Tripods/supports
Discussion
How much does your camera and lens weigh? If it's a hefty bit of kit, then a lot of the cheaper tripods and heads may not be man enough to support it.
Check to see if it has a max-weight rating, and try it out first if possible.
Jessops do some decent tripods (DustyC should be able to tell you more), and a couple of the magazines are giving away a Velbon tripod if you take out a subscription which may be worth a look!
Check to see if it has a max-weight rating, and try it out first if possible.
Jessops do some decent tripods (DustyC should be able to tell you more), and a couple of the magazines are giving away a Velbon tripod if you take out a subscription which may be worth a look!
My tripod was the deal of the century.
Its not what you know, its who you know
I wonder if anyone has every written my name and I havent responded? A sure sign Im addicted...again!
Edited: apart from Gen Gassing. Dont go there anymore big waste of time.
>> Edited by DustyC on Wednesday 5th May 11:14
Its not what you know, its who you know
I wonder if anyone has every written my name and I havent responded? A sure sign Im addicted...again!
Edited: apart from Gen Gassing. Dont go there anymore big waste of time.
>> Edited by DustyC on Wednesday 5th May 11:14
Try www.7dayshop.com
I use one of their £18 jobs and it holds a 10D and 100-400IS (which is not light) nicely.
Great for OEM batteries too. The Canon one's for my cam are about £45 from Canon, £40 from Jessops and £14.50 from 7day.
Not the fastest at deleivery though.....
I use one of their £18 jobs and it holds a 10D and 100-400IS (which is not light) nicely.
Great for OEM batteries too. The Canon one's for my cam are about £45 from Canon, £40 from Jessops and £14.50 from 7day.
Not the fastest at deleivery though.....
Err on the side of quality. My tripod came from Dixons years ago but under the branding it's a Cullman. I can:
1) splay the legs independently: this means you can set it up on rough terrain, window-sills etc. and also get down very low.
2) remove the centre column and re-insert it from beneath so you can get the camera 0" from the ground
On the down side, there isn't a crank for the centre column. But there's not much it can't do and it's kept me happy for years (Well, as happy as a tripod can make you
)
If you plan to do macro work, a macro rail head is useful. Some tripods have a pivoting centre column that does the same job.
1) splay the legs independently: this means you can set it up on rough terrain, window-sills etc. and also get down very low.
2) remove the centre column and re-insert it from beneath so you can get the camera 0" from the ground
On the down side, there isn't a crank for the centre column. But there's not much it can't do and it's kept me happy for years (Well, as happy as a tripod can make you
) If you plan to do macro work, a macro rail head is useful. Some tripods have a pivoting centre column that does the same job.
Thanks for the advice. 
What are peoples feelings on monopods as well. I hope that most of my photography is going to be of the motorsport variety and most of that will be rallying so I was thinking a monopod would be easy to shove in a backpack and carry and for longer exposure shots would be ok as well, for the likes of the moon last night for example. Or does the monopod not give enough stability?
I have been looking at using 7dayshop for a while now, I can't honestly believe there prices against other places but I have heard very good things about them.
Richard Steven
What are peoples feelings on monopods as well. I hope that most of my photography is going to be of the motorsport variety and most of that will be rallying so I was thinking a monopod would be easy to shove in a backpack and carry and for longer exposure shots would be ok as well, for the likes of the moon last night for example. Or does the monopod not give enough stability?
I have been looking at using 7dayshop for a while now, I can't honestly believe there prices against other places but I have heard very good things about them.
Richard Steven
Never tried a monopod. It must be better than nothing, but IMO if you're thinking of motorsport - which I presume means fast panning - I reckon you can use handheld with appropriate shutter speed.
You could always make a monopod using a bit of broomhandle and a chunk of 1/4" studding, just to see if it's worth buying a proper one...
You could always make a monopod using a bit of broomhandle and a chunk of 1/4" studding, just to see if it's worth buying a proper one...
I like the Velbon Sherpa series. Stronger than average but not heavy. An important feature for me is a quick release head. Makes using the tripod much less of a chore.
7dayshop etc. in Channel Islands are fine, I've used them for years - before they had a web site. Just don't expect delivery in less than 7 days !
7dayshop etc. in Channel Islands are fine, I've used them for years - before they had a web site. Just don't expect delivery in less than 7 days !
Yep, I've found a monopod to get in the way as well, and prefer to hand hold my camera even with a very heavy 300mm lens fitted, although this is partly because I'm just not used to panning with a monopod and I'm sure with a bit of practice it wouldn't feel so strange.
It wouldn't give you sufficient support for taking long exposures though, so if you wanted to do any night shots or similar you would still need a tripod.
Or you could do what I do and that is to get a tripod and when necessary use it as a monopod by just extending one leg.
It wouldn't give you sufficient support for taking long exposures though, so if you wanted to do any night shots or similar you would still need a tripod.
Or you could do what I do and that is to get a tripod and when necessary use it as a monopod by just extending one leg.
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