what tripod?

They look to have similarities to Giotto's tripods?

http://benro.co.uk/

Vic.

Benro are indeed Chinese copies of Giottos. They are good quality copies but copies nonetheless. It all depends on how you feel about buying such a blatant copy.
I know a professional who has one, and a Benro ball head and is very happy with them. He uses his Sidekick (a genuine one!) on it quite happily, and recommends them to everyone he meets.
I'm not so sure of the morals of it all, that's why I ended up with the Velbon.

Still dithering on what tripod to buy.
Based on the advice from this forum my short list is:

Manfrotta o55xprp
" magfiberpro055 mf3
" 190x prob
" 190mf3 magfiber
" 190mf4 magfiber
I like the look of magfiber055xpro but it is a little shorter than the standard o55xpro. Has any one got one of these?.

The 109mf4 magfiber folds down to a small size for carrying around but this is again on the short side.

The manfrotto mag grip action ball hd looks like it could be usefull.

I Would appreciate some more comments on the above to help me make a decision before I buy

I use the 190xprob with the Manfrotto 322rc2 joystick head for macro work. But to be honest i hardly ever use it for macro work. I find a tripod just too inhibiting. I also have an Manfrotto RC488 Ballhead for it, which is great for all my other photography work.

I also have a slik sprint with a Manfrotto 484 Ballhead which i use when i travel. Not the sturdiest but light weight and compact.

And lets not forget the Velbon monopod with a Tristar pistol grip head.

Depends what you are going to use it for. We bought a Manfrotto 055XPROB with the 322RC2 after recommendations here, which are very good, but....

Found that the Pistol grip design is great, but not so good at fine adjustments, therefore not so great at macro shots, it now lives permanently on the monopod, so....

Having a video background, I kept pining for a fluid head, so bought a Manfrotto 503 video head cheap off ebay (£80 versus £250 new). Damn heavy, but bloody brilliant. When set up properly, just move the pan / tilt handle to where you want to compose your shot, and let go. It just stays where you leave it without having to adjust any knobs, press buttons, squeeze triggers etc. Also the quick release plate is very long, and can slide back and forth quite a bit, brilliant for macros, will be great with a Bigma when I get one, but obviously because of the design will not do portrait, so....

Went and bought a 405 geared head (again off ebay, but brand new for £220 instead of around £300). Beautifully crafted piece of kit, absolutely wonderful to use, the fine adjustments are brilliant, flips to portrait quickly, built in spirit levels exactly where you need them. Again, this is a heavy one, and our kit is growing too so now we find that....

The tripod now seems too small and light, not robust enough to take everything I could put on it (I know it will probably be fine but it is starting to look like the weak link!), so now looking at buying another tripod that is a lot heavier. Got my eyes on a Manfrotto 058 or the huge Benbo Mk2 as a replacement.

As you can see, it definately is not one size fits all! You really need to work out what you want to do with it, then go and try them out! If you're near Bucks, feel free to come round and test out what we have, I know that buying the wrong thing can be costly!

Unlocker, that is exactly why I took months over deciding on a tripod, and spent a small fortune on one when I did buy - actually the head cost as much as the tripod (or would have done if I hadn't got a good deal on it).
It is very tempting to go for something lightweight, as it is easy to carry, but as your lens collection grows and gains in weight it becomes clear that a lightweight tripod isn't good enough.

First decide what sort of photography you want the tripod for, then what sort of head is suitable for that photography and which head is strong enough to carry the heaviest lens you are likely to use on it, then choose the longest, sturdiest tripod you can afford to put under it all.

Luckily though, not out of pocket, because they are all good at different uses, and when I get round to the heavier tripod, Fiona can use the other one!

Then, if she outgrows that one, we have one heck of a posh flash stand!

Thanks for your replys.
I will most probily use the tripod kit mainly for personal landscape work as well as ouside macro occasually. My day job is a landscpe gardener but write a monthly gardening column in a local newspaper so it will be also used for shots of gardens and plants etc.

I have got to get a move on getting to grips with to my new K20 and obtaining a good tripod as I am attending the press reveiw day on Monday, 19 May, at Chelsea Flower Show for my local newspaper.

My height is about 5ft 9" as I gather from your threads this is important when choising a tripod kit. I donot mind paying for a good kit but donot want to make a expensive mistake by purchasing the wrong one.
I would be thankfull of any more advice

Go shopping!

