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w7apd · 06-13-2008

One caveat: the absolutely worst tripod you can buy, is the one you spend so much money on that you're not willing to subject it to the knocks and scrapes that are a tripod's lot. Remember that the tripod is the thing that gets stuck in the sand, salt water and mud (or worse.) It's a tool...

Since you mention "for the money," I'll assume that you'd like to conserve funds if possible? In that light, forget about carbon and basalt; aluminum is the material of choice where money is any factor. I recommend a Bogen/Manfrotto 3021 legset for 35mm cameras with up to 600mm lenses, as well as 4x5 field cameras and anything smaller. Choice of head is going to depend on your personal preferences and shooting style; ballheads are fastest but generally less precise in adjustment (it's hard to adjust in one dimension without changing another one.) Geared heads are best (IMO) for large format cameras and for landscape work in general, but are slow to adjust.

There are three degrees of freedom in tripod selection: strength, weight and price. You can select for any two of those.

06-13-2008	#10 (permalink)
w7apd Guanaco Location: Oregon Posts: 458 CamelKarma: 208 Gallery \| Blog	Re: Tripods One caveat: the absolutely worst tripod you can buy, is the one you spend so much money on that you're not willing to subject it to the knocks and scrapes that are a tripod's lot. Remember that the tripod is the thing that gets stuck in the sand, salt water and mud (or worse.) It's a tool... Since you mention "for the money," I'll assume that you'd like to conserve funds if possible? In that light, forget about carbon and basalt; aluminum is the material of choice where money is any factor. I recommend a Bogen/Manfrotto 3021 legset for 35mm cameras with up to 600mm lenses, as well as 4x5 field cameras and anything smaller. Choice of head is going to depend on your personal preferences and shooting style; ballheads are fastest but generally less precise in adjustment (it's hard to adjust in one dimension without changing another one.) Geared heads are best (IMO) for large format cameras and for landscape work in general, but are slow to adjust. There are three degrees of freedom in tripod selection: strength, weight and price. You can select for any two of those.