Good DSLR Tripod, £30 or less ????
Good DSLR Tripod, £30 or less ????
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Discussion

melvster

Original Poster:

6,841 posts

214 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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As the title says, anyone recommend a good tripod for a DSLR (Canon EOS 350D) for around £30??


XG332

3,927 posts

217 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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Velbon df40 was £18 at Jessops. Next size up DF50 is about £24 IIRC

RedWhiteMonkey

9,085 posts

211 months

Monday 23rd January 2012
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Loads of choice on ebay.

JDRoest

1,126 posts

179 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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Don't do any of the lightweight Ebay tripods that can be had for £10-15. They are rubbish and the camera can and will fall off the head. Absolutely useless.

You could do what I did though, Manfrotto head (which I had lying around but can be had on Ebay for 20-30 s/h), then bought a s/h Velbon tripod off Ebay (99p), took the head off that, got a grub screw made up (but I'm sure they can be bought) that allowed me to connect the Manfrotto to the old tripod.

Looks horrible, but works well enough.

SWAT78

1,079 posts

212 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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Another vote for one of the Velbon models. Not the best, but mine holds my D60 with 70-300mm attached with no problems.

Apologies if obvious, but remote shutter trigger might be needed if you're planning on doing long exposures.

tenohfive

6,276 posts

211 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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XG332 said:
Velbon df40 was £18 at Jessops. Next size up DF50 is about £24 IIRC
DF-40 is £25, DF-50 is £35 according to the Jessops website. £15 less than on Amazon where it's got a few rubbish reviews, and no positive ones (the DF-50 that is.) Mixed reviews on Jessops.

Will be watching this thread with interest as I'm looking for a small tripod with a stable head for longer exposure shots at the same budget.

nickfrog

25,312 posts

246 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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Cheap tripods are a false economy. Second hand Manfrotto a much better choice.

Carrera_C

20 posts

244 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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nickfrog said:
Cheap tripods are a false economy. Second hand Manfrotto a much better choice.
+1 from me. I wouldn't pay less than £100 for a tripod. It's not just about it being able to take the weight of your camera but actually holding it steady for pin sharp images with long shutter times. You just won't get that with a £30 tripod.

XG332

3,927 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
quotequote all
tenohfive said:
XG332 said:
Velbon df40 was £18 at Jessops. Next size up DF50 is about £24 IIRC
DF-40 is £25, DF-50 is £35 according to the Jessops website. £15 less than on Amazon where it's got a few rubbish reviews, and no positive ones (the DF-50 that is.) Mixed reviews on Jessops.

Will be watching this thread with interest as I'm looking for a small tripod with a stable head for longer exposure shots at the same budget.

They go up and down weekly. Keep looking.

K12beano

20,854 posts

304 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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Carrera_C said:
nickfrog said:
Cheap tripods are a false economy. Second hand Manfrotto a much better choice.
+1 from me. I wouldn't pay less than £100 for a tripod. It's not just about it being able to take the weight of your camera but actually holding it steady for pin sharp images with long shutter times. You just won't get that with a £30 tripod.
Pretty much agree.


Although I did notice this which would still give you 5p change......


....wouldn't know if it's "good" but I am rather tempted. Anyone?

TomN94

2,401 posts

187 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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I have this, its quite good, not ideal for low angle photos, but does other things well, nice and sturdy too, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hama-Star-Tripod-Free-Carr...



Elderly

3,736 posts

267 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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XG332 said:

They (cheap tripods) go up and down weakly.
I've fixed that for you silly

XG332

3,927 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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Elderly said:
I've fixed that for you silly
They asked.

Comacchio

1,544 posts

210 months

Tuesday 24th January 2012
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I'm in the same boat as some others - better to spend big once than spend little lots. I can highly recommend the Redsnapper range.

http://www.redsnapperuk.com/camera-accessories/Sup...

mr_fibuli

1,109 posts

224 months

Wednesday 25th January 2012
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I just got a Vivitar one that is reduced from £25 to £14 in Argos. Unsurprisingly the head is pretty plasticy and horrible, feels like could easily break in a dozen different places.

LongQ

13,864 posts

262 months

Wednesday 25th January 2012
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Cheap ones will do a job and support a camera.

The included heads won't be especially nice to use and the will probably readily fall apart. But at the price it they last a few years ...

Never ever carry an extended cheap tripod with a camera fitted to the head.

Many of the cheap leg sets (and often the heads too) are available for peanuts on the internet with 'own brand' names but considerably more in the High Street with 'brand' names. Same products as far as one can tell.

I've used cheapo as a 'camera with large lens' support for some years. More or less using it like a monopod but with the convenience of being able to lock the position and leave it standing ready to go. Not a nice prospect to use the same item for, say, a landscape (even with a smaller lens) where some precision of composition might be required in 'hands off' mode.