Tripod advice

Good evening photographers. I am in the market for a tripod. My budget is around £100 all in (legs and head). I would like to be able to carry it around without it killing me, and ideally be able to strap it to my backpack and cycle with it. It needs to support a D300 with grip, half a kilo of lens and a flash.

I have no idea what kind of head should be used for which application or which would suit me best. It'll be for a range of work but particularly for portraits, so I want to be able to go from landscape to portrait positions quickly and easily. I'm fine with buying second hand so it doesn't have to be the very latest model. Thanks in advance!

This is bargainous - mate has one. very good for the money

http://www.redsnapperuk.com/tripod-283+RSH-12ballhead.html

EDIT: It's gone up! Didn't spot that, this was £75 not so long ago

also

Manfrotto 190 http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk/ProductDetails~productID~6352.html

Slik Pro 400DX http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk/ProductDetails~productID~5867~categoryid~149.html

Slik Pro 700 http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk/ProductDetails~productID~4122~categoryid~149.html

The very budget Slik Pro is a good choice for a first tripod instead of rushing into something more expensive.
It's solid, light and sturdy.

More than capable of supporting a D300 plus 1/2 kilo of flash and lens.
Goes from portrait to landscape in mere seconds.
Very easy to carry around with you, you could strap it to your bag if you like but no need really.
Available individually or as a pair.

Not very handy with a wide open 80-200mm lens at 1/30 sec, is it?

The very budget Slik Pro is a good choice for a first tripod instead of rushing into something more expensive.
It's solid, light and sturdy.

+1

The SLIK Pro 700DX has gone up since I last had a look at it, but for the price, its the best tripod I can think of. At £119.99 its just a bit above your budget though.

In this case, I'd check out a second hand tripod. You can get a Gitzo Studex (like mine) secondhand, or even a BenBo MkI for less than £100, from secondhand photographic dealers. A BenBo requires some learning :) but I can't think of a tripod I've enjoyed more.

Not very handy with a wide open 80-200mm lens at 1/30 sec, is it?

But what sort of non light demands 1/30s wide open WITH flash?

Sorry i just don't get people who want to put modern DSLRs with amazing iso performance and image stabilisation and all that on tripods.

I only really shoot primes and with a little practice i'm now able to hand hold down to a shutter speed about half my focal length and get pin sharp results. And thats without IS.

Wear heavily strapped jersey briefs, one size up.

But what sort of non light demands 1/30s wide open WITH flash?

Sorry i just don't get people who want to put modern DSLRs with amazing iso performance and image stabilisation and all that on tripods.

it's called dragging the shutter and it's done for a VERY good reason.

I only really shoot primes and with a little practice i'm now able to hand hold down to a shutter speed about half my focal length and get pin sharp results. And thats without IS.

unlikely!

I've had or have most of the tripods above and none are suitable to carry around a lot unless you have an assistant - the're either too heavy or too flexy. For what you want you'll need a carbon tripod. to stay within budget you could try to get a Velbon - the sherpa CF range retails at about £200 but I've seen second hand legs for £75ish.

But what sort of non light demands 1/30s wide open WITH flash?

Sorry i just don't get people who want to put modern DSLRs with amazing iso performance and image stabilisation and all that on tripods.

I only really shoot primes and with a little practice i'm now able to hand hold down to a shutter speed about half my focal length and get pin sharp results. And thats without IS.

If I wanted sharp pictures with flat depth of field, I'd get a compact.
It's just not my style.
Apart from that, it depends what I need and what lens I'm using. And I tend to avoid flash, if it's not needed.

Fred's right. Though I found the BenBo Mk1 easy to carry all day, as a percentage of my weight, it was a very small fraction. Depending on one's size, a tripod should be one that suits that person. I'd forgotten that I'm not a "medium". A Gitzo Studex is positively NOT recommended for the svelte user.

@fred, my twin shoots lots more than me, and can handhold to really low speeds. Lower than I can anyway. I'm pretty sure he was okay at 1/15th for a 50mm lens on 35mm SLR.

Yes, second hand Sherpa would do. Slik Pro is kinda copy of it.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2019/1573717696_fb6ae018c0.jpg

Some of us don't like flash light! I've not even bothered buying one yet for my 5D.

What primes are you using, because if I use my prime wide open the depth of field is paper thin, pretty difficult to nail your focus that precisely handheld.

But what sort of non light demands 1/30s wide open WITH flash?

Sorry i just don't get people who want to put modern DSLRs with amazing iso performance and image stabilisation and all that on tripods.

I only really shoot primes and with a little practice i'm now able to hand hold down to a shutter speed about half my focal length and get pin sharp results. And thats without IS.

A good start - cheers, all. Can anyone give me their take on the relative merits of ball heads vs pan/tilt?

ball head is great for quickness, but pan tilt is better for small adjustments and preciseness?

I've got a manfrotto that i love, but it's pretty fucken heavy so doesn't get used as much as it should. no way i'd bring that out for a walk. Could ride with it though if strapped to a proper bag, but i'd rather not

Easy to lose your axis on a ballhead, but the pan-and-tilt lets you move through one or two axes, keeping the third stable.
For action, a pan-and-tilt beats the ballhead.

I made the flash comment because the op said he was using flash.
I shoulda probably resisted posting anything coz im sure there's people as passionate about using tripods as i am about not.
To each their own.

I think I'm going to get this with a pan/tilt head. Bit more than £100 but I really like the idea of being able to remove the central column, and it's considerably lighter than the Slik one which otherwise sounds good for the money. Hand-holding is great and it has a place. That place is good light/short exposures.

If you haven't bought that other one Timmy2wheels, here's a classic Manfrotto for less than £100. Comes with a pan+tilt head.

http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON10D000049&Cat_Code=21&Subcat_Code=139&prod_name=Manfrotto%20190XDB%20&%20391%20RC2%20Head

Sorry i just don't get people who want to put modern DSLRs with amazing iso performance and image stabilisation and all that on tripods.

95% of what i shoot on my dslr is on a tripod tethered to a laptop. not every 'photographer' is going to use cameras in the same way as you do.

95% of what i shoot on my dslr is on a tripod tethered to a laptop. not every 'photographer' is going to use cameras in the same way as you do.

I don't think we use the same meaning of the term photographer.

I also suspect, that it's not Slik Pro you are using.

I shoot handheld or with a tripod (but without flash) with a wide open old fast prime lens, often film, inferior medium format and large format polaroid for my "flickr effect" when the subject isn't important - it's more about "wow, look at the swirly bokeh".
I step down and use zoom, flash heads and DSLR when I shoot porn. It's more efficient.