tgreenhaw

Lot's of great advice here. The one thing I'd add is be sure you know what mounting plate you are buying. I prefer the Arca-Swiss type over the huge plate that came with my Manfrotto "Fluid Head" tripod.

SewClever

Thank you! Never thought about that.

MJPerini

You have lots of recommendations here, each backed by a favorable experience. Those are a good place to start.
I'll add :
A tripod does no good if you don't carry it, be realistic about what will be a 'comfortable carry' for YOU.
Think about a comfortable shooting height for you and your camera and look for one that will give you 6" more.
Try not to rely on the center post for height.
Weight ratings are all over the place and do not measure Twisting force (moment of inertia about the mounting point)
An L-bracket on your camera will make most tripods better (it keeps the weight centered over the apex)
How a tripod works and feels in your hands, and how the adjustments and locks work is critical to long term satisfaction. Find a store(s) with a good selection and try them.
There are lots of different head types, each has its particular strengths & weaknesses, after some trying decide what works best for you, and go with that.
Low tripod heads tend to be more stable than tall ones, because the closer to the apex of the tripod the camera is the more stable it will be (assuming equal quality)
....and last, will it last. The better the fit and finish of mechanical parts, the longer they tend to last. That tends to add to the price.
Good Luck

SewClever

You had my attention at "what you are willing to carry"!!! Thank you for your thoughtful input! R

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Hi Rita and welcome to the endless discussion. I know an excellent landscape photographer who in 55 years of shooting has never owned a tripod. He refuses to be tied to equipment. Other people have several. The key to your post is "all of this is pretty new to me." Caution and education are your best tools in your quest. The Grand Canyon could be half full if all the lousy tripods ever made were thrown in it. A tripod is a platform on which we fasten a camera for total steadiness. Legs must be sturdy and very rigid. It must be designed to hold a head of some type that holds the camera. Sounds simple? It is not. Study and research is required for you to make up your own mind on which is best suited for your needs. Gitzo, Really Right Stuff, and Manfrotto are places to begin. There is a well-known adage that states "Buy cheap-Buy often." The Grand Canyon is quite large.

gwilliams6

Sirui carbon fiber and waterproof for me , and I have owned and used the best from about every brand over 50 years as a pro shooting all subjects around the world.

Cheers and best to you.

SewClever

I think i love you 😉🤣 thank you. R

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I now stop buying Tripods after, going to a store with the equipment I want to use ( Camera and Lenses) and putting them on different tripods to see how comfortable I was them as to hight, setting up and using my stuff on them.

bnsf

As long as you have received a lot of different replies go to your local camera store and rent a few tripods from the different manufacturers and find the one that suits you the best and go from there.

tdozier3 Loc: Northern Illinois

Leophoto makes excellent tripods. Not cheap, but check them out.

uhaas2009

After breaking the cheap Walmart tripod I got an idea what I like or needed. I got a manfrotto with a pistol head what worked good till I had to clean the ball and before that I tried my new sec camera body with a 70-200 2.8 what had more weight. The pistol grip wouldn’t hold that weight. I wend to a camera store, lots of tripod in the show room and there I was totally lost. But I fund a used old heavy FOBA ball head for cheap. I can load it with anything on weight but heavy.
Somehow I ending up with a fotopro. I’m surprised that liked it. Like the buttons are easy to find in the dark, flexible enough

bnsf

When you purchase a tripod make sure there are levels that you can adjust the tripod. My Sirui SH25 tripod has two levels that are lite with
batteries. They are on the Video/ Photo ball head. One level for forward reverse side by side and the other level is for height. The reason I choice this tripod was after looking for a tripod for Sony a99ii and the RX10M4 camera I needed a tripod the was 6' tall. All the ones I found were under 5 1/2 feet tall. I am 5' 9 inches tall and I do not want to lean down and look at the camera when I am either taking a photo or shooting a movie. Hope this helps you find a tripod.

gwilliams6

CO

You've gotten great advice on tripods. I would like to make a ballhead recommendation. Acratech has a unique ballhead design. The ball is actually open at the bottom. It allows any dust and debris to clear away instead of being trapped in a ballhead socket. They are very lightweight for their load capacity. This is my Acratech ballhead on my Manfrotto 055 carbon fiber tripod..

(Download)

SewClever

Great idea. I'll have to see if there are any camera stores closer than 2 hrs away! 🤞