streetmarty wrote:
You risked it and yes you're rude, again. This is the second time you've given me a smug response. NO, I do not know what I want, if I did I would not waste our time! If you read the original post, and comprehended what you read, you would see I had picked 3 different tripods, all of which I really know nothing about, I also added, if there is something I missed please let me know. Does that sound like a person that already knows what they want?! Follow my instincts? OK, Ill buy a Gitzo GK2542-82QD, thanks Im all set now.
You risked it and yes you're rude, again. This is ... (
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You were clear that you wanted to hear only what you wanted to hear - no reviews, no suggestions to wait until you can justify a decent tripod, then you ask about 3 tripods that come with heads in the range of $120 to $220 - nothing higher. That says several things - you don't care about details, quality means little, price is more important to you than functionality, and, worse of all, you will likely follow through and get one of the three you have narrowed your choices to. These are all different tripods intended for different purposes. The Sirui is a travel tripod, The Davis is a really light duty tripod marketed as a travel tripod that is quite short, and the Manfrotto is no longer made. Frankly I would not recommend any of the three - unless you are using a really light camera and will take extra measures to provide stability to minimize movement from shutter shock.
Without knowing what lenses and cameras you are planning on using, it is not possible to provide any meaningful advice, other than as a general rule functional tripods usually start around $300, the rest is pretty light duty and will either fail (break) or loosen up over a short period of time (a year or so), or just not be stable enough to make it worth the trouble to carry. Been with photographers who have been there and done that. Nothing is more frustrating than using an inadequate tripod and coming back and seeing image sharpness stolen because of it.
You obviously don't need the expensive Gitzo Traveler, but you should be looking at tripods with similar qualities and performance - there are many but none that I know of below $220.
If weight is not an issue, then you don't need a traveler tripod with 5 leg sections - it will vibrate.
If you are 5'10" or taller, the Davis is too short, even fully extended, because to get to 60" you need to almost fully extend the center column. Bad idea if you want want freedom from camera-shake induced blurring.
I would not buy the Manfrotto because it too is short without extending the center column, and it's leg locks and other components use too much plastic that stress and break over time.
If you are not intending to do Macro or use lenses longer than 200mm, and you don't need a light tripod that packs down to a small dimension, and are ok with using a fairly decent pan and tilt head, and you want to stay under $200, you may want to take a look at the the Tiltall tripod, originally manufactured in Rockleigh, NJ at the Leitz NA headquarters.
http://www.adorama.com/tpte01b.html?gclid=CjwKEAiAqJjDBRCG5KK6hq_juDwSJABRm03hJh3rxUCr_Z5rFZu17kF-3GKyZqjEnlX-6T79FSuDDRoCjofw_wcBIt's 6.12 lbs, can go to 57" without extending the center column, includes the hardware to use it as a monopod, has a load capacity of 44lbs (meaningless, but this does matter to some), and collapses to 30."
It was quite popular in the 60s and 70s among the pros, at least here in NY, doing all the fashion and commercial shooting in the photo district around Madison Sq, and 5th Ave. I had one and can attest to it's stability, though I wouldn't use it with any expectation good consistent results with anything longer than 300mm, or really close macro. As far as build quality and brute strength goes, it makes the other considerations look like the toys that they are.
Once again, I really wasn't trying to be rude - it just seemed that you had already made up your mind (implying it was closed to suggestions even though you asked to provide a suggestion in case you missed something), but your choices were all over the place - and none of which I would have selected to do the type of photography you stated. In fact, if you have lenses that have VR, you can save yourself $200 and go without a cheap or heavy tripod, which would most certainly gather dust in the closet, and end up making the tripod you really need cost $200 more.
I personally use a Feisol CT 3472 which weighs 4 lbs and has a very stable 37mm top tube ($525) with my long lenses (up to 600mm with a 1.4x TC) and macro. And I also recently purchased it's little brother, the CT3442 ($310) which weighs 2.31 lbs and has a 28mm top tube, for general use and when I am backpacking. I find the smaller pod good enough to shoot with a 300mm lens and for closeups, and it fits nicely in a carry-on bag for travel.