Just back from 2 weeks in China shooting. Since I got a load of stuf to bring along for the bride I decided to buy some tripods on location (Got more overweight then usual).
Bought me Benro and Sirui
Both brands (I think) jumped out of the copy business moving into better quality and seems to be on par with my Manfrotto.
And ...well for the prices it was fun to find out how low you can go
So I give you a totally non-scientific research, done in Nanjing and Shanghai, I expect pricing in the whole of China should be similar. They can be found in 'photography' mall's with lots of photography shops. Most mainly carry main brands like Nikon, Canon, Manfrotto.
Since I tried to be sure to buy an 'original' I went to the manufacturer registered/recommended dealer.
Here some pricing info for those who want to know:
General rule of thumb for prices in the stores is
-10% manufacturer registered store
-20% other store.
Buying guide
Check the website for the cities where they sell the products
Know which model you want to buy
3 or 4 section is the same price. But sometimes they say the 4 is better then the 3 with a different head and quality....which after checking is fully crap they just try to up the profit.
Saleswomen were always more honest offering a low price straight away.
Also check on the website the content of what you buy. It doesn't hurt to doublecheck is most likely you never return to the shop ever.
Aluminium:
- Advertised price 1000 RMB
- Dealer registered store 900 RMB
- non-Dealer registered store 800 RMB