Seriously, go and play with them, it's the only way you'll know what they are like.

Big thumbs up here goes to Morris Photo (Chiiping Norton), as they have a very wide range of tripods (and camera bags!) on display, as well as in stock. Definately worth going over if you can get the time.

I concur.

No amount of looking at pictures and reading specs on the 'net can be as useful as actually handling the kit "in the flesh". My tripods (and bags) over the years have all come from Morris Photo - they have a vast range on display and actively encourage you to try stuff out before making your choice.

For the last 6/7 years I've exclusively used a Manfrotto 055PRO (older model) and I've never found it lacking for my purposes, your own requirements may differ though so go and have a look...

As a newbie to all this DSLR stuff with only a small budget to work to, I looked at a tripod only a week or so ago in my local photographic store and actually felt I had to buy it. A little more research on the internet on that particular tripod and it ticked all my boxes.

I was not prepared to pay the £92.99 that they were asking locally and shopped on the internet for the best price and actually bought the exact same tripod for £64.95 saving £28.04 (30% saving) from CameraKing

Take a look at the Velbon Sherpa 600R Tripod, it has a good strength, nice height and the center column can be inverted, very useful.(head also included)
Velbon homepage

I am a newbie but felt this tripod was worth mentioning.

Hope it helps

As a shop keeper myself, I do hate the current trend of going into a shop, spending an hour wasting the salesmans time, then going home and ordering off the net to save a few quid, it drives me insane and puts small shops out of business, then they won't be there to test stuff the next time you want to!

Can I implore you guys as much as possible to buy from the shop whose time and money you are wasting? Quite often, if you are armed with prices from various places, shops will do something about it, rather than waste time and lose a sale, but be prepared to compromise! Its worth paying an extra few quid becuase then you can go back (especially if it is faulty!!), get more advice etc. etc.

Reasons like this are why we all recommend places such as SRS & Morris Photo, because give or take a few quid, they are the cheapest anyway. So wherever you go, be prepared to buy it whilst you're there, do the shop a favour and do your homework before you go and don't take the p***! You'll be surprised what you can get if you just ask!

Occassionaly though, the price difference can be so great that buying online is the way to go, I just bought a 31mm Limited for £460 inc. duties where it is £679 at SRS. That £200 difference I was not prepared to pay, but I didn't waste the shops time either, I didn't go down and try it out, spend ages discussing it etc, then walk out and buy it somewhere else! But, that's an extra £200 towards my K20 fund, which will be bought from SRS, maybe even next week now.

I'm not being personal here, just trying to help and support local shops, and make sure they stay open. Of course, some shop prices are rip offs, but then just leave them be and go elsewhere. Last thing, don't be scared to travel either, Morris Photo for example is in the cotswolds, so why not make a day of it and take your camera too!

Right, rant mode over, back to normal!

I'd go along with that. If the shop put in the effort they deserve the sale if at all possible. Negotiation is the way to go and more often than not a compromise can be reached.

I have to admit though that recently buying a 43mm Limited for just £254 from Amazon was too good to miss. I see the price has now gone back up to more expected levels. I would pay a little extra to buy from my usual sources because that's the way to build up a longer term relationship that benefits both sides.

Where there is no on-going relationship then that's a different matter, so most of my CD/Book purchases are Internet sourced.

It's true looking at tripods online is confusing and not very helpful. I went to a big camera shop here in the Netherlands having narrowed my choice down somewhat. Once there and having played with a few I came away with the one which was actually third on my list. It just felt right and met all my needs. I took the Bigma and the head with me (I'd already bought the head for a good price online) to test it.
I would never go to a shop unless I was intending to buy from them.

If the shops were more realistic with there prices then great, but some shops are way over on their prices. Take a Sandisk Extreme III 2Gb card, jessops are £32 each whilst I bought a 4Gb version for less than £32.
Surely if a shop wants to survive in the 21st century then they need to be more competitive.

I wrote:
I only asked the salesman if I could have a look, I did not waste any of his time and walked away from that shop having spent £55.00 which was my original intention.

It also saddens me to see the independant shops dissappearing. Where can I buy quality fruit & veg today, certainly not at Tesco. I have to drive to a farm shop 6 miles away.
Have you seen Tesco's latest advert for a slimming club? They will not stop until they sell everything and they (Tesco) are already selling houses.