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Foxus Offline • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #1 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Hello Everyone, I'm in the market to purchase a budget tripod. I've been looking at the Dolica GX650B204 and the Benro A150EXU . Does anyone have any feedback on either tripod or know which would be better? Or should I look at a different tripod in this price range? I will be mounting a Canon 30D with a Tamron 17-50 & Canon 50 for now. I plan on getting a Canon 24-105 in the future as well. Thanks in advance! Jun 26, 2012 at 06:50 AM

Wobble Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #2 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Benro max load is only 4.4 lbs. Start saving your money and buy a decent tripod to start with, instead of spending 4x the $$ and constantly upgrading. Dollar bill savings program: you are not allowed to spend any $1.00 bills or any change. They go in the jar. That $1.29 bottle of water will cost you $5.00. Your choice, buy the bottled water or drink tap water. The jar will not fill up, but your bank account will... FEISOL Tripod and Ball Head for $499 Jul 20, 2012 at 04:11 AM

lukeb Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #3 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro I agree with Wobble. How much have you spent on the gear you will have on the Tripod? Next question, how much can you afford to lose? Save up and get a GOOD tripod. I'm partial to RRS and also have Benro Travel Angel's. Jul 20, 2012 at 04:44 AM

rkgatteleport Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #4 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Look for used gear - you can sometimes get amazing deals - for example, I picked up a beat up looking but functional Gitzo studex tripod with one of their heads for $20 at the goodwill a week or so ago... Best, rkg (Richard George) Jul 20, 2012 at 03:51 PM

runamuck Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #5 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Somebody with a lot more brains than I once said "Each generation must discover its own truth." Wwhat that means is that no matter what the elders say, they go and ignore them. Sometimes it just costs money. Sometimes it costs lives, as in drunken car wrecks. You were given some sound advice from previous posters. The Benro might be a decent tripod for backpacking over mountains, where weight, not rigidity rules. The 4 pound rating seems realistic. But if 4 pounds is the llimit, what's the working load where it won't move? The Dolica? I'm still having trouble with "The upgraded tripod legs are 4-sided round tubes with extra firm legs snap locks give it extra weight capacity and torsional rigidity compared circular leg tripod. A 17 pound rating? Under what conditions? I got lucky several years ago and bought a pair of Ddynatran tripods for 50 bucks each on ebay. Ballhead included. I checked around, and several people said they were good and solid. So I bought. Yes, they are solid and strong. They also weigh 8 pounds. Each I'm now 65, and carrying an 8 pound tripod around is not going to happen. I recently bought a Feisol CT 3372 and it's the only one I use anymore. Check out http://reallybigcameras.com/Feisol/Tripods It's a good source. I would suggest a CT-3342 or 3442. Yes, it costs more and doesn't include a ballhead. CHeck out Amazon for their 30 Day return policy, too. Jul 20, 2012 at 05:16 PM

dcains Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #6 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Wobble wrote: Benro max load is only 4.4 lbs. Start saving your money and buy a decent tripod to start with, instead of spending 4x the $$ and constantly upgrading. Dollar bill savings program: you are not allowed to spend any $1.00 bills or any change. They go in the jar. That $1.29 bottle of water will cost you $5.00. Your choice, buy the bottled water or drink tap water. The jar will not fill up, but your bank account will... FEISOL Tripod and Ball Head for $499 A $100 tripod will end becoming the most overpriced gear you'll ever purchase. Why? Because its actual value will in fact be zero, once you discover it's not going to provide a stable platform, and/or that it will fail prematurely. For use with a small DSLR and medium-length lenses, it's really tough to spend less than ~$500, but that $500 tripod/ballhead will provide a stable platform, and will likely last a good, long time (and hold some resale value if/when you upgrade). FWIW, I'll second the recommendation to look at the Feisol tripods, but not their ballheads. Better quality and value can be had in the PhotoClam ballheads, and you'll want to speak with Kerry at www.reallybigcameras.com for a package you can afford. Jul 20, 2012 at 07:47 PM

