Best Tripod for under $500

[Guest]

I'm looking for a good quality, smooth tripod under $500. I know this isnt much but it's what i got to work with. Any recomendations? I've heard mixed reviews of the Libec M20 and Bogen 501 head...so im not quite sure what to get since those were my two options until now. Thanks.

[Zoomforce]

I would get the Bogen 503 head (501 is good, but the 503 is almost pro) and buy a cheap pair of legs till you can afford a better pair of legs. I use the 503 for everything.

[Isaac_Brody]

I got the Bogen 756B legs and bought the Gitzo 2380 head. The legs are pretty light (three pounds) and hold up to eleven pounds. The head is comparable to the 501 but a little lighter. I really like it compared to the 501. They're both good choices but the Gitzo seems more sturdy to me. Paid 193$ (U.S) for the legs and 160$ for the head.

[Carlos_E._Martinez]

The only problem I see on the Gitzo 2380 is it doesn't have a ball head. Levelling on non flat locations without one is quite difficult.

The Libec M20 Tripod seems the starting point, but I used one some weeks ago and it seemed to have some problem with the horizontal lock position, which you could not adjust for soft movement.


Carlos

[Zoomforce]

Ball head is an absolute must.. I mean a must. I cant stress this enough as if you are leveling with your legs it becomes a real pain in the ass.

The 501 is the standard head, but its not a true fluid head like the 503. The 503 also has a return spring so if you let go without the lock on your camera wont do the rock and roll nose dive.

I have used many $10,000 heads before, and the 503 is as close to them as I have found for under $500 for a head. Miller and Cartoni makes some low priced heads ($500-$1000 range) but in my opinion they are twice the price and just a little better or worse than the 503.

It is also nice because you can by a Bogen QR plate and mount for $30 so you can add it to any other mounting device (i.e glidecam) and use the same QR.

[DVX100Shooter]

I know you may have a budget restraint but I am a little puzzled why you would put a almost $4,000 camera on a under $500 tripod.

[Jive]

Keep in mind that prices for 'supporting' pieces of equipment to cameras (such as a tripod) all have their relative price ranges. *Just because the camera costs $4k (which is a price relative to other cameras of similar build and features), doesn't mean that you must spend at least that much for every other piece of equipment.

I would always used to swear by Sachtlers etc. *However, my friend just bought a small tripod for his GL2 (which incidentally happens to be the Libec M20), and I decided to borrow it for a small shoot I'm doing this weekend. *After checking it out, I think that it's a great little tripod for small cameras. *The best things about it are of course it's price ($200) and of even more value is the ball leveler.
The only things I find missing are:
-no drag control (BIGGEST issue for me)
-head/legs not replaceable/removable
-I have yet to find out if mid-level spreader can be removed and see if legs can be widened to get lower positions

But for $200, I wouldn't complain. *Tho, if you're shooting for under $500, I would check into some of the other head/leg combos that other's have suggested (such as the Bogen 503 head ($250) and maybe the Bogen 525MVB ($380). *Ok, so maybe that's little too rich :) but that would give you a tripod system that should work will in almost all situations at under 10lbs.).

[eronquillo]

Just out of curiosity, but could any of those tripods handle the weight of the DVX with a MatteBlox (cinetactics) loaded with up to 4 resin filters and mounted with a Cobra Crane plus extension?

[Jive]

I'm pretty sure the Libec M20 couldn't even handle the cobracrane (+extension) and the stock camera. I was on a shoot where the cobra+extension nearly wrecked a bogen 501 head with just a GL2 on board. Perhaps it wasn't mounted properly tho. I don't know I was just observing that time.

I'd like to know this as well, because I'd like to get a light 'n portable set of sticks that I could use a jib (such as the cobracrane) with.

[Zoomforce]

the cobra crane here is demo'd on a 501.. seems to work fine. The matteblox is almost weightless so I would say yes no problem.