smarterchild - I have Manfrotto 190CXPRO4, I'm 6'2" and it works for me w/o any problems.

That's what I decided on for my monopod and tripod.

Manfrotto/Bogen buuuttt a little pricey

You might want to look at the RRS tutorial on tripods - quite a bit of useful info. You might also want to consider buying used to save a bit.

Ted- True, But i had to take money out of my college fund for a full frame and some lenses before college and right now i dont have a job at the moment besides me doing portraits or being hired as a second shooter for a wedding.

Adam- The carbon fiber tripods interest me, I have yet to look through the 20 pages of tripod brands on B&H. What size should i look for?

smarterchild - You are talking of app 4kg load to put on Your monopod/tripod and night photography, so You have two options:
- carbonfiber - steady, light but pricey
- aluminium/wood - steady, heavy but pricey
there are no mid solutions. You either gonna carry Your bucks or Your load.
You can also find this article by Thom Hogan very interesting, for me a must to read if You are in market for tripod. LINK

Just going to say personally I hate Manfrottos and personally vouch for Induro tripods. Especially their new line of aluminum ones that have a good balance of price and weight.

If you can afford a D3 and a 70-200, you can afford a good tripod.

my price range is about 150 for tripod and id say about 100 max on monopod..

Somone loaned me their bogen tripod. It seems reallly nice but REALLY heavy.

i plan on wanting it for field work for night time photographer and self portraits. I currently use a flimbsy metal tubed tripod from the 60s my dad gave me. i want somthing light, enough to hold a d3 70-200 and flash. a little more weight.

If You want midrange prices, I would go for manfrotto monopod/tripod with a combination of some arca-swiss compatible ballhead, from kirk, really right stuff, arcatech, gitzo, jobu - all depends on Your needs and Your budget

It all depends on what you shoot. I do a lot of macro work and a tripod improves my results more than almost anything else. I almost never like to use tripods, that's why I buy extremely good ones. It encourages me to use them by making it easier to use them.

I don't know any serious landscape photographers that don't consistently rely on their tripods.

In neither case will increased ISO make any real difference. On the other hand, for street and documentary tripods are of no value.

Tripods a very useful, I'd rather not have to carry one, but unless we get D3s High ISO levels in a D300, I'll use one.

Why is it that the tripod lineup of any company seems to be more confusing than Canon's lineup anyway?

I've looked into tripods. Although they're mighty useful, I don't see myself taking the initiative of carrying it and using it extremely often to justify the purchase.

Okay, I was thinking it had something to do with how you mounted the plate.

I have a monopod with the RC2, which I think is similar to but not quite as easy to use as the RC4. The big seller of the RC0 for me is that I can drop the plate into the head at 6 different angles since it's a hexagonal plate.

So why did you choose the 488RC0 over the 488RC4, or did you not try the latter?

I love the RC0 (that's a zero) quick release system from Manfrotto. I tried it on someone's tripod and within a couple weeks went out and bought a manfrotto 488 head with that QR plate. I've had a great experience with it—three years and counting. edit: one consideration is that this is a heavy system. The head and plate weigh about as much as a camera, and this is before you put them on tripod legs.

I might consider getting either a tripod or monopod, rather than both. A little more money on the tripod and ball head might get you really meaningful improvements. Investments in tripods, ball heads and monopods aren't quite as much fun as a new body or lens, but they last much, much longer and don't care who they play with.

I'd also consider using a premium quick release system since they make using whatever support system chosen easier.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/602431-REG/Manfrotto_7301YB_7301YB_4_Section_Aluminum_Tripod.html

I own one of these monopods and I really like it:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5535-REG/Manfrotto_680B_680B_Compact_Monopod_Black_.html

What's your budget smartchild?

Also will this be principally for field or studio work?

Manfrotto's a good value. That's what I decided on for my monopod and tripod.

I say Manfrotto (Bogen in the US).
If you need ultimate there is a third Vitec group brand Gitzo.

I need a new monopod and tripod. Whats the best brand out there for a decent midrange price?