ggudinkas

The old adage applies: You get what you pay for. Also a monopod can work fine in a lot of situations and is easier to tote around.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

Just buy top quality Carbon Fiber from one of the major manufacturers; No center post, maybe add a little extra weight from center hook and IMPROVE your technique. Use mirror lockup if you have the time and remote release. Use good quality head of your choice. Just as with the camera, technique always Trumps.

anotherview Loc: California

In part, your decision to buy a tripod should first consider your use of it and your purpose for it. If you plan to do a lot of photography also involving conditions that need a tripod for best results, then investing in a better tripod may make good sense.

Stating the obvious, occasional use of a tripod under conditions calling for it should justify a medium-priced tripod. You do not want an expensive tripod (or any tripod) sitting there gathering dust.

The advent of image stabilization has made the tripod an accessory facing obsolescence. Doing handheld photography has now become possible with good results for most photography.

I wish to emphasize that certain conditions require use of a tripod -- for example, long exposure times.

You may wish to consider this strong opinion from Ken Rockwell regarding the tripod: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/digital-killed-my-tripod.htm

Good luck.

CO

If you like 3-way pan/tilt heads here's something to look at. Benro has redesigned their 3-way pan/tilt heads. They have a magnesium construction and Arca-Swiss dovetails. Finally, someone has incorporated Arca-Swiss into a 3-way head pan/tilt. They come in three sizes - the HD1A, HD2A, and HD3A. The HD1A has a max. load of 11lbs. The HD2A has a max. load of 17.6lbs., and the HD3A 22 lbs.

Kingman

Depending on your specific needs for a tripod (lighter or heavier camera/lens combo), you may find you might end up with more than one tripod. I have a heavier all aluminum tripod as well as a medium weight aluminium weight one and a light weight carbon fiber tripod for backpacking. I also have two very cheap plastic tripods that I've purchased on vacation when I didn't pack one and the need came up. When it comes to carbon fiber tripods they are very expensive and sometimes are not worth the premium prices they demand. Also I found the smaller carbon fiber tripods are often not to be as stable as their aluminum counterparts and their weight savings is marginal. The cold factor described in the above posts is a definite plus for carbon fiber but many tripods (whether aluminum or carbon fiber) now offer one or more legs of the tripod covering with foam. The foam helps with carrying the tripods in the cold but still doesn't help in stetting up the aluminum tripods in the cold! When you get a tripod, consider getting an additional soft case, if it doesn't already come with one.

Brent Rowlett Loc: Atlanta, GA

If you buy cheap tripods, you will buy many in your lifetime. The pros say to buy the best as this will be the most important piece of equipment you will buy in your lifetime as your skills progress into HDR, Video, and other types of photography.

Buy a Gitzo or The Right Stuff tripod with a center post that can be removed and replaced with a bowl platform. This is handy for leveling a fluid video head or a Nodal Ninja precision rotating head for shooting tiles for super large prints and billboards. The Gitzos are carbon fiber, light weight, and rugged. They also collapse/expand like a big spider to capture macro photography at ground level.

I purchased a $900 Gitzo and never looked back. Purchase a heavy duty Ball Head with a universal ARCA release (stay away from the Manfrotto release system). I set up all of my speed lights, cameras, video cameras etc. with the ARCA plate and release system. I can quickly move any light or camera to any tripod or platform without having to get out an wrench or quarter to remove the connecting system. I can take my video cameras off of the tripods and mount them on GlideCams and DJI Ronin gimbals in seconds. Manfrotto is not universal.

anotherview Loc: California

Yes, I have my best tripod in a soft case -- recommended to minimize wear and tear from lugging it around, whether or not used.

Steamboat

No you don't need an expensive tripod....End of discussion
But they are nice I have a small RSS its a joy to use and carry. Your more likely to carry it, if it doesn't weigh anything.
Is it worth the extra money ...well No ......but still life is short so if you can afford it why not.

leftj Loc: Texas

I respectfully disagree. If you are happy with it then it is worth the money.

Tomcat5133 Loc: Gladwyne PA

Pros use sachtler etc foe video and stills. Manfrotto is ok my old one is solid and heavy no comparison to
to the new ones which are built for a price. How important is a tripod well put your high end Canon with a good quality telephoto and you have 5 to 10 grand on your tripod. I recently bought a more portable manfrotto to travel
with and it is heavy but ok. I have things break on them recently. Their clamps are plastic and flimsy.
One on the struts on my video tripod broke. So their are reasonable tripods but count on sooner or later your tripod is going to be knocked down. A lot of us leave the camera on the tripod and carry it on our shoulder.
My camcorder and mirrorless camera’s are so much lighter these days but still it has to have some good weight.
It really depends on what you are doing. For shooting events like sports which I do a Manfrotto monopod
My go to.
Good luck
PS the gitzo and bento mentioned above are pro equipment to me.

Steamboat

I think you miss my point .You don't need an $1000 tripod to hold your camera......but they are nice.

jim in TC Loc: Traverse City, Michigan

It depends a bit on what you hope to accomplish. If you need a little bit of additional stability at relatively quick shutter speed for stationary subjects and have little expectation of needing more than that in the future you might get away with relatively low cost (still, do your research). I had a cheap tripod for years, and it served the kind of images described above reasonably well. When I decided I wanted some evening shots of various moon phases, it failed pretty miserably. I have little need for a stable tripod other than that (at least right now) but if I want to pursue those images I will have to invest in it. There have been lots of discussions on this forum about low end tripods almost all coming down with a consensus that you need more than you think, and have to pay for it. Turns out to be pretty much on point, in my somewhat limited experience.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

It depends ........mostly on your definition of "do fine"

PhotosByCat Loc: Baltimore, OH

Can you share what you ended up buying, please? I have a MeFoto globetrotter and it’s ok but awkward to use and adjusting it sometimes loosens my foot connection on my lens. Frustrating and dangerous.

leftj Loc: Texas

But if you are happy with a $1,000 Tripod (and there are many out there) then it is worth the money.