vpk24_astro wrote:
I just think it's unfair to punish brick and mortar stores for having fixed costs that online retailers don't. If you're planning on buying online, just don't go into the store is my policy.

As far as tripods go, I'm just suggesting that he buys a cheap tripod first before plunking a lot of money on something expensive. A < 100 dollar tripod is never a total write off should he choose to buy something more expensive - worst comes to worst it sits in the back of his closet in case something happens to the good one. Besides he may never get into photography enough to require a really nice tripod - only time will tell.

The only drawback to the RC-1 is it doesn't work really well out of line of sight. I think both are good accessories with slightly different uses.

Rereading my post, it sounded a bit aggresive, my apology for that.

About going to a brick and mortar, I really don't see what the big deal is. Even if I don't buy anything there, they don't lose anything. Actually, quite a few times I went to a local retailer just to check on a lens or a bag and I ended up buying something else like a Lumiquest softbox or the 488RC2 tripod head. They may not have sold the item that I wanted but they still got my money.

Basically, as long as someone's willing to step into their store, there's always a chance that he or she might buy something and they're happy with that.

What you're saying is a bit like saying don't go to adorama/B&H/etc. website to check price if you're not gonna buy anything, you're wasting their bandwidth.