Tripod on a budget


megain

New Member
Dec 12, 2010
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SengKang
Hello there! I'm wondering if any of you have good tripod recommendations. I own a tripod but 1. it takes very long to set up(must screw in camera, must slowly unlock legs by clips and pull out) and 2. is about 1m tall and I find it insufficient.
The tripod is for a DSLR(normal lens) btw.

What features I would like:
1. Fast set-up
2. Height of at least 1.6m
3. Quick release mount
4. Ball head
5. Level meter(idk what's it called. something that tells you your horizon is straight) (Highly optional though)

My budget is around $150-200.
Thanks for taking time to read and recommend! :)
 

Hello there! I'm wondering if any of you have good tripod recommendations. I own a tripod but 1. it takes very long to set up(must screw in camera, must slowly unlock legs by clips and pull out) and 2. is about 1m tall and I find it insufficient.
The tripod is for a DSLR(normal lens) btw.

What features I would like:
1. Fast set-up
2. Height of at least 1.6m
3. Quick release mount
4. Ball head
5. Level meter(idk what's it called. something that tells you your horizon is straight) (Highly optional though)

My budget is around $150-200.
Thanks for taking time to read and recommend! :)

Please search through the 1000+ similar "recommend me a tripod" threads. Really, your question is not new, nor are your requirements so special that it warrants a new thread.

Have you even gone to the shops and looked at what meets your budget?
 

Hello,

I think reading through the recommend me a tripod would help you make a decision.

I myself own a basic tripod from Sirui (R1004) and I am more than pleased with it. It will most probably be the brand that I will choose to look at again given it is reasonably priced and performs well. It has been great and sturdy for me, and the height is slightly more than the rest in the other series from Sirui. :)
 

you missed out a crucial question: "which tripod can take the weight of my set-up? or future set-up?"

anyways. going down to the shops to see and ask would serve you better than asking in here. you can't touch, feel, see or experience by reading.

has the digital age caused everyone to be so darn lazy that they can't take a bus (not train) down to the stores to check it out?
 

kei1309 said:
you missed out a crucial question: "which tripod can take the weight of my set-up? or future set-up?"

anyways. going down to the shops to see and ask would serve you better than asking in here. you can't touch, feel, see or experience by reading.

has the digital age caused everyone to be so darn lazy that they can't take a bus (not train) down to the stores to check it out?

I disagree. It's better to do homework first. Many went to shop without research and pressured to buy at shop feeling obligated after all the demo. And more then likely ended up paying more.
 

I disagree. It's better to do homework first. Many went to shop without research and pressured to buy at shop feeling obligated after all the demo. And more then likely ended up paying more.

It's hard to do research when you know nothing about tripods. You see here see there, but still.. feel lost.. don't know what to get.

For me.. I checked out TK first, but didn't buy. TK is quite a newbie friendly place. Can try SLRR too.

First trip recce to roughly know what kind of tripod with your budget can get. And if stretch abit can get better anot? etc.. that kind of stuff. Test them accordingly by bringing your heaviest setup. And you will find it hard to leave without buying(paiseh) after spending a long time testing all the tripods. But it's okay. Just tell them you can't make up your mind. You will go home think about it and come back again.

After that, short-list the models, go home search for reviews and user comments. 2nd trip, go back to the same place and reaffirm you made the right choice, then buy the tripod.
 

takafan said:
It's hard to do research when you know nothing about tripods. You see here see there, but still.. feel lost.. don't know what to get.

For me.. I checked out TK first, but didn't buy. TK is quite a newbie friendly place. Can try SLRR too.

First trip recce to roughly know what kind of tripod with your budget can get. And if stretch abit can get better anot? etc.. that kind of stuff. Test them accordingly by bringing your heaviest setup. And you will find it hard to leave without buying(paiseh) after spending a long time testing all the tripods. But it's okay. Just tell them you can't make up your mind. You will go home think about it and come back again.

After that, short-list the models, go home search for reviews and user comments. 2nd trip, go back to the same place and reaffirm you made the right choice, then buy the tripod.

