Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Photography in the BWCA :: I made a mistake and bought a $15 tripod.
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kanoes |
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jeroldharter |
Too bad we don't have a lot of stores around so that we could compare alternatives in person. But if you were able to compare the 117 head with the Induro legs to the initial option I bet you would be impressed by the difference. If you ever get to NYC, a visit to B&H is well worth a half day or more just to see everything. It is like a photo toy store. |
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redoleary |
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kanoes |
I want a ball mount, and the ability to reverse the center column for macros. pre-thanks. |
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redoleary |
This one may be worth a look, I've got no experience with it but it looks like it gets decent reviews. |
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kanoes |
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jeroldharter |
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kanoes |
this or this which would you choose? because my camera isn't very heavy im leaning towards the 1321 because of one less leg section, not the price difference. should be more stable, right? |
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jeroldharter |
FYI, it comes with annoying, proprietary mounting plates. So make sure that you buy at least one spare plus one for each body you plan to use. |
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kanoes |
quote jeroldharter: "Do you mean the on sale comment? I meant no offense - I meant that is how I sometimes justify going over budget. Did not mean to be snarky - sorry." text never comes across clean, this is another example. sorry I took you wrong. |
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redoleary |
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kanoes |
quote jeroldharter: "Were it me, I would get the Oben AC-1441 4-Section Aluminum Tripod with BA-111 Ball Head, the more expensive one. It weighs ~6 oz more which is not good, but it supports twice the rated weight, has a more robust ball head, and packs down 2 inches shorter so it is more packable. Plus it is on sale so you will feel like you got a bargain. look, I realize ill never be to your level as far as photography goes but some of us have different priorities. I just want something semi-quality. please talk TO me, not DOWN TO me, ok? |
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jeroldharter |
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jeroldharter |
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kanoes |
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jeroldharter |
Ben BE-117 Ball Head Review |
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kanoes |
thoughts? |
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redoleary |
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jeroldharter |
quote kanoes: "im still poking around the internet, there are so many options. My friend has one of these. It is a knockoff of the MePHOTO which is kind of a knockoff of the 3-Legged_Thing. It is remarkably well built and it is a great travel tripod for a small camera. His folds down small enough that it fits under the lid of his Lowe-Pro shoulder bag. It easily fits in carry on bags. It's weak link is the head, although it is compatible with Arca Swiss style plates and includes 2 I think. The head could be smoother and it tends to droop with heavier lenses. For example, he uses a Sony NEX-7 mirrorless camera with an 18-200 mm zoom lens. It takes some fiddling to look that down without drifting too much and it is not rock solid. But with more standard size lenses it is fine. Beware that it is not very tall without extending the center column (which is best avoided). I would definitely get this one over the Oben for a small camera. |
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jeroldharter |
quote redoleary: "You could go down this road and get THESE LEGS (which happen to be the same as one of your above choices) and add THIS HEAD and you'll have a decent rig with standard arca swiss plate (no proprietary traps) and separate knob for panning plus stay in the $150 ball park. Its always hard to imagine all the things you'll want a tripod to do until you find the thing it can't do, then its time for a new tripod but I would think this would make a nice piece of kit." That would be a bit heavier setup than the other, a bit more expensive, but with a better ball head. |
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kanoes |
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kanoes |
quote jeroldharter: "Let us know what you think of the gear." for sure I will. I'm excited to get them. |
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kanoes |
im 5'10" and the screen on my lumix articulates, I think the shorter (column not extended) height would be ok for me. because my cam only weighs a pound and a half im looking at the 108 head and some set of legs. but then, I suspect the 117 would be worth the extra 5 bucks. it can drive you crazy when you have a budget. |
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jeroldharter |
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bbrown6057 |
I own this one. It's one sturdy mother but it's heavy. Legs reverse so you can shoot under the tripod. I love it other than the weight. tripod |
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jeroldharter |
Inexpensive bullheads tend to have rough or stuttering movements rather than buttery smooth movements and they tend to drift once locked down which can be very maddening when doing macro photography. If you can't increase the budget, then consider a used tripod, maybe something like this: Used Oben If you could increase the budget to what I would consider the low end of gear you would be happy with, then: Sirui Ball Head Induro Tripod |
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kanoes |
keep in mind my lumix bridge weighs under 1.5 lbs. |
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kanoes |
I have no reference for comparison but I can say that they are all solid, quality items...especially the oben head, super smooth. I'm going to be very happy with these. Thanks again for your input. |
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jeroldharter |
3LT Brian |
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redoleary |
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mooseplums |
the legs spread out wide so I can get the camera down to about 10" I too will buy one with flip locks next time |
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jeroldharter |
Oben Tripod Review If you have a small camera like that, my friends have had good luck with MePHOTO. The head is a little rough around the edges but it works OK and is Arca Swiss compatible: MePHOTO Roadtrip |
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jeroldharter |
With my tripods with twist locks, Feisol and 3LT, I can twist more than one lock at once with gloves on and it goes much faster. |
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redoleary |
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Ausable |
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kanoes |
why would I want to choose a ballhead over a pan/tilt? why would I want to choose a pan/tilt over a ballhead? please teach me. |
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MNLindsey80 |
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jeroldharter |
But for mirrorless and DSLR cameras, a good ball head is much more ergonomic, packable, better for panoramas and stitching, quicker to use. There are also some geared pan-tilt heads which are nice but heavy. Some hybrid type heads are cubes which are based on a goniometer like the Arca Swiss cube. They are very expensive but those who own them love them. I have had a variety of heads: crappy Slik pan-tilt, crappy Bogen ball head, Arca Swiss Z1 ball head, Arca Swiss P0 ball head, Gitzo large format Pan-Tilt, Acratech Ultimate bullhead, Acratech GP-ss ball head, and have used others like the MePhoto ballhead. On the other hand, comparing a crappy ball head to a crappy pan tilt head is more difficult. The pan-tilt is probably more solid. |
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ducks |
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kanoes |
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