Sub-$100 lightweight ballhead tripod suggestions

Hi,

Am looking for a travel ballhead tripod that is less than a kg and
preferably 5'8" when fully extended so that it comes to my eye-level
without me stooping down. Any recommendations?

- Siddhartha

 

I asked the same question a couple of weeks ago, and the recommendation
was for the Velbon 343E. Mine is still in the tender loving arms of UPS,
so I can't give a first-hand report on its quality. It's a little bit on
the short side (5' 3"), but otherwise meets your specs.

-dms

 

Thanks Daniel. Here's a comparison summary that I prepared:
http://www.geocities.com/losttoy2000/tripod-compare.html

Hard to decide between the four. What is "Independant Leg Spread"?

- Siddhartha

 

I noticed some tripods by Amvona on ebay - their features look pretty
good, prices are low, but shipping is a bit high. Haven't bought one,
so can't comment on the quality.

I can recommend Bogen/Manfrotto, though they may be a bit higher than
your price range. B&H Photo (http://bhphoto.com) has a good selection.


Peace,
chasfs
http://chasfs.com

 

According to Siddhartha Jain <>:

[ ... ]

Without researching it, I would think that it is the ability to
move each leg to a different angle to help with setups on uneven and/or
crowded surfaces. Some tripods have links going from the low point on
the outer section of each leg to a sliding collar on the center post,
adding rigidity, and forcing all three legs to extend at the same angle.
This makes for quicker setup in normal conditions, but restricts the leg
positions for dealing with unusual surfaces.

I could imagine ones with the ability to unlink the braces, but
none of mine have that. Looking at my two full-sized tripods, the old
SLIK (from about 1968 at a guess) has screws at the bottom end of the
links, so -- with proper tools (a screwdriver and an open-end wrench)
they could be disconnected. The somewhat lighter Sequoia (perhaps ten
years old) has the links riveted at both ends, so there is no choice
there. Neither of these has a ball head, FWIW.

Ideally, a tripod would have a quick way to disconnect the links
with no hand tools required at all, so you would have the best of both
worlds -- rigidity when you needed it, and flexibility when you needed
that.

Enjoy,
DoN.

 

I intended to buy the Manfrotto 724B but at 1.4kgs it is a bit heavy.
Yep, I too looked at Amvona tripods but haven't seen any reviews.

- Siddhartha

 

That was my impression of "Independant Leg Spread" but I looked at the
Velbon 343E which isn't supposed to have this feature but its legs
aren't linked to each other.

- Siddhartha