purposes you describe - unattended family portrait around the house.

Rene and ben_r_ seem to be the goto guys for tripods around here. They'll help you out.

Since portability is a non-issue for you, just in using around the house, I would suggest the 055 rather than the 190...much more resistance to affects of wind blowing your camera and long lens when using it around town or on driving vacations! I have experienced the amount of wind effect with simply a medium format camera and a 250mm lens while in Hawaii, so I know what wind can do!

Velbon El Carmagne line seems nice as well.
And yes, any decent ballhead will screw onto any deccent tripod.