Tripod recommendations

[dimme]

Hi I looking for a "lightweight and sturdy" tripod. the heaviest equipment that will go on it is a D750 and a 70 to 300mm lens. I hike a lot with my dog and he has been complaining about lugging around my 30 year old gitzo reporter. I am thinking of the Zomei Carbon Z818C or the Benrro Slim with ball head. I bring to find the right balance between lightweight and sturdiness, if that is possible. I would like to spend around $150 max.
Thanks

 

[kenoh]

Your challenge is your D750 and lens are going to exceed the weight capacity of cheap tripods like the Manfrotto BeFree. I have had a couple of tripods in the £100-200 bracket and the best one I found of those I used, was the MeFoto Roadtrip. Rated up to 8kg payload if memory serves me well.

I think there are a number of replicas of this design so maybe you can find an alternate for a better price but it is easy to fold up, comes with a bag to carry it and is light enough yet sturdy.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hi I looking for a "lightweight and sturdy" tripod. the heaviest equipment that will go on it is a D750 and a 70 to 300mm lens. I hike a lot with my dog and he has been complaining about lugging around my 30 year old gitzo reporter. I am thinking of the Zomei Carbon Z818C or the Benrro Slim with ball head. I bring to find the right balance between lightweight and sturdiness, if that is possible. I would like to spend around $150 max.
Thanks

I have a Gitzo which is amazing and sadly way out of your price range. You can buy knock offs on Amazon, but it's your camera not mine.

My advice with tripods is spend a little more and buy it once. A cheaper aluminium option will stay in the car more than it should because its heavy. Saving a couple of hundred just to see your camera take a tumble is not the way to go.

 

[oblomow]

I recently bought a Sirui ballhead. Really pleased with it. I think I will replace my tripod for a Sirui as well. Check it out: https://shop.sirui.co.uk/collections/tripods/series_txl

 

[Apple fanboy]

I recently bought a Sirui ballhead. Really pleased with it. I think I will replace my tripod for a Sirui as well. Check it out: https://shop.sirui.co.uk/collections/tripods/series_txl

Having had twist locks and levers , I'd never go back to levers. So much easier.

 

[The Bad Guy]

Do not skimp on your tripod.

As expensive as I thought my tripod was, I wish I spent twice as much as I did. :/

 

[Mark0]

Do not skimp on your tripod.

As expensive as I thought my tripod was, I wish I spent twice as much as I did. :/

Same here - although I can’t complain as I’ve used my Manfrotto for nearly 13 years and thats one of the legs just starting to fail (it won’t auto lock). Most of the leg locks have the paint flaking off due to excessive salt water exposure over the years. The legs scratch and scrape a wee bit due to trapped sand but I try and clean them and wipe down with WD40. Considering the the use it’s had, I can’t complain. I’d probably get another, but go carbon the next time.

 

[dimme]

Thanks for the comments, my Gitzo still works very well and not looking to replace it but to complement it with a smaller version for hiking. I have a small velbon I use sometimes for hiking which works great but it's only 12" high so I hoping to find something that a little taller. I don't expect it to work as well as the Gitzo fully extended. In the age of Amazon you can't go to a store and look at different options because those stores have all closed. So I stuck looking here for answers.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thanks for the comments, my Gitzo still works very well and not looking to replace it but to complement it with a smaller version for hiking. I have a small velbon I use sometimes for hiking which works great but it's only 12" high so I hoping to find something that a little taller. I don't expect it to work as well as the Gitzo fully extended. In the age of Amazon you can't go to a store and look at different options because those stores have all closed. So I stuck looking here for answers.

I have the Gitzo traveller series 2. Pretty small and light for hiking.

 

[Plett]

I will throw this out. I used the be-free for backpacking a couple summers ago. At the time I was using a D750 and on a particularly long trip chose only a Nikkor 24-70 (not sure the weight difference between that and the lens you have) which is a cock of glass to lug around to begin with. I only use the tripod for galactic core shots, which were popular at the time. The tripod was light, and it held that combo just fine, had over an 8# load limit and I was in the 6plus range as I recall. Worked great for night work until one wanted to raise the tripod, the extensions are just not sturdy enough to still the camera for more than a few seconds, ymmv. I have since given the tripod to a friend who is still using it, he is using a D800 and Nikkor 12-24 without issue.

For the price I think it is as good as it gets as long as you lower your expectations from your car travel rig, if that makes sense.

 

[0970373]

Your challenge is your D750 and lens are going to exceed the weight capacity of cheap tripods like the Manfrotto BeFree. I have had a couple of tripods in the £100-200 bracket and the best one I found of those I used, was the MeFoto Roadtrip. Rated up to 8kg payload if memory serves me well.

I think there are a number of replicas of this design so maybe you can find an alternate for a better price but it is easy to fold up, comes with a bag to carry it and is light enough yet sturdy.

I was thinking about picking up the MeFoto Roadtrip. I like the monopod feature - it would have come in handy on a couple of hikes I had in Glencoe with a proper spike attached. haha. 17lb max payload is plenty for my m43. Debating on if the .5lb difference is worth the $100 for carbon fiber. I've never had a carbon fiber tripod so wondering if it lives up to the hype?

@dimme - this guide for travel tripods was updated for 2018 and I found it useful. If you can spare an additional $50-100 in your budget, I think it would be worth it. https://shotkit.com/best-travel-tripods/

 

[kenoh]

I was thinking about picking up the MeFoto Roadtrip. I like the monopod feature - it would have come in handy on a couple of hikes I had in Glencoe with a proper spike attached. haha. 17lb max payload is plenty for my m43. Debating on if the .5lb difference is worth the $100 for carbon fiber. I've never had a carbon fiber tripod so wondering if it lives up to the hype?

@dimme - this guide for travel tripods was updated for 2018 and I found it useful. If you can spare an additional $50-100 in your budget, I think it would be worth it. https://shotkit.com/best-travel-tripods/

The mono pod isn't something that is easily converted. You have to unscrew the leg, then unscrew the bottom of the centre column, then remove it and join it to the leg... Bit of a faff but OK nonetheless.

It comes supplied with the spikes btw...

A decent ball head on it too actually.

 

[dimme]

Thanks everyone for the input. After weighing the options I picked up a older Gitzo on ebay. It is smaller that my current one so it will be easier to carry. No as small and light as I originally wanted, but I will not be worrying about the camera falling over.
Thanks again