Should I order this Benro kit?

[Fit]

This would be for my Nikon D90. I don't have any long lenses to concern myself with (yet- probably not in the near future either). I'd like to order yet this weekend.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ngel_Alum.html

Price fits the budget.

[Tim Bond]

Chris
The features look nice and it looks well-built. A long lens is not the only reason for a good tripod. They are wonderful for group photos, self photos and for bracketing. If there is the necessity of spousal endorsement I would check there first. Tripods are a must in my book. I have three.
Tim

[Fit]

Thanks Tim- was looking for feedback on value/quality v. Dollar

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Tim,

Have a look here (Tag Cloud Tripods)

From memory, NOT personal experience, in general Benro were considered a good quality vs value compromise.

[Glenn NK]

There are more options these days for reasonably good/very good tripods than there were ten or twenty years ago.

Some others that are presently being discussed on other forums (that people like):

http://www.velbon.biz/product/ultra/...rexi-voxi.html

http://www.indurogear.com/products_Tripods.html

I should not be offering tripod advice because I'm on my fourth in five years (the first three are on consignment sale), so obviously I don't know what I'm doing.

What little advice I will offer is that the OP takes his time and researches as much as possible. Probably the best approach is to find a place with a good stock and look at them carefully. Although this may not be foolproof - I looked at the three previous tripods and I thought they were wonderful - until I put them into the field.

Other than stability (isn't that what a tripod is for?) the problem is being able to identify how the tripod will be used: I often shoot very small flowers which requires a tripod that will easily put the camera very close to the ground. Although most tripods with a centre column can be reversed to hang the camera close to the ground (but upside down), operating a camera that's upside down is no pleasure (I tried it ONCE).

This little dissertation may be of interest - it pretty well describes what I did, and why bargains are not bargains:

http://www.bythom.com/support.htm

Glenn

[Tim Bond]

Dave
Thank you for the info source. I guess the best advise would be to go somewhere and play with them. Try them out. However is it important to know the purpose for the tripod. Where and when it will be used. Have a wonderful weekend.
Tim

[IanCD]

I've been looking at replacing my 15-20 (?) year-old 'Stitz' 3B/BK tripod with a lighter but sturdier tripod for several months now...
As someone posted when I asked about this in another forum, and I've come across again since, you can combine any two of the following three qualities, but you can't have all three:

• light weight
• robust / stable
• low cost

These articles by Robert Cicala might be helpful / of interest... (there's an earlier article he mentions in the first of these, which I recall but can't locate now)
Choosing a tripod: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2009...osing-a-tripod
Choosing a ballhead: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2009...ing-a-ballhead

Ian

[DanK]

I sympathize. I went through this last year. Nothing, and I mean nothing, I have purchased in the way of photo gear was as complicated to decide as my tripod and head.

I'll tell you how I went about it. Some variation of this might help.

First, I decided that middling (Benro, Velbon, Induro, Oben, etc.) was the way to go for me. I had already tried a cheapo. A waste. But I decided that the really high-end stuff did not make sense for me given my uses. I also decided that I wanted carbon fiber, because I haul mine around on my back.

Then, I started looking at the competitors for both legs and heads, making a list of their features.I went to a good store--very helpful, because I saw differences I would not have thought of (B&H, and yes, I did buy it from them in the end since they took time to show me some). Then I started looking at more on the web. I eventually had to put them in a spreadsheet. For the tripod, for example, the list included:

Max height with and without center column extended.
Split column, reversable column, or neither.
3 section or 4
twist locks or clip locks.
Integrated hook for hanging a weight or bag (can be important with a lightweight tripod)
both rubber pads and spikes?

There were more, but I don't recall them all. Like one of the other posters, I wanted something that can go low, but I opted for a reversible column (OK with live view, but still not wonderful). I'm 185 cm tall, so I needed a high one, and I wanted usable height with the center column down for some purposes. I cared more about ease of use than folded length, so I opted for 3-section. Etc. Etc.

For the head, I wanted a separate panning lock (most have this), a moderate load capacity, and not too small a ball diameter.

It really was an incredible pain in the neck. But once I realized that (1) I could not keep track of it all without a spreadsheet, and (2) without spending a fortune, and perhaps even with spending a fortune, I would not get absolutely all I wanted, I found some reasonable choices .

Good luck. It will be worth the pain in the end.

[Fit]

Thanks for all the feedback