Kuzano

The center post is a common fail for most tripods. Height of the legs alone is important.

Remember This! from the top of your three legs to the top of your center post...YOU ARE USING A MONOPOD!!!

Three legs in three sections (no 5 section legs) and with the head almost as tall as where you want to look through the camera to focus. That's a good starting point. If you have to extend 18-20 inches of center post to focus through the camera, get a chair and sit down. Eye level should be at the top of the three legs.

Now from there, start to work on other aspects of stability.

Want to see the difference. Extend your tripod legs all the way up, and put your camera on the head. Now without any center post extension, wobble on leg a bit.

Now put the Center Post all the way up, with the camera still mounted and wobble one leg... Ooooops, watch out it may fall over!!!

olsonsview

I use a Bogen #3036 tripod with an astronomical Alt/Az head for looking at stars when I am too much in a hurry to align my computer driven large telescope. The tripod is plenty solid, and adjustable for a wide range of user heights. Used they can often be had for $75 with a head installed on E-Bay. They are not for backpacking unless you are strong, but for trails close to a car or at home, it is an excellent choice. I have used up to a 1500mm lens with it! That is about the limit it can handle though. And you can get astro vibration pads to place under the feet of any tripod to cut vibrations and tremors in half! They run about $30 for a used set of three. They work well on a concrete driveway, most would never believe that a cement drive transmits tremors from footfalls, but it does at high magnifications.

Silke Loc: Germany

Wow so many options.
I am going to up my budget, as so many suggested. (Otherwise I may as well stick with the piece of junk I already have.)
For taking shots of the stars, I am quite blessed in terms of light pollution here (zero, unless a car zooms by at 3am...which doesn't really happen around here) I can also go behind the house on the hill, where there truly is zero light pollution -- we're that far from any streetlights or houses. (Or civilization...) However, if I do end up climbing the hill, I have to contend with strong wind (it's exposed up there) and will need a sturdy tripod. Flimsy / light isn't going to cut it. There is a reason a Wind Turbine sits on top of that hill. :)
We're 2-2.5km from the village (about 1.5miles) and it's about 3 miles to the nearest town (which really is another village. Sneeze and you miss it.) 6 miles to the nearest grocery store and gas station.
The closest "large" (50,000 people) town is 20 miles away.
Closest airport? Munich. 150 miles.

360 Stitch

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Nearest houses (approx 1km from our house) and the village beyond (approx 2km away) This is taken from one of the horse fields.

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imagesintime Loc: small town, mid-America

You have lots of advice so far. This is what I was told about selecting a tripod.

There are three criteria.
1. Light weight
2. Sturdy
3. Inexpensive
You get to pick two.

JohnTxNC

Ok..... I use a "Tank" of a Tripod.... cost under $100. Current price through Amazon is $96 or so...
This is a Tank! Weighs 8 pounds ..... Supports 17 pounds.... Extends up to 70". ... Ball head style Pistol Grip .... Carrying case... Spikes and Rubber tips... Levels....
Just take the time to tighten up everything, before you first use it, and on occasion, check the fittings.

72% 5 Star Amazon Rating ... 17% 4 Star Amazon Rating.... the other star ratings are the usual complainers...haha and as an honest disclaimer: I did not contribute to the ratings...

Here is the link to an Amazon Prime listing:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003SQEAY0/ref=olp_f_primeEligible?ie=UTF8&f_primeEligible=true

Here is the website www.Ravelliphoto.com

Here is a good charity to consider if anyone wishes to purchase under the www.Smile.Amazon.com charity program where 0.5% of your Amazon purchase to go to a good cause...

Christys Courage Foundation Change
Location: Charlotte, NC | Year Founded: 2013
Mission: The mission of Christy's Courage Foundation is to improve the quality of life
for children, adults, and families with EA/TEF by offering support groups, medical education,
pharmaceutical and medical equipment, and holistic treatment and resources.

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imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Slik Pro 700 DX - http://www.ebay.com/itm/371546840953?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I do not use traditional ball heads so cannot comment on them......too restrictive and slow for following action.

therwol Loc: USA

I have one of those too, also bought in the early 70s. At the time, you couldn't get anything of comparable quality for the price, and they were pretty cheap, though not cheaply made. I think a couple of guys in New Jersey machined and manufactured them by hand in their garage when they started out. I don't remember when, but Leitz bought the rights to these and manufactured them to the original factory specs for a long time. They're now made in Taiwan. I have one of those as well. B&H is often out of stock, but you can buy them cheaper from Freestyle, and they always seem to be in stock. On the newer model, one of the legs can detach and function as a monopod.

I have never had an issue with these tripods. I even routinely used my first one back in the day with a 4x5 Crown Graphic to take many time exposures at night without a hint of movement. The original seems to be made with better precision than the latest version. (Hand made versus mass produced.) The moving parts in the legs and the head of the original just seem a bit more refined. I would still consider it a bargain at not much more than $100 from Freestyle, but it isn't a modern design and requires patience when you adjust the head. Also the factory head is totally unsuitable for video if your video requires panning.

