Decent Tripod – Advice Needed.

[Glezga]

I bought a Manfrotto 785B tripod (opened – never used) for what I thought was a good price. Maximum load was 1.5kg – So thats good enough for my 70D I thought to myself.

The quick release plate was missing. I did know this but found one for only £5. Then I ordered myself a L plate and Arca swiss mount.
Got them all together and…….

Ball head on tripod wont support the weight and the quick release plate is plastic (same as tripod) and just pops out with the weight of the camera.

Im pretty handy in my shed. So I solidly secured the quick release plate – cant overcome the ball head just not supporting the weight. Scrapped the project.

So, I need a tripod. Doesn’t need to be fancy. Basic will do but must:

• Actually, support the weight of a DSLR
• Work with Arca Swiss plates. I have the mount and L plate.

This time, I’m asking first!

Any advice appreciated


Steve

[Trev B]

The most practical thing to do would be go to your local camera shop and try one out, there are hundreds of tripods on the market.

[Glezga]

There aren’t any in my area! Argos, Curry’s etc. that’s it. 3 or 4 hour round trip to Belfast, they seem to have a couple but would mean planning a day in the big smoke.

[tigerburnie]

I trawled ebay for my latest one, over kill for what you want as mine is for a movie camera C100 mk ii, I managed to get just what I needed. When using a DSLR I don't like ball heads, personal choice but found a fluid head so much better to use. I also use a gimbal at times when doing hide work where you don't need to pitch up high due to the roof being in the way. Manfrotto do make good gear if your budget stretches that far.
Something like this?
Manfrotto 351MVB Tripod with 503HDV Fluid Head | eBay

[Glezga]

tigerburnie a fellow Floydian ;) Thanks for that. overkill works but i need something light too. i dont want to spend too much either. ebay is a minefield. im still waiting on bits i bought weeks ago. they seem to say they ship from UK but neglect to tell you - they ship from China 1st.

I had another go at the tripod and manged to get it more stable but its just not tight enough on the ball head.

On a funny ebay note. i ordered "Mini Flexible Gorilla Tripod for DSLR GoPro Camcorder Camera"

and this showed up!


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[Farider]

I bought a Benro Mach3 TMA27C, this is carbon fibre with a manfrotto MHXPRO-3W head, total weight is 3Kg. I got it because my lighter aluminium tripod wouldn’t hold the camera with a heavy lens stable, this setup is much better. As a bonus one of the legs unscrews to turn it into a monopod and also comes with a short centre pole so you can get very close to the ground.

Ian