Jerrin1 Loc: Wolverhampton, England

I have the 2009 award winning Vanguard 283CT carbon fibre tripod and the quality and ease of use are top notch; it even comes with a very nice carrying case and shoulder strap. Although I have an excellent Manfrotto geared tripod head, I personally prefer my Sirius 204S hybrid monopod to the Manfrotto equivalent and, obviously, the Vanguard to the Manfrotto equivalent. Often, these things are just personal taste; but I feel that Vanguard and Siriu offer better quality and engineering than Manfrotto in some areas.

SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

Benro and Induro are made by the same company. Both tripods come in all sizes. After exhaustive research I bought the carbon fiber Induro with a Induro ball head and have been very happy with both. Manfroto tripods are very good also, however, they are very heavy and have not heard too many things about their ball heads.

jcboy3

You haven't specified what your criteria is for choosing, but these two tripods seem to mostly have price in common (both available for about $179). You should indicate what camera and lens(es) you want to use with it, both what you have and what you plan to get.

These aren't travel tripods, so carrying them is a big deal. Neither has a very robust ball head, and both use proprietary quick release clamps. The Vanguard ball head has been discontinued in favor of the TBH-100, which is Arca compatible.

I highly recommend getting an Arca compatible ball head; even if the ball head is undersized, you can always use a nodal rail slide to balance the load. Newer Vanguard models are Arca; I have a the BBH-250 as well as an SBH-250 with Arca clamp.

I shoot a lot of panoramas; for that you want Arca compatibility.

You will find that $200 is low when looking at quality tripods and ball heads; if that's truly your limit then I would look for used.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Numerous times this important subject has appeared and it seem to share one common denominator,time after time and that is trying to be sensible about dollars spent for a given value. Another denominator would be that many of us end up buying another one down the road. It's a tough decision.

I might add that lenses seem to be of the same venue.

Best of luck,just be happy with your choices and all is well!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Those new to buying a tripod for the first time please be advised that most serious photographers with a wide range of subjects and situations have more than 1 tripod ! The idea of having 1 tripod do everything well is very wishful thinking ......I am sure most - like me, have 3 tripods - one heavy duty for big lenses/long shutter times/high magnification/studio only type work - heavy enough that you do not want to carry it far - if at all. A 2nd medium duty/weight tripod for most mobile field work and a 3rd lighter duty tripod for high mobility/travel where weight and size are the major consideration and using smaller/lighter gear. Having one big heavy tripod will work for all of your gear - large or small - but will wind up being far less mobile.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

I'm quitting at two!





Hopefully....

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Three tripods and a monopod and counting...

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Yeah,a monopod at my house too and the wife is counting...guess that means I don't have to worry about counting!

latebloomer Loc: Topeka, KS

Please do a search on UHH for Gene 51. His advice for tripods is excellent. I wish I had before I got my Vanguard (the one with all the flexibility.) Weight is not the issue, it is vibration. If you had physics in college you will understand. I ended up buying a Feisol CT 3472 after I purchased the Vanguard. It is not cheap, but it is all the tripod I should ever need. Please read Gene 51 comments on tripods.

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

I want to second the recomendation to contact Gene51. He really knows this subject. One of the tripods he recommends is a Feisol. I forget the number. If you look at that tripod or even a Youtue video you will be super impressed. It really is very well thought out. It is both very stable yet light enough to use for travell photography or where some hiking might be involved. It's not super cheap like a Chinese tripod would be but it looks like a real keeper to me. It's probably my next tripod purchase.

latebloomer Loc: Topeka, KS

Mt tripod, the Feisol CT 3472 is the one he uses. There are a number of adapters available for the Feisol. It is the same weight or perhaps lighter than my Vanguard. Gene 51 notes that there are are other good tripods. He states that a minimum of 37 mm for the top tube is needed. The Feisol CT 3472 is about $600+ (between 600 and 700). For those who have the money and want more expensive tripods, Gitzo and Really Right Stuff are outstanding products.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Ah, I heard my name mentioned.

To clarify, the 37mm top tube is for industrial strength stability - Gitzo, RRS, Benro, etc all use this or larger on their most heavy duty tripods. If you are not using a 500mm lens or longer (like a 150-600 on a crop sensor camera with a 1.4x TC), then you can get by with a smaller diameter. As I mentioned on page one of this thread, I just got a Feisol CT3442, just for those times when I am not using along lens or 1:1 macro work. It has a top tube diameter of 28mm, which is considerably more stable than your average $200 or even $300 tripod with head combo. It does not come with a center column, though you could order one for it. The cost with 3 section legs is $300, and 4 section legs is $310. If you want the new anti rotation legs, like those used on the Gitzo, I think it's an extra $60-$70. I am so used to the old style legs on my CT3472 that I see no real benefit to the new legs, though some may want/like that feature.

I have done a ton of research on this, and I have not found a tripod in either class that is as light and performs as well (stability-wise), as as cost effective - $300 for the smaller one and $500 for the bigger one. Everything else is heavier, not as stable, comes with a center column, has poor quality leg locks, lacks the build quality, etc etc etc - and most are more expensive if you just consider performance. The closest I have found is Sirui, and they have a few interesting models - one that folds completely flat, others where you can remove a leg and it becomes a monopod, etc. I use an Arca Swiss Z1 ball head and a Manfrotto 393 (modified to use Arca Swiss plates) on the big tripod, and a Sirui K30X on the small tripod. I looked at the K20X but found it less desirable, and not as stable, so I spent the extra $20 and got the 30X.

bkellyusa Loc: Nashville, TN

I was actually talking aobut the CT-3442 Fiesol Tripod. It's very light, folds compact, is allegedly very stable and has just about the stoutest tripod in it's category. It's also more affordable than the CT-3472. There are several videos on the this unit on Youtube.

One of the things I like about it is that even without a center tube it is high enough to use for most photography. One the other hand. I also like that you can get a center tube for it and with that you would be able to open the legs in a smaller area and extend the tube for additional height. This has come would be very handy for me at times when photographing from bridges or walkways where I need to use the tripod but I also need to get closer to the the structure to get the shot I want.

I also use a horizontal exension tube and I think this tripod would do better with that setup than my current travel tripod or the heavier aluminum Manfroto I have.

SteveLew Loc: Sugar Land, TX

The Induro travel tripods come with both a long tube and a short neck for those real low shots. The short center tube is only four inches.