Lance Pearson Loc: Viriginia

Sadly, if you have serious aspirations to good photographs you are likely going to have to invest in a solid, superior tripod and they don't exist for under $100. Try three to five times that. If you graduate to any kind of long lens like a 500 or 600 you will want a supremely steady, very heavy duty tripod that is solid as a rock. Most good tripods now have central posts that can reverse and the camera can be shot with remote down low to the ground as well. If you shoot 300mm or more you are going to need to either pan with the shot or be rock steady or the maginifcation will make it very difficult to avoid soft edges or downright poor focus. I've owned several tripods and ended up using the biggest, steadiest and most expensive one I can afford when I do occasionally use a tripod. I wasted a lot of money getting to that point and could use even a steadier, more expensive one than I have now. A hard lesson but no way around it unless you have a bench where you can really steady yourself, your frame and your camera. Carbon fiber does not make a tripod steadier just lighter. It does make a bigger one easier to carry though the cost is commensurate often. I have a 150-600mm lens but it is so much work to shoot well it generally stays in the box in the camera cabinet. I learned I did not want to put that much effort into shooting a bird 40' away. It is there if I need it but I sort of regret buying it now. I shoot Nikon for good stuff and travel with a canon eos m3 great little leaf shutter that never sees a tripod. I actually found more use for a very heavy duty monopod from Opteka shooting a big, heavy Nikon D4 with 80-200mm or 28-70mm big lenses. The unit weighs around 7 pounds all up and it gets tiring shooting it without the monopod.

Silke Loc: Germany

I have the monopod (somewhere) my other half bought, but I'm a wobbly impatient person. :) I'd still manage to shake things up :P (Also, with a monopod, I couldn't go sit in the warm kitchen on freezing winter nights, while I try to take piccies of the stars...)
I don't use anything over 300mm, which is plenty for me.
I don't have aspirations of becoming a pro, but I want decent kit so it doesn't let me down when I need it. (Note - I said decent. I don't do enough to go for pro gear.)
I very rarely use a tripod. Mostly because I tend to have to hike after my targets. (Them darn ponies keep mooooving.) But for static stuff...yeah, I want something halfway decent. Mostly something that doesn't wobble at the slightest breeze.
Heavy isn't a problem. I lug around plenty of heavy stuff all day long lol. (40kg grain sacks, hay bales, water buckets...)

therwol Loc: USA

I can actually feel my Nikon D810 move when the shutter trips. I don't mean vibrate. I mean move. It is especially obvious with a short, light prime lens mounted. There is a gentle up and down rocking with the mirror actuation. This kind of motion can only be defeated by a heavy tripod. Of course, a camera like this has several tricks to eliminate this mirror movement as well as other vibrations, but if you're going to stick a camera like this on a tripod and do nothing else, make sure it's a heavy one.

olsonsview

Before buying a new tripod try hanging your camera bag with gear in it from the center post. See if it improves your pics! Even a heavy tripod benefits from this trick. And maybe some weight plates from a barbell can be added if you are close to home. It will stabilize many tripods doing that. The bag needs to be off the ground, hanging in the center of the three legs. Increased mass will help dampen vibrations. Sometimes it makes a huge difference.

rightslot

Very recently I found an article stating that after all the cheap/bargain/low cost--high value gear you'll look back and wish you purchased what you end up with: an upper to high end piece.

Therefore I agree with Gene51.

Also very recently I purchased a MeFOTO RoadTrip tripod. Many discussions with a friend at work. I went after it for very similar reasons as yours. I wanted something I could take places, would be strong enough for maybe some timelapse photos, some early morning landscape, etc. And...needed to be able to hold my Canon 6D + lenses.

Spend a bit more, do it less often, be happy.

Silke Loc: Germany

That's why I'm holding off for now. I am not likely to need the tripod before late spring (around April / May here) because...I'm not climbing snowy hills :P

latebloomer Loc: Topeka, KS

[quote=Gene51]I'm sorry, but with a budget of $100 you are going to end up with something that is no better than what you have. I don't know what the used market has, other than similar tripods that people have decided, as you have, are too unstable to use with a lens and camera combination that has an equivalent angle of view of 500mm etc.


Listen to Gene51. I ended with a Feisol CT3472 and a Suri ball head as he recommended. I gave my Vanguard to my granddaughter.

I have a much older Leitz Tiltall (Leitz just put their name on Tiltal tripods). It has a top tube diameter of 33 mm as compared to the Fiesol's 37-38 mm top tube. It's drawbacks are that it comes with a pan/tilt head and it is much heavier. It is quite sturdy. The last used one I saw for sale was around $110-120. My Tiltal is over 30+ years old and hasn't been used for at least 30 years when I became divorced and lost a darkroom, remarried and then had a blended family of my and my wife's children.

Gene recommends a standard of a 37mm top tube. I would be interested in Gene's opinion on this with a 300mm or less lens.

therwol Loc: USA

[quote=latebloomer]

Tiltall is still made, but in Taiwan. Now it is also made in black and gold for slightly more money. I have this version and an original (before Leitz). It is solid, heavier than it looks, but the head is a pain.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/81843013-Tiltall-TE-Original-Series-Tripod-Silver