S Dilworth
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 p.2 #9 · Need help picking a tripod. | |
Besides the snobbery and borderline rudeness of assuming that everyone will eventually end up with a top-of-the-line Gitzo after ‘mistakingly’ trying to save money on cheaper tripods, it’s also simply not true. There’s no need to spend $1000 to keep your camera still during an exposure, and that’s all many photographers will ever want to do.
Now, there are other photographers, usually those who understand engineering better than most, who will work their way up the ladder and eventually get a Gitzo (or other expensive tripod) and posh ballhead.
So I suppose the best advice is this. Do you like fine engineering for its own sake, or are you obsessed with saving weight? If your answer to either question is yes, you’re likely to eventually end up with a Gitzo. May as well get it over with now (if you can afford it).
If you’re instead pragmatically minded and not fussed about saving 500 grams, you’ll probably never see the need to spend $1000 on tripod nirvana. Not now, not tomorrow.
I used a Velbon Sherpa for a decade before I broke it by dropping it in a metro station (the one solitary piece of plastic in the whole head shattered!). I replaced it with a Gitzo, which I’m thrilled with, but I know it’s an indulgence, not a strict need. And I certainly don’t expect everyone to share my appreciation of its beauty and functionality.
Hey, some people think nothing will ever surpass the Uni-Loc Major! And that’s a good one. What’s that monstrosity used by Don McCullin, no less, at 18:29 in this fascinating video?
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I also especially enjoy these threads where the OP has $170 for a support system and we all jump in and spend $1500 for him.
