what tripod?

Please don't take this the wrong way, not trying to cause offence, but now you can understand why people said that your lens for sale at £39 + P&P was expensive compared to SRS at £29 inc postage. Then, here you say that shops should be more realistic with their prices, it does go both ways you know!

The biggest problem with shop prices v internet prices is the shop itself! High street rents can easily cost £20,000 - £100,000 per year. Add staff, rates, shop fitting, electric, phone, broadband, VAT etc etc. to that, then realise that we are trying to compete with online shops, a very large percentage of which are run from homes, effectively cost free.

My turnover has gone down over 60% of what it was 2 years ago, and this year I have had to make all my staff redundant (not funny when you are going to marry one, and the other is your brother), so I do know how it feels to see independent shops disappearing, but this is why!! People don't spend money in them any more!! Add the scale of the bulk buying power of the Tesco's of this world, and you can see the dilemma we are in.

To make our problems even worse, with the power of the internet, buying from abroad has become easier. For example, in my game, most of the prices of hong kong stores listing on ebay, have prices cheaper than our UK trade prices, so given all of these things, how on earth can we be more competitive?

Simple answer is we can't.

PS Glad to see that you did support your local shop!

Some very good points.

I do buy most things from the internet but primarily from internet suppliers who are shops, such as SRS, who have supplied all of my digital lenses.

Thank for all your advice. Just to complement things, what about a monopod? I have never owned or used one. When would you use a monopod rarther than a tripod. Are they worth having and if so what one would be a good choice?

Personally I don't like monopods as I find they waver all over the place and I can generally get better results from fast lenses, increased ISO and SR.

I do have a walking pole that doubles as a monopod, but I rarely put the camera on it.

On the other hand John you are far more likely to carry it around.

Mike

I bought a monopod and never carried it around - after being disappointed with how little steadniness it provided.

There we go then I can see monopods aren't popular!

How about those gorilla pods the ones with very bendy legs - I bought a really cheap rip off that doesn't work too well but does mean I can always put the camera on a firm surface but it won't grip like the real thing.

Mike

Going to Truro, our nearest town, this afternoon to have a tripod recky in the photo shops Would like to go to further afield but everywhere it is along way from Conrwall.

Just to reinforce the excellent advice about height. Do be sure to get one that is high enough without using the centre column. My very old (30+ years) Velbon isn't and it does my head in!

Mike

Don't know if I'm in the minority here or not, but I tend to do all my "window-shopping" online, then, when I plan to go into a shop and just look at the model of..., well..., whatever it is I'm shopping for, if it meets my expectations, I find I don't want to wait to get it, and buy it at the shop - regardless of what my intentions were...

Sort of a semi-planned impulse buy...

But I concur - if you can find a knowledgeable shop you can get to that actually carries stock - use them. The (usually) small difference in price is usually more than made up by the personal service and warranty considerations. (disregarding the fact that if we don't, they won't stay in business for too long and then you'll have nowhere to "try on" the item...)

The only problem around here is that you can't seem to get both knowledge and inventory. It seems like if the shop is big enough to carry a large inventory, they tend to pay lower wages, so you get inexperienced clerks (inexperienced photography-wise) that don't know an awful lot about the products, other than their commission; OR you get an "old hand" who can talk for hours about this body and that lens, but can't afford to carry the inventory. I prefer to buy from the latter if possible, but LBA is SO hard to resist when you're holding that fancy new body or lens in your hands...

The only item in my kit that was the reason for my trip to the store is the bag it's stored in...

BUT back on topic - I have an older 055Pro, and though a bit heavier than the newer models, it's very solid and easily supports anything I've put on it (so far). The weight hasn't been an issue for me with the K10D, as the SR and some faster lenses have made it possible to leave it behind most of the time.

Back from tripod recky at Truro.
I first headed for Jessops. On the internet they list so many tripods I thought it would be a good place to look. The shop was so small I thought I must be in the wrong shop. Just inside the door there were a group of about 5 tripods. I asked the assistant for some help and to be directed to the tripods. He said that the five were all they had in stock. They had a Manfrotto. 190 xpro but recommended one of their own Jessop’s tripods. They did not have the Manfrotto.55xpro but said they could get one in for me. I explained that I had spent some time on the net investigating what is available and wanted to see some in the flesh before I made a purchase.

