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Decent Tripod for dSLR


M Joel W

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I'm getting back into shooting smaller projects with my Panasonic S1. I'd like a tripod with a fluid head that's inexpensive and small and balances with a 3lb camera. Any recommendations? I know this site isn't tailored toward consumer equipment, but I figure people here have high standards. Which unfortunately after operating an O'Connor head even once so do I. ? But it just has to be decent.

Cheap and compact would be nice. I will also use this with a friend’s C100 and plan to travel with it between coasts. Or I could just rent but recommendations there would be nice, too. Manfrotto? Sachtler Ace?

Edited by M Joel W
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As cheap as possible, a few hundred dollars. I don't mind renting or buying used if there's nothing decent and affordable. It doesn't have to be great but I am a bit spoiled now so I'd probably rather rent something good than own something bad. 

Edit: I'm not that spoiled, though. Decent is fine.

Edited by M Joel W
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1 hour ago, M Joel W said:

As cheap as possible, a few hundred dollars. I don't mind renting or buying used if there's nothing decent and affordable. It doesn't have to be great but I am a bit spoiled now so I'd probably rather rent something good than own something bad. 

Edit: I'm not that spoiled, though. Decent is fine.

Nothing is going to feel like an OConnor 2575 head except... an OConnor. Even my Sachtler Cine30 HD is a step down (half the weight for a similar payload, though).

For a few hundred bucks, I’d consider the Benro S6 Pro with a flat base on some photo legs. At least it has the tilt lock on the operator side, unlike a Manfrotto 502. Have not tried the 504X. Never been a fan of Manfrotto. 

If you can go $500+, the Cartoni Focus 8, Miller DS-10 are decent options.

Above $1000 USD, I’d go with a used Sachtler, Vinten, Miller (or OConnor naturally). 

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Not enough money for a decent fluid head. Rent.

Save up and buy a decent one when you can; it's a lifetime purchase. These days you can get types with finely or infinitely variable spring balance which handle everything. I have a Sachtler Aktiv8 head and Flowtech tripod here on review right now - it's also sold under the Vinten brand - and I suspect it'd be all most people need.

Though frankly the Vinten Vision 3 I bought in 2001, which wasn't new then, would also be all most people need. Do it once, do it right, never think about it again.

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Thanks. I had an old Vinten I sold for next to nothing and regret selling, it was good.

This is the type of thing I plan to shoot with like a crew of three so really anything would be good enough but I think I'll just rent a Sachtler Ace for a few days or the other option is a Benro S8, which is probably what I'll go with. For what I'm working on, that is good enough. 

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4 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

I have a Sachtler Aktiv8 head

A bit off topic, but Phil do you know if the Aktiv10 will get a Touch and Go plate version?

I need to replace my Cartoni Focus F101 100mm head and I do not like side-load plates (except on beefy OConnor/Sachtler heads). Already have 100mm Miller Solo legs that I would like to keep using.

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