Tripod and head advice

B

bearcatrp

Member
Am new to the prosumer game so need your professional advice on the following tripod and head. Its a induro alloy tripod 6m A313 and a induro 3d series 3 way panhead 3D-L-34. I just purchased the HMC150 and want a decent tripod and head without breaking the bank. $169.00 for the tripod and $100 bucks for the head from a local camera shop. Probably could find it cheaper online so will research that. The head flows very well. From reading allot of posts, seems the fluid heads are what is recommended but don't think I could afford them now. I have my 1st wedding in 2 weeks and would like to get comfortable with this before the wedding. All comments and suggestions are appreciated. Tnks
 
In that price range its hard to find a 'good' tripod.

I settled for a few older Bogen-manfrotto's on ebay... I found older used quality equipment is better then the new cheap stuff... The ones you got look pretty good, although I think I would like a longer single handle to work with.
 
I agree with Dingo. The B&H setup is better than what you're considering. A solid tripod and head is the second most important purchase you can make after your camera.
 
That's even better still. Your previous set-up was $269, so we were basing the 501 recommendation on that.

By all means, the 503 is a great head and well worth the extra cost.

For my legs, I have the 028B Studio Pro Triman (formerly the 3246 model. Manfrotto couldn't have come up with a worst sounding new name). It's heavier than the dickens, by oh so stable.
 
You will have to break the bank for a good tripod !
Get the best you can afford now or just prepare yourself for alot of regret.


1250206030.jpg

516 head and 515 legs
 
I believe it was around 1200 USD comes with a bag to.
Importtax and duties for Suriname amounted to 1700 USD.
Damn I could have gotten a nice Sachtler..... :(
But im loving every minute of it.
Heavy but sweet and solid images.
Goodluck !
 
.....and had a smooth, sturdy and sandy shoot .

If im going to keep it in the closet I might as well have bought a sunpak tripod !
Anyways man its quite a workhorse.
 
How does that 516 balance with the HMC150?

That head has a fixed counter balance spring at ~16lbs, well over what that set-up would weigh. Does this cause any issues?

I recently purchased a new tripod and head, and went with a head that had an adjustable counter balance setting to avoid getting total overkill with the light weight 150.

If you are purchasing this tripod for video use only I would not consider a set-up without a half ball interface. Without one you have to level the tripod out by minutely adjusting the legs, an annoying and more time consuming process. If your tripod is not perfectly level your pans will come out lopsided and off. I guess this wouldn't be an issue if you plan to shoot on perfectly level floors and your tripod legs extend perfectly every time, but that tends not to be the case.

At your price level, I would take a look at these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...2K_501HDV_351MVB2K_1_Stage_Tripod_System.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...V_547BK_501HDV_547BK_Video_Tripod_System.html

Both these legs are likely heavy enough to provide a sturdy base. Both set-ups are offered with the 503 head as well, a better option, but with greater expense as well.

Tripods are well worth the investment, and I would lean towards getting the best you can afford. I just recently got a Sachtler set-up with the "speed lock" legs, and it is a lot of money, but I'm confident the investment will be worth while as I want to be able to ensure good quality footage to my clients. The high performance of a nice head really is noticeable.
 
just a bit heavy not to heavy but No pan and drag issues what so ever. You can adjust the amount of drag on the 516 head which is a thing of beauty. Dont know about the others .
 
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I don't have any experience with any other tripods, but I just got the libec ls-38a and have zero regrets. Once I spent the money I was a little upset, but as soon as it came in the mail I forgot all about that.:D
 
Everts said:
You will have to break the bank for a good tripod !
Get the best you can afford now or just prepare yourself for alot of regret.
Click to expand...

I can totally agree with that statement. Even though I thought I was spending alot when I bought this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ford_PROVISTA7518B_Pro_Vista_Tripod_with.html

I heard good reviews about it and was told it did the job. But:

It stutters every time I try and pan it, it barely holds my camera safely on the head, is made of this pretty cheap aluminum crap, and it even has has this sticky resin around the head that gets on your hands every time I use it. The only thing it does do well is tilt, but is that worth 200 bucks? Don't think so.... I wish I could send it back is all I gotta say..
 
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