Brit-007 Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #7 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Nothing wrong with the Manfrotto tripod and basic head. I have been using mine for years with an RB67 outfit. Very sturdy. It is going to cost $200 but at least cheaper than $500. Jul 20, 2012 at 08:00 PM

dcains Online • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #8 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Foxus wrote: Hello Everyone, I'm in the market to purchase a budget tripod. I've been looking at the Dolica GX650B204 and the Benro A150EXU . Does anyone have any feedback on either tripod or know which would be better? Or should I look at a different tripod in this price range? I will be mounting a Canon 30D with a Tamron 17-50 & Canon 50 for now. I plan on getting a Canon 24-105 in the future as well. Thanks in advance! I can recall one of my very first posts here on FM, around 8 years ago, when I asked the same questions as you. I had recently picked up a used 10D and 28-105, while saving for a 24-105L and 70-200/4L. Well, I ignored the sage advice offered here, and bought a Sunpak tripod/ballhead for $85. It was miserably inadequate, so I quickly "upgraded" to a Slik tripod/ballhead for ~$300. It also was basically useless, as stability was terrible for long exposures, and it soon began to fall apart as well. Finally, I began to smarten up a bit, and found a used Gitzo G1228 tripod and G1277M ballhead on eBay for just under $400 shipped. What a difference I discovered, and that setup would still be quite usable today. Too bad It basically cost me double (effectively $800), but that's the price of my lesson. I have since upgraded a few times. and diversified into using several tripods, depending on gear and conditions, but when I sold that first Gitzo after using it for 2 years, I easily recovered my $400 investment. It's easy for us to spend someone else's money (yours), but trust me when I say its much cheaper to buy the right thing the first time around. Jul 20, 2012 at 08:13 PM

Foxus Offline • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #9 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Thanks everyone for the feedback. I've already purchased a tripod. I ended up getting the Dolica ZX600B103, which is an upgraded tripod from the one I originally asked about. It was on sale and couldn't pass on it. I haven't been able to test it out yet but it does look well built. I really haven't been around tripods to compare it to anything. However, I am now looking into the Feisol tripods. I think I may be having a little buyer's remorse. Good thing I can return the Dolica if I decide to just save more money and get something of better quality. One of the things that makes it difficult for me to justify spending a lot more on a tripod right now is that I'm getting it just to have one for when the opportunity arises. Regardless, I understand & agree with all of your points. Jul 21, 2012 at 07:48 AM

jamesf99 Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #10 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Foxus wrote: Thanks everyone for the feedback. I've already purchased a tripod. I ended up getting the Dolica ZX600B103, which is an upgraded tripod from the one I originally asked about. It was on sale and couldn't pass on it. I haven't been able to test it out yet but it does look well built. I really haven't been around tripods to compare it to anything. However, I am now looking into the Feisol tripods. I think I may be having a little buyer's remorse. Good thing I can return the Dolica if I decide to just save more money and get something of better quality. One of the things that makes it difficult for me to justify spending a lot more on a tripod right now is that I'm getting it just to have one for when the opportunity arises. Regardless, I understand & agree with all of your points. A classic mistake, and like all beginners, even after being told by many not to do so, they still buy cheap tripods. Oh well, you can lead a horse to water.... The problem is that when you need a tripod, you'll want a decent one. I can't speak to the exact model you purchased, but from what I've seen, the Dolica tripods are best left on the shelf..... In the store.... or on the metaphorical shelf of the website... I've had many tripods and I'm not saying you should buy a Gitzo but IMO you would have been much better off buying a Bogen/Manfrotto, perhaps for a little more weight/dollars, but easy to sell if you want to because they're good products. Jul 23, 2012 at 12:44 AM

EB-1 Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #11 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro A relatively inexpensive aluminum Manfotto will serve well. I still have a ~25-year old 3021 that was even left outside for months and it still worked fine. They were fairly indestructable. The 3001 was fine for lighter loads. EBH Jul 23, 2012 at 01:33 AM

runamuck Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #12 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro EB-1 wrote: A relatively inexpensive aluminum Manfotto will serve well. I still have a ~25-year old 3021 that was even left outside for months and it still worked fine. They were fairly indestructable. The 3001 was fine for lighter loads. EBH By the time mine gets that old I will be pushing up daisies! Jul 23, 2012 at 04:00 AM

widget_13 Offline • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #13 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Worth a read http://www.bythom.com/support.htm Jul 28, 2012 at 04:30 AM