Going to a shop and you are restricted to what they carry. Not everyone is equal in thick skin too. If con to buy, will then later get mock here for not doing homework first (seen lots of such mocking here).

Asking in a forum is a good start, just ignore the condescending replies will too.

PS - if do not research a bit and know nut about a product, one will not know what to ask at the shop too.
 

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Going to a shop and you are restricted to what they carry. Not everyone is equal in thick skin too. If con to buy, will then later get mock here for not doing homework first (seen lots of such mocking here).

Asking in a forum is a good start, just ignore the condescending replies will too.

PS - if do not research a bit and know nut about a product, one will not know what to ask at the shop too.


I did not state "NO RESEARCH" needed, i said "hard to do research". Read properly.

That meaning, you see here and there, even though u may see the few tripods recommended within your budget, doesn't mean you might necessary like it.
Seeing and feeling, holding it/using it is way different. Reading, knowing is one thing. You still need to go on the ground and do your own work.
Research is not just sitting at the computer, finding the tripods that suits you. It includes going to check them out as well.

Maybe you can enlighten the newbies with your knowledge where to start off buying tripods, if not in the shops that are "restricted to what they carry"
 

PS - if do not research a bit and know nut about a product, one will not know what to ask at the shop too.

I did not know that the new definition of research was restricted to "asking people on forums".

Definition of research said:
The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

There is a quite a thick line between having sourced materials online, and clarify the parts you don't understand; and simply reaching out your hand and asking for aid without any knowledge. The latter can be very frustrating if the person asking the questions knows nothing; I have seen many threads where "what DSLR to buy" becomes "what is difference between DSLR and PnS", "what is difference between 600d and 60d", etc... It is simply not an efficient way to gain knowledge.
 

Hello there! I'm wondering if any of you have good tripod recommendations. I own a tripod but 1. it takes very long to set up(must screw in camera, must slowly unlock legs by clips and pull out) and 2. is about 1m tall and I find it insufficient.
The tripod is for a DSLR(normal lens) btw.

What features I would like:
1. Fast set-up
2. Height of at least 1.6m
3. Quick release mount
4. Ball head
5. Level meter(idk what's it called. something that tells you your horizon is straight) (Highly optional though)

My budget is around $150-200.
Thanks for taking time to read and recommend! :)
Hi,

I'm not sure what you mean by fast set-up. It looks like you know that your current tripod lacks a quick release system, so that's settled. If you do not like the clip-lock system, then the next most common alternative is the twist lock system... I myself think that both have their advantages.. The clip lock is a bit more... Intuitive, in that you will always know when it's locked. Twist lock, I've been using a Sirui for nearly a year now for lighter shooting and I still don't tighten it optimally sometimes. But that differs from person to person.

For the spirit level (not level meter), it would be much better to get a good spirit level that you can mount on your hotshoe, looks something like this. I find that the spirit levels on tripod heads tend to be a wee bit off or hard to use... They tend to use either a very cumbersome over-sensitive dual level system, or a single bubble level, accuracy is questionable. I have since given up using levels and prefer to handle the horizon by eye. You can also "zoom in" if you use a zoom lens to check, or live view on modern DSLRs allows the user to enlarge parts of the image. The only exception is when I shoot panoramas.

doube-axis-spirit-level.jpg


Based on your details given and budget, I would suggest getting the Sirui tripod I use, which is the R2004. You can get it from TK Foto with the G20 as a package (You can find the number from the link I have given below).

Welcome to T K FOTO - Sirui R-Series Tripod

Price I think is within your budget, and the quality is very decent given the price. Hope this helps.
 

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takafan said:
I did not state "NO RESEARCH" needed, i said "hard to do research". Read properly.

That meaning, you see here and there, even though u may see the few tripods recommended within your budget, doesn't mean you might necessary like it.
Seeing and feeling, holding it/using it is way different. Reading, knowing is one thing. You still need to go on the ground and do your own work.
Research is not just sitting at the computer, finding the tripods that suits you. It includes going to check them out as well.