After making some enquires in the town, I found another photo shop. This shop was also small but did have a reasonable selection of tripods including the ones I was interested in, the Manfrotto190xpro and the Manfrotto.55xpro. They also had the Manfrotto.322 pistol grip head. I was hoping they had the carbon fibre versions so I could compare the weight but they only stocked the alloy ones.

The Manfrotto 190xpro looked well made and was very light but when I extended the legs it was not tall enough unless I raised the centre column. The Manfrotto 55xpro looked very impressive, solid and well made and was a good height without using the centre column. The only downside was the weight. I think that the carbon fibre Manfrotto 55x version that is a little lighter may be ideal. My observations are the same as your helpful advice given to me by your threads.

On one of the m55xpro they had the Manfrotto 322 pistol grip head and the other a Manfrotto tilt head, not sure of the model no. The Manfrotto 322 pistol grip looks quite a bit of kit but the assistant suggested that it was more suitable for sports or bird shots and that the tilt head would be more suitable for my use, landscape, macro shots. He said that it was difficult to do fine adjustments the Manfrotto 322 pistol grip.

I think I will go for the Manfrotto 55x pro or the fibre carbon version but still confused over the head. What head would you recommend to use with the 55xpro. Has anyone any knowledge of the m55x carbon fibre.

As for head choice, see what I posted above, it's not clear cut i'm afraid.

You managed to have a play with the 322, what did you think of it, does it suit your style, did you get the same conclusion about fine adjustment?

You may find, like with lenses, that you need more than one head, that's fine, they are interchangeable. The main problem I found with the 322 was the fine adjustment issue, it never seems to stay exactly where you release it.

This is why I left the 322 on the monopod. I have plans to get a Bigma (Sigma 50-500mm lens), and when I do, will use the monopod with it whilst walking around, otherwise, like others, the monopod just sits in the cupboard and gathers dust.

This may not be that much help I know, but I can't tell you what head to buy! I can only make recommendations on specific subjects! If it helps, I did find that with the 055 & 322 combo, it was actually easier to do fine adjustments using the tripod legs. A simple (read: cheap!) ball head might be the best option to start with, will give you an idea of what you prefer. Or...

Do what I did. When I first got into photography late last year, like you, I was hunting around for a tripod. Didn't have a clue. Came here for advice, thankfully it's all good, still not sure. Went to Argos and bought one of the cheapy s*** ones for a tenner. Started using it, realised what I liked / didn't like, then went out and bought a quality replacement. It's not wasted money either, I passed that tripod down to the missus, when she replaces that with something better, it will turn into a cheap stand for the flashgun so that we can use it wirelessly.

We don't know what you want, you don't seem to be sure either, so if you're not sure, don't know what to do, scared of buying the wrong thing, don't get the chance to test in the field, getting really confused. STOP. Go to Argos, spend a tenner, have a play, put your camera on it and work it out for yourself!

Does that help?

(Sorry, on my 7th beer tonight!)

Right, time to add to the confusion!

Had delivered yesterday a 2nd hand Manfrotto 058, and boy o boy, what a difference. We both had a small play with them in the living room, and the difference is amazing.

As I mentioned above, the 055 tripod felt like it was the weakest link now we have the heavier heads, and the difference is quite amazing! As an example setup the 055, with 322 head, no grip, simple lens, lowest height, all seems good and ok, changing the friction setting on the 322 head meant that finer adjustments could be made with a little force without using the trigger.

Next swapped the head for the 405, added a fully loaded grip, DA*50-135 & flashgun. At the lowest height, you could almost blow it over, and didn't feel very stable extended either. Fiona mentioned that she wouldn't feel that happy using that setup without holding on for fear of it toppling over.

Then, same setup, swapped the legs to the 058 to a whole new world. Very very stable, all legs can be adjusted separately, as opposed to the 4 position clicks of the 055, not to mentioned that you can extend and retract all legs at the same time for swift setup etc.

Feels so much better balanced, far better proportioned, not to mention fully extended it almost hits the ceiling! Feel that this setup is so much safer, feel far happier with it. It doesn't have the fancy swivel centre column, but with the weight we are putting on it now, the 055 would just topple over anyway.

Its not light at around 8 kg with head, and a decent bag for it new will be more than I paid for the tripod, but I'm not looking back! If anyone wants to see some photos, I'm sure I could set it all up again!

buy one of those umbrella type fold-up lawnchairs.... for some inexplicable reason... they always come with a free tri-pod carry bag.