boingyman Offline • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #14 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro $100 is pushing it. I would say you could get a decent tripod/head combo for $200-$250, especially if you go used and don't plan on getting any bigger lenses... Jul 31, 2012 at 10:38 PM

ontime Offline • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #15 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro No offense, but it's really frustrating when people worship that Thom Hogan article and its guidance as dogma. It's right for some people, but for most people, ie, people with a realistic budget, it's just absurd. That also goes for the all-so-common practice on photography forums where people must offer suggestions that quadruple or more the OP's originally stated budget. Be realistic. The person posted their budget. OK, yeah, $100 tripods aren't great. But suggesting a $500 tripod is less than constructive, especially when you can find a decent tripod for $200-300. The OP stated their gear and imminent lens purchase outright; they're not using some 400mm f/2.8 or anything like that. They're just using walkaround lenses. Thom wrote that article in what, 2003? Things have changed. Engineering and manufacturing has changed. Things have gotten cheaper. I have a very solid $150 Benro M8 Magnesium-Carbon tripod and a (beastly) Manfrotto 055XPROB. Both more than meet my needs - one is the heavy one that doesn't travel far, the other goes up with me up to the top of (small) mountains and on road trips. As someone with similar gear, at least in terms of weight, to the OP, both of these tripods are satisfactory. Do you tell an inexperienced photographer to buy a 7D if they're thinking of buying a T4i? What is different about asking someone to spend 50-75% of their photography budget on a set of $500-700 legs? What kind of value can they really get out of $700 legs at this point in their photographic life? Lastly, if I followed the chorus of "save up, buy better" when looking for tripod recommendations, I probably still would not have a tripod because I'd still be saving. Using a tripod takes skill, and learning the techniques the kind of shots you take with tripods takes time. Aug 02, 2012 at 03:07 AM

runamuck Offline • • • • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #16 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro +1 My 50 dollar Dynatrans are still going strong, though at my age (66) they don't travel far. They are sturdy, strong, solid and unmoving. I finally broke down and bought a Feisol 3372 when the arthritis in my back started up big time. Aug 03, 2012 at 03:15 AM

sandycrane Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #17 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro ontime is ontarget with his remarks. Aug 03, 2012 at 01:09 PM

Lasse Eriksson Offline • • • • Upload & Sell: Off p.1 #18 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro ontime wrote: No offense, but it's really frustrating when people worship that Thom Hogan article and its guidance as dogma. It's right for some people, but for most people, ie, people with a realistic budget, it's just absurd. That also goes for the all-so-common practice on photography forums where people must offer suggestions that quadruple or more the OP's originally stated budget. Be realistic. The person posted their budget. OK, yeah, $100 tripods aren't great. But suggesting a $500 tripod is less than constructive, especially when you can find a decent tripod for $200-300. The OP stated their gear and imminent lens purchase outright; they're not using some 400mm f/2.8 or anything like that. They're just using walkaround lenses. Thom wrote that article in what, 2003? Things have changed. Engineering and manufacturing has changed. Things have gotten cheaper. I have a very solid $150 Benro M8 Magnesium-Carbon tripod and a (beastly) Manfrotto 055XPROB. Both more than meet my needs - one is the heavy one that doesn't travel far, the other goes up with me up to the top of (small) mountains and on road trips. As someone with similar gear, at least in terms of weight, to the OP, both of these tripods are satisfactory. Do you tell an inexperienced photographer to buy a 7D if they're thinking of buying a T4i? What is different about asking someone to spend 50-75% of their photography budget on a set of $500-700 legs? What kind of value can they really get out of $700 legs at this point in their photographic life? Lastly, if I followed the chorus of "save up, buy better" when looking for tripod recommendations, I probably still would not have a tripod because I'd still be saving. Using a tripod takes skill, and learning the techniques the kind of shots you take with tripods takes time. No offense but it's even more strange and frustrating to do what you did Your recomendations and suggestions came a couple of weeks after the O.P. already had told us what tripod he bought What's the point with that ? Aug 03, 2012 at 01:47 PM

sandycrane Offline • • Upload & Sell: On p.1 #19 · Under $100 Tripod Suggestion - Dolica / Benro Frustrating for who? This is a general forum and discussions often go beyond the initial queries. I'm sure many great photos have been taken with the aid of less than great tripods. Aug 04, 2012 at 09:11 PM

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