Maybe you can enlighten the newbies with your knowledge where to start off buying tripods, if not in the shops that are "restricted to what they carry"

So do research first or head to TK first?
 

I disagree. It's better to do homework first. Many went to shop without research and pressured to buy at shop feeling obligated after all the demo. And more then likely ended up paying more.

i never said anything about not doing your homework before going down. please read carefully before posting. that is your own due diligence in getting something done.
 

edutilos- said:
I did not know that the new definition of research was restricted to "asking people on forums".

There is a quite a thick line between having sourced materials online, and clarify the parts you don't understand; and simply reaching out your hand and asking for aid without any knowledge. The latter can be very frustrating if the person asking the questions knows nothing; I have seen many threads where "what DSLR to buy" becomes "what is difference between DSLR and PnS", "what is difference between 600d and 60d", etc... It is simply not an efficient way to gain knowledge.

Mind point out the part you quoted me that states research is restricted to forum?
 

Mind point out the part you quoted me that states research is restricted to forum?

My apologies, I think I did not read the context of your posts from the start, merely the last post to which takafun responded, so I might have gotten a wrong idea of what you were talking about.

Then yes, I agree.. One should always read up before going down, and do their homework. That is something I have always emphasized. Cheers.
 

So do research first or head to TK first?


My first line: "It's hard to do research when you know nothing about tripods. You see here see there, but still.. feel lost.. don't know what to get."
This does not equate to not doing research.

And i said: "For me.. I checked out TK first, but didn't buy. TK is quite a newbie friendly place. Can try SLRR too."
I checked out TK first does not mean i didn't do research. It means that is the FIRST store i went to, as compared to SLRR i have mentioned.

Does this provide a better understanding for you?
 

Based on your details given and budget, I would suggest getting the Sirui tripod I use, which is the R2004. You can get it from TK Foto with the G20 as a package (You can find the number from the link I have given below).

Welcome to T K FOTO - Sirui R-Series Tripod

Price I think is within your budget, and the quality is very decent given the price. Hope this helps.

Back to TS original question. Sirui does look like an affordable range, and the price list for Sirui is finally up on Thursday.
Welcome to T K FOTO - Sirui

You might want to shortlist a few tripods after reading through the guide made by denniskee and the link edutilos provided, before heading to TK and checking them out.
 

takafan said:
My first line: "It's hard to do research when you know nothing about tripods. You see here see there, but still.. feel lost.. don't know what to get."
This does not equate to not doing research.

And i said: "For me.. I checked out TK first, but didn't buy. TK is quite a newbie friendly place. Can try SLRR too."
I checked out TK first does not mean i didn't do research. It means that is the FIRST store i went to, as compared to SLRR i have mentioned.

Does this provide a better understanding for you?

Fine, since we are in sync that doing some research first is important.

I was only responding to your reply to my post on research first with yours heading to TK first. ;)
 

Just to share my experience with TS. What I did last time was I went to few shops in Funan to enquiry about tripod and gather all the info. From their explanation, u can find some of the seller like to bluff, even those very famous shop(maybe depends on the sales person).

At the end went to TK to asked and their price is the cheapest among the other and the item they offered quite good(my opinion after some searching from Internet).

I think I spent around 30minutes to see they demo and I asked few question and they answered quite friendly and patient.

*DO NOT HAVE ANY Relationship with anyone in TK*
 

Thanks for all your responses! I'll definitely check out Sirui and TK!(the popular suggestions) And yes, I definitely prefer researching beforehand as the facts are less distorted in the friendly internet.
@Rashkae I actually opened a new thread to save time + can answer personal questions.(I know, might sound a little lazy/selfish)
@kei1309 The crucial answer is my setup won't be too heavy. Just a normal Entry-Level DSLR + maybe a prime or a short zoom. I can't afford the heavier, faster zoom lenses nor the longer focal length telephotos.(also don't find much use for them)
@edutilos Hmm...I guess anything faster than the clip-lock system would be considered fast. Thanks for giving specifics though(makes it a lot more convenient)! Btw what do you mean by "prefer to handle the horizon by eye"??