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08/05/2005 06:43:54 PM · #1 |
| What is the difference between a $20 tripod you can buy at walmart, and one for $400 at a photography store? |
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08/05/2005 06:45:39 PM · #2 |
Stability, the ability to hold a 7 pound lens well, and ability to do verticals. Those Walmart ones are great - I have two, but they won't hold a 70-300 mm lens vertical. Can't be done. Plus they don't pan or tilt well as they are jerky.
That said, I only have two walmart tripods. My good support is a Bogen monopod with a pistol grip head. THAT works.
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08/05/2005 06:46:17 PM · #3 |
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08/05/2005 06:56:48 PM · #4 |
That's funny riponlady.
In answering the question, the $18 tripods are crap. The clip part breaks easy, and if your camera weighs more than an ounce, forget about turning it to the side for a long exposure, as the camera will just slip. I take good care of my stuff, and I went through 2 of those cheap tripods. They are good for some low light, as long as you're not using any type of heavy lens, and they're light. I bring one hiking all the time. No sense carrying a heavy tripod up a mountain. Other than that, get a decent tripod. |
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08/05/2005 06:59:08 PM · #5 |
| Don't even need to put a heavy camera on them to break 'em. I took one on vacation once. Took it out of the box, and pulled out the first leg. And pulled out it did. All the way. My wife still had the receipt in her purse. Found the closest Walmart we could and got our $20 back. |
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08/05/2005 07:02:12 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by larryslights:
Don't even need to put a heavy camera on them to break 'em. I took one on vacation once. Took it out of the box, and pulled out the first leg. And pulled out it did. All the way. My wife still had the receipt in her purse. Found the closest Walmart we could and got our $20 back. |
So there's an argument for the WalMart tripod - if when it breaks, there is ALWAYS a WalMart nearby to return it to! :) |
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08/05/2005 07:04:20 PM · #7 |
To complete the argument, I've got two, we ABUSE them, and I've never had a piece come off, break or anything else - the slippage on verticals is for real.
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08/05/2005 07:19:32 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by Riponlady:
$380 |
Thank you for your insight. Without this wealth of knowledge we would not have know this and may have possibly had to ask Chit in his new forum thread called "Ask Chit". lol
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08/05/2005 07:21:57 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by notonline:
Originally posted by Riponlady:
$380 |
Thank you for your insight. Without this wealth of knowledge we would not have know this and may have possibly had to ask Chit in his new forum thread called "Ask Chit". lol |
Are you kidding? It's the ONLY definitive answer on this topic!
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08/05/2005 07:35:05 PM · #10 |
| I just bought a Slik SDV-30 from B&H for about $27, and so far I'm happy with it. It's very lightweight. |
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08/05/2005 07:56:03 PM · #11 |
My tripod is crap. It was $40 at Best Buy ... I got it when all I had was my dsc-p52. It's not the greatest, panning sucks and is near impossible, it's not sturdy so you can't even sneeze near it, but it gets the job done...I rarely use it and can't justify spending anymore on another one.
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08/05/2005 07:58:22 PM · #12 |
Oh...I may consider it crap, but I abuse it, and it has never broken. I've even mounted my Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8 on it (which weighs something like 2 pounds alone) and never had a problem with anything slipping whether in portrait or in landscape...although the 80-200 does have a tripod ring on it...I couldn't imagine mounting it with the camera tripod attachment...that would be a bit stupid in my opinion.
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08/05/2005 08:32:25 PM · #13 |
the wal-mart tripods DO come in handy from time to time. I lest on a long road trip to Big Bend National Park. about an our out side Del Rio, TX I realized I forgot my tripod at home. So I nabbed up one at the Wal-Mart in Del Rio. I returned it to a local wal mart when I got back home from my trip. It did the job.
James |
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08/05/2005 08:58:12 PM · #14 |
Tom, w/ your A80 i'd go with what im using for my nikon5700. its that stereoscopic mini-tripod. it was like 13$ at best buy and it's done everything i've needed it to do. granted it is short but i can always find something to put the tripod on. i can understand w/ large slr and slr-lenses you would need a larger and nicer tripod, but .... yea...
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08/05/2005 09:28:48 PM · #15 |
I bought a Vivitar in 1997 in Wal Mart in Gunnison CO on a trip for $19.99. Lightweight aluminum mostly. Its been through at least a dozen backpacks through national parks and countless other places. I don't abuse it but I don't baby it either. Still works fine. Does what it's supposed to do - hold my camera still in the position I choose. Works vertical as well as horizontal.
In my opinion, fancy tripods are like Rolex Watches. They are finely made and have lots of cache', buy they don't tell time any better than a Timex. |
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