Thread: Digital Camera Stuff

Hi Res textures are always welcome! I use a Manfrotto tripod and I love it. Cost about £100, but well worth the money. I'm sure you should be able to pick up second hand tripods on ebay. High on your list, if you plan to do landscape photography is a circular polarising filter....yeah, the hobby is a money sink!

What Camera did you get?

I bought the Sony A55 - I have some Minolta lenses and it seemed the current new kid on the block.

My last camera was a minolta 7000i which I loved. The a55 is taking a little bit to get used to, I'm a little disappointed by the plastic body.

Still, its got great features and low light sensitivity which I want for museum shots where you can't use the flash. I'm mostly griping over small potatoes.


I'm beating the bushes for a good tripod

S

I have gone through loads of tripods and I too have settled on a Manfrotto. The one I have is super heavy and not portable at all but it took me a while to find one stable enough rather than the fashion for portability. I got mine 2nd hand but its built like a tank so I didn't see any value to having it new. Benbo is supposed to be another brand highly recommended too.

What do you think Redrobes. The cheap stable alternative is to buy a video tripod. They are mucking huge but they should be stable. I can buy a pair of manfrottos for a decent price. I'm thinking something really huge and maybe a new head.

Ok well I am no expert - I have merely used quite a few so I know of some pitfalls. My Manfrotto came with a fairly substantial head on it and what I like about it is that its mostly cast aluminum and not flexible in any way. It has one of those quick release plates on it and a plate lock so it wont accidentally quick release with a camera on it like over some rocky crevasse... The head has a low friction pan and tilt which I find useful cos I use it with a telescope so I can track things which move slow and it doesn't jerk or that I have to release the grip move and tighten again. Another thing I like is the extendable leg locks which are like taps instead of the clips. These are like pincers with a screw thread which tighten up. With those you can always get just the right amount of grip on the extensions to ensure they don't move. With the clip types, if they wear then they slip and with 6 of them one invariably does before the others and makes the whole thing useless. The legs are aluminum and most of the parts are cast and thick. Its no lightweight job but when all unfolded its still almost rock solid. Most tripods I know are extruded aluminum which flexes slightly and the heads are plastic. Lighter for sure but the smallest wobble and its no good to me. So that's all I can say about my tripod. Its not a super adjustable deal or one that can get into all these crazy positions. No, its just very good for setting up on a road side or some fairly flat ground and does that single job well. The two things I don't like about it are that the pan/tilt arm + handle is plastic and does flex. With a heavy load on it you pan past where you want to look and then the arm spring flexes back a little. I guess they didn't expect people to mount heavy stuff on the top. The second thing is nothing to do with their design. Its that the head plate has the usual 1/4" UNC thread bolt on it for attaching to a camera or tripod but I don't think this is substantial enough. Maybe I should get the bigger video camera mount and standardize on that instead and get some adapters for the smaller stuff. The weakest part of the system is the flex around that screw thread and the mounting plate.

So I went for a tripod I really like rather than one that was really light or really cheap.

Its the manfrotto 055PROB - I really like the way the central column becomes an arm.