Yes, I agree that a tripod is an integral part of photography, but are good tripods really worth that much? When is a tripod too good?
bigfatfish said:You pay for what you get. What i can say is, good tripods arent cheap and cheap tripod arent all that good .
Yildun said:Well, I'm sure there are cheap and good tripods as well as expensive and not-so-good tripods, and some cheaper ones may even outperform the latter.
True!djchris said:IMO,
You can choose a tripod, monetary-wise, you can budget perhaps, in a ratio of 1:5 or 1:10 to your camera and lense?
I see no point in getting a $500 camera + lense, and yet use a $250 branded tripod unless you are always using it in an environment that requires a heavy tripod for stability...
For me, I use a cheap SLIK tripod that costs less than $50. Cause I seldom use it, and at most I put my bag on it for extra stability...
Basically, its more of the user's perception of how sturdy a tripod they feel should be for their camera..
Just do more research and you won't regret your choice...
student said:Tripods ARE over-priced. And so are cameras, and storage media, films, chemicals, papers, enlargers, and sashimis, starbuck, BMWs, Condos, etc etc.
But I will still pay for the best tripod there is for my camera, irrespectively of the price. Because for the photography I do (even for portrait and holiday shots) I almost never shoot without a tripod. B......t to those who say they ca hand hold at 1/15 and still have a sharp print! Just look at the negative under a loupe, or enlarge the photo, then see if the pictures are sharp. Of course if you are "arty-farty" and consider unsharp phots "art", so be it.
So I shoot with tripods. For sharp pictures. And I use the best for the occasion. Cameras have fallen because of cheap, flimsy tripods. Use the best. It will save you from accident and pain, and give sharper pictures.
Having said that, the late great Galen Rowell used very small flimsy tripods. But he is GALEN ROWELL. And the reasons he used a small tripod is because 1 he was a superb photographer unlike you and me, 2 he climbed mountains to places where you and I only sees in photos. So he needed to travel light.
For most of us "ordinary" folks, use the best, even if it cost you!
Yildun said:But I poor so I have to settle for 1:500 boeing model, SBS Mercedes bus, and pb magazines...oops :sweatsm: .
Belle&Sebastain said:in my very humble thoughts, YES tripods are pricely, but the heads are a killer!
OT, I think lights are even more expensive!!!