Got advice here on my tripod purchase, so figure I should give back.

For a different perspective, I usually take my tripod on vacation. It sits in the hotel most days, but comes with me on a few nights--long walks around cities and usually a few subway rides.

I won't mind carrying the Benro Travel Angel as much as I did prior tripods. It's light and it folds up small--not like a table top tripod, but small--and comes with a nice carrying case. The leg action (hee hee, I said leg action)...the leg folding action is very smooth. Leg extension action could be a slight bit smoother but is quite acceptable and the head is great. Feels solid and the locks operate smoothly, open easily but stay tight (at least so far). Only messed around with it indoors so far so can't comment on real-life steadiness but so far really I like it.

I used to hate dragging my old tripods around with me...PITA. So, not really looking forward to carrying a tripod for night vacation exposures, but not dreading it anymore either.

On vacations I take my dslr with me, but I leave my tripod at home. As Niko wrote, for panos get sony - some time ago I got my wife the sony P&S and she loves that feature.

I always take my DSLR and tripod on vacation, but then I don't fly, I drive. No kids or family, so I'm free to do whatever I want. My cell phone camera sucks and I haven't had a point and shoot in almost two years. :-p

Yeah but unless you are on assignment for National Geographic how many 30+ sec exposures have you done while on vacation? Especially if you are with your family and lugging around several bags.

I don't even like to take my DSLR with me on vacation. With all the airport hassle's the less gear I take the better. If I need to make a 30 plus exposure while on vacation then I find a table or counter or bag to prop up the camera. The in camera image stacking and panorama is really useful and I prefer to use that instead of setting up a tripod.

Or better yet I challenge my kid to a game of "Simon Says" and use him as a tripod. "Simon Says, hold dad's camera and don't move for 30+ plus seconds!" :^P

No matter how good that feature is, it wont help you with night photography (30+ second exposures), and what I mean by that is long expsoures where you want motion blur etc.

The newer Sony's now have SD card slots