Hi Guys, My mum is really getting into Photography and I'm thinking of getting her a Tripod for Christmas I'd prefer not to spend too much ~£40-£50 and it to be light idealily... what would you guys reccommed?
at that sum you won't get anything worthy, there are really basic tripods, cheap build, not very stable but should be sufficient as long as it's a lightweight compact camera. another option is gorilla pod, but they're pretty small
First of all, what camera will it be supporting? Also, cheap tripods isn't necessarily very steady. Better spend some more and rather get something proper. You could consider a nice monopod, though. They are often very light and compact, and pretty inexpensive, even for a decent one. The gorillapod is also an option. I own one, but rarely use it. I find it way to small to be usable. You don't always have stuff to wrap it around. It is nice to have "just in case", though. If you go with the gorillapod, don't get the largest version. That one needs a tripod-head to be usable. The mid-sized one have a few "balls" that sit above the actual legs, making it much easier to adjust.
Yeah I know it won't be something brilliant, it's just so she can mount it and get used to the different settings on the camera.. Currently she is using my Fuji S9500, but it's more than likely she will buy a DSLR in the future. A GorillaPod wouldn't be suitable as she takes mostly nature photos in the middle of knowhere!
Cheap tripods are widely considered to be worse than useless. I have a Velbon Sherpa 450R, it's the first tripod I've every bought, I got it for £65 iirc and it is adequate for my finepix s6500, it has a metal head which is removable and reversible (you can screw the head onto the bottom of the centre column for low shots). It isn't perfect by a long shot but it is useful, it doesn't wobble all over the place at the slightest touch or feel like its going to collapse when you breathe on it. Not particularly light however, must be at least a couple of Kg. It can now be had for £55 and I think this is the place I got mine from. Moriquendi
I use a Velbon Ultra Maxi f which I think I got on offer years ago for around £30 and now seems to be discontinued. The Ultra Maxi L or M seem to be around 60-80 quid. Its small when folded (40cm approx) weighs about a 1 kilo and is normally pretty stable. Although as I found out it starts to wobble a bit in high winds at the ends of piers in Scotland at night. it copes fine with a Nikon d50 and kit lens or sigma 10-20 doesn't work brilliantly with the 70-300 centre of balance drags the lens down.
Might be a bit out of budget but Manfrotto are doing deals on legs and heads i just bought some 190 legs and a 390RC2 head for £99 which i thought was a bargain and its really solid and feels really well built. They are also doing a smaller one for little cameras for around £60-70 i think and that felt really solid also.
The Velbon Ultra Maxi Range looks pretty spot on, slightly above my price range but the low weight is the factor.
I really like mine, it’s small and light enough to be stuck on my backpack all day and I never really feel it. Means I actually carry it with me so I can use it, unlike some of the heavy one's that I’d leave in the house or car. I think it has 5 extensions to the legs and if it's really windy I don't use the really thin bottom extension. It's hardy enough to survive in my suitcase through JFK airport. The only 2 downsides to mine are the Champaign colour isn't really me and I don't think you can remove the head on the f version if I want to upgrade to a more solid ball head in the future.
I'd say that Velbon or Slik are the only manufacturers in the budget game worth considering. Nothing in this price range will be brilliant, but on a light SLR or compact they'll be fine unless it's very windy. Time exposure on a light, cheap tripod are problematic also, as light winds and vibrations can easily transfer to the camera resulting in slightly soft images.
There's also the Manfrotto 718b, weight 1.3kg closed length 40.5cm holds 2.5kg, comes with backpack style carry bag. Can't say I like the plastic leg locks though, and there are mixed reviews on the web. currently around £45-50
