I recently decided to buy a tripod. And thus came another big dilemma...How to choose one perfect for amateur photography. I found that some of the good tripod brands were Benro, Slik, Photron, and the cheapest being Simpex.
I was ready to properly invest in an amateur photography thing so I went for a Benro T880EX. They have four variants of beginner tripods ranging from 1500 upto 2000 INR. (All prices mentioned hereafter are in INR)
(Comparison of Benro T600EX, T660EX, T800EX, T880EX tripods)
Here is how I found out which tripod to buy
My research tells me there are 4 kinds of pods and 2 kinds of heads.
Heads:
1) The Pan-head
The pan-head will have 3 kinds of adjustments - Horizontal, Vertical and 90 degree rotation for portrait-landscape.
Pros: This is most helpful when you take more videos rather than photos. A smooth horizontal or vertical panning action can be achieved. The adjustment is stable even if one of the knobs is loose(this may not be guaranteed while using heavy cameras).
Cons: Takes a bit of patience to adjust for those precision shots. Experienced photographers switch to ball head to save this time and never come back to pan head
2) The ball-head
The ball-head means your camera is basically fixed to a ball that can rotate in any direction. Adjust the direction and fix the ball with a single lever.
Pros: This is most helpful when you take more photos rather than videos. It takes very less time to adjust and you will be done in a few seconds. If you can pan with a stable hand then there will be no jerks.
Cons: Once the ball is unlocked your cam will not stay stable and is under control of gravity. The panning actions are a trademark of the pan head and difficult with ball head.
Pods:
1) The Monopod
Cost: from 700 upto 10,000
2) Travel or light Tripods
These are the tripods which are bought for their light weight making them easy to carry around on vacations and hikes.
Cost - from 800 upto 4,000
Weight supported - upto 3kg
3) Entry-level tripods
These are the tripods you buy when you start out as an amateur and want to buy a budget tripod. They are light, compact and reliable if you are using a lighter camera and not into the heavy stuff. However the customization options available are a very few and these usually come with a pan-head. So if you want to go for a ball head only the head will cost more than the tripod!
Cost - from 800 upto 4,000
Weight supported - upto 3kg
4) Professional tripods
5) Heavy tripods
These are meant for heavy filming cameras that can weigh more than 15kg or so and they are biggies in the business.
Cost: from 25,000 upto 50,000
6) Flexible or Octopus (Not quite!) tripods
Cost: from 250 upto 500
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So bottom line is, choose what you need and not what others are saying is the best out there. I wanted and entry-level tripod which was cheap yet practical and I found it in the T880EX! I am now ready to upgrade to a better one if my needs demand, as I have also got better at photography and sometimes this one falls short for newer applications I found.
I was ready to properly invest in an amateur photography thing so I went for a Benro T880EX. They have four variants of beginner tripods ranging from 1500 upto 2000 INR. (All prices mentioned hereafter are in INR)
(Comparison of Benro T600EX, T660EX, T800EX, T880EX tripods)
Here is how I found out which tripod to buy
My research tells me there are 4 kinds of pods and 2 kinds of heads.
Heads:
1) The Pan-head
The pan-head will have 3 kinds of adjustments - Horizontal, Vertical and 90 degree rotation for portrait-landscape.
Pros: This is most helpful when you take more videos rather than photos. A smooth horizontal or vertical panning action can be achieved. The adjustment is stable even if one of the knobs is loose(this may not be guaranteed while using heavy cameras).
Cons: Takes a bit of patience to adjust for those precision shots. Experienced photographers switch to ball head to save this time and never come back to pan head
2) The ball-head
The ball-head means your camera is basically fixed to a ball that can rotate in any direction. Adjust the direction and fix the ball with a single lever.
Pros: This is most helpful when you take more photos rather than videos. It takes very less time to adjust and you will be done in a few seconds. If you can pan with a stable hand then there will be no jerks.
Cons: Once the ball is unlocked your cam will not stay stable and is under control of gravity. The panning actions are a trademark of the pan head and difficult with ball head.
Pods:
1) The Monopod
Cost: from 700 upto 10,000
2) Travel or light Tripods
These are the tripods which are bought for their light weight making them easy to carry around on vacations and hikes.
Cost - from 800 upto 4,000
Weight supported - upto 3kg
These are the tripods you buy when you start out as an amateur and want to buy a budget tripod. They are light, compact and reliable if you are using a lighter camera and not into the heavy stuff. However the customization options available are a very few and these usually come with a pan-head. So if you want to go for a ball head only the head will cost more than the tripod!
Cost - from 800 upto 4,000
Weight supported - upto 3kg
4) Professional tripods
This trippd is used by professionals and is slightly heavy or so, as higher stability is reqiured for heavier cameras so weight matters. They are also available in carbon fibre legs.
You will easily recognize them by hooks provided at the centre for attaching more weight. These tripods are usually ball heads and I feel are meant more for photography
You will easily recognize them by hooks provided at the centre for attaching more weight. These tripods are usually ball heads and I feel are meant more for photography
Cost: from 9,000 upto 40,000
5) Heavy tripods
These are meant for heavy filming cameras that can weigh more than 15kg or so and they are biggies in the business.
Cost: from 25,000 upto 50,000
6) Flexible or Octopus (Not quite!) tripods
These are flexible legged tripods whose ball sectioned legs will coil around any objects or hold on to bars or trees.
Cost: from 250 upto 500
________________________________________________________________________________
So bottom line is, choose what you need and not what others are saying is the best out there. I wanted and entry-level tripod which was cheap yet practical and I found it in the T880EX! I am now ready to upgrade to a better one if my needs demand, as I have also got better at photography and sometimes this one falls short for newer applications I found.
