Silke Loc: Germany

Those look like just what the doctor ordered. Thanks for that.
Plus, great reviews. :)
I'm a hobby photographer, those should be plenty for me. :)

racerrich3 Loc: Los Angeles, Ca.

glad I can help. I still feel like a beginner though. I've been told I take good pics but that has been on auto. I want to take better off of auto now so i'm still learning. but have a little bit of nice equipment.

Silke Loc: Germany

I've only recently started to shoot on aperture (AV on my camera) and it's been a bit of a revelation. :)
I'm also still learning a lot, and reading posts here got me onto Backbutton focus, I also found out about the DOF preview button... little things, but very useful things. :)
And yeah, having nice equipment helps :)

racerrich3 Loc: Los Angeles, Ca.

I have a Nikon D3300 and found that a "book" called the "expanded guide" is about 10 times better than the manual alone besides the other tools of learning about your camera. they have these expanded guides for Nikon, Canon, and a few others. saw them at my local camera store about $20. worth it in my op.

Al Freeedman

Amazon also has a fantastic selection of "for Dummies" camera books for less.

Captain Al

racerrich3 Loc: Los Angeles, Ca.

beginners don't like to be or be called "dummies". besides I got mine for $5. we are also here to learn from you "pros". don't need the stupid sarcasm. lol.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I doubt any insult was implied. There's a whole series of books "for dummies". "Excel for Dummies", "WORD for Dummies". etc al.
It's a whole genre of book titles that boil technical, sometimes complex concepts into simple language.

Silke Loc: Germany

LOL yes, we used to have a bunch of them at work. (All the Microsoft for Dummies ones)
Honestly, I don't think anyone ever read them lol.
Still, there are some great books out there. It's just getting around to reading them, and finding an appropriate one. :)

Al Freeedman

Racerrich3

I wasn't calling anyone dummies, it's a series of very helpful books on photography plus lots of other subjects. You re the one with "stupid sarcasm".

Captain Al

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

So, as a hobby photographer you are ok with images taken with a less stable tripod. I will never understand that logic.

Also, reviews from the general public, as is often found on Amazon and other retail websites, rarely tells the whole picture. The only value I find in them is to read the 1 and 2 start reviews to get a sense of why this product is bad. All too often, people write glowing reviews, but they do not have an over-arching perspective - which explains the amazing reviews on tripods from Ravelli, Dolica etc. People buy them and not knowing any better, write an amazing review - but the truth is that they rarely have a basis for comparison, and also need to justify their $100-$200 expenditure to themselves.

In the big picture there are some hard facts. One is that price alone is no indication of quality - but there are two very expensive brands - Really Right Stuff and Gitzo - that have legendary reputations for producing the best products and the best customer support. At the other end, there are numerous cheap tripods, most of them really awful, that people buy because they don't know any better, and they read reviews from people who don't know any better. Then there is the middle ground of tripods - decent product from up and coming manufacturers that have specs similar to the Big Boys - and comparable performance at a cost usually less than the Big Boys.

By using a 300mm on a cropped sensor Canon - you are using a lens with an effective field of view of a 480mm lens. That requires some seriously good support. Feisol CT3472/CT3372 or better - $525. I have this and the smaller one -CT3442 - $325 - for travel and for use with less than 300mm on a full frame. The smaller one is too unstable for longer lenses, though it has a claimed load capacity of 55 lbs. But it's top tube is only 27mm in diameter, which would be comparable to a Gitzo Series 2, suitable for up to a 200mm lens on a full frame camera. With care, you can use slightly longer lenses. But there is no way you can put your camera and lens on it and expect to not see some camera shake.

Many of the cheap brands -<$200 for legs, or slightly more if they include a head - are from manufacturers that create products in their marketing department and not in the engineering department.

Silke Loc: Germany

As a hobby photographer, who takes pictures for her own enjoyment, I also have a limited budget. :)
Any half way decent tripod will be better than me hand holding the camera for long exposures.
"Some Camera Shake" I can live with. The thing falling over...that's a different story. That I can't risk. That's what I got at the moment, which is why I'm looking at something a lot more sturdy.
I wish I could have kept Paul's tripod, but I sold it with his camera / lights / sound gear and all as a kit to pay off the rather sizable loan he took out to get the camera. (Broadcast camera, not stills.)
That thing was...yikes. Alas, way too heavy for me, but it had a stills adapter plate. Couldn't keep it though. :/
I very rarely shoot with anything over 70mm (at least not anything that would require a tripod), those kinds of shots (the zoom out to 300mm) tend to be me, on the move, trying to catch the horses do silly stuff, running, or something like that. Can't do that with a tripod, and I have a yearling who is super nosy -- going in there with a tripod is a no-no lol.
The tripod is mainly for stuff like trying some macro, or night stuff, where I either need a very steady hand, or a very long exposure.