I don't want to count how many I have, because admitting you have a problem is the first step in fixing a problem. Or in the words of Mark Twain, "When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
I made the mistake early on of buying cheap tripods only to replace them far too often. Went and bought a big Gitzo 3 series for lugging around close to home and a 1 series for travel and they're going strong many years later!
BrandonSi wrote:
I'm actually not getting a ton of use out of that Cube, thinking of putting it on the B&S forum. I love it to death, the gears are awesome, it's just big and heavy.
At the risk of being terribly self-serving, I did end up posting this guy in the B&S forum if anyone is interested in a like new Cube.
Just one, a Sirui w-2204 I am perfectly happy with (as far as built, weight, stifness, ergonomics are concerned).
What I've learned from owning previous tripods : don't buy cheap ones and, if you are doing mountain hiking, don't go too far with travel-friendly tripods or these will be useless in this context (too much unstability).
sjms wrote:
i hike/travel with my "travel" legset. its relative to what you use. less stabile its not except to my standard one.
Off course it does depend on what you use. However, I have mainly a light kit (A7 + light wide-angle or standard zoom most of the time) and once you're on the heights/exposed slope, even such light kit will start to become a little shaky whenever there's a moderate wind. In my case it was after sunrise and the lighting conditions didn't help as well.
That's just my experience, yours may be different...
I have one old garage sale Vivitar Professional Model 1200 aluminum tripod that I don't particularly like. It is not their current VPT-1200 model. It is not the most stable thing, but it is not too horrible. I have had it a long time, probably over 15 years. I just replaced the stock head with Leofoto G2 geared tilt head. That helps making adjustments, but I don't like dealing with the mounting plate.
nicephore wrote:
Off course it does depend on what you use. However, I have mainly a light kit (A7 + light wide-angle or standard zoom most of the time) and once you're on the heights/exposed slope, even such light kit will start to become a little shaky whenever there's a moderate wind. In my case it was after sunrise and the lighting conditions didn't help as well.
That's just my experience, yours may be different...
i generally try to hand hold and shoot high ISO. sometimes you just can't.
my kits vary but usually range from 14mm through 280mm
the travel legset is a TQC-14 w/BH30 head. quite rigid under most conditions. probably not as light as yours. but about the lowest level of compromise out there. It is closer to matching the hardware you are using. More of an integrated tool than accessory.
I now have four, much more than I need but you know how it goes.
The lightest - and less used - is a tiny Sirui T-1204X. Apart from that, I have two other Sirui tripods, the smallish R-2214X and the giant R-5214XL which is heavy but amazing. Latest in the family is an iFootage Gazelle Fastbowl TC7. All tripods apart from the first one are equipped with a leveling base.
galenapass wrote:
I don't want to count how many I have, because admitting you have a problem is the first step in fixing a problem. Or in the words of Mark Twain, "When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading."
Great quote, but the author was Henny Youngman - a comedian.
I currently have three: I have a Benro CF tripod that I use the most, a Slik AMT (heavy) that I have a swing out boom mounted to for table top shots, and a Peak Design aluminum that sits in a drawer because I hate the head on it and of all the tripods I've owned, it's the least stable.
It is the best compromises I could make for a single tripod, not crazy heavy, yet tall, doesn’t need to hold more than mirrorless gear, and can achieve precise level with enhanced panorama making capability.
