Reshared post from +Brent Burzycki
Tripods – A necessary evil in many cases – What do you use?
So lets spur on some heated discussion about Tripod use in Landscape photography. Some might or might not know the advantage of using a Tripod. We use them to steady the image, camera and this in turn allows us to do more with our equipment with less light and more adverse conditions. Panoramas? Long Exposure work? You name it many times a tripod is what you will need to count on.. Expensive ones can be thousands and cheap ones can be a major issue..
What do you use?
Are you looking into buying a Tripod – ask your questions here and I am sure this great community will give you feedback.
I personally am using a Manfrotto Tripod and Manfrotto Ball Head (400.00 price range), but since they are all aluminum and on the heavy duty side, size and weight can be a big issue on long hikes or even for a few hours… Did you know Aluminum Tripod legs get extremely cold when hiking in cold climates and I would not test that with your tongue….
Below are links to some helpful articles that can make this choice of a new Tripod a more educated one. Do you have great links others here will benefit from – post them below…
From our friend +Martin Bailey
http://www.martinbaileyphotography.com/2013/07/15/tripods-what-when-and-why-i-use-them-podcast-379/From +Moose Peterson
http://www.moosepeterson.com/blog/2010/01/07/can-one-tripod-do-all/Great video on Moose's site also showing some epic tripods
From our friends on +dpreview
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/2812431567/five-of-the-best-tripods-for-under-450From +Adorama
http://www.adorama.com/alc/0008169/article/BUYING-GUIDE-Tripods-for-PhotographersThis should be a good start to get us all on the right track..
Sadly my lust is for a +Really Right Stuff setup right now but that might need to wait a bit..
What are you looking for in your Tripod?
I'm pretty happy with my Benro carbon fiber C2980F. It's a great value for the price and performs very nicely.
How much was it… CF is the way to go in most cases..
I can't remember, but I think the legs only were right around $300. I added the Induro BHD1 ball head. I like the convertible center post. You can re-position it horizontal and tilt right down to the ground. That makes it great for macro work.
I don't use my tripod much. I have an Oben 2310 with their BA-0 ball head if I remember right. I got it on special last Christmas for $100 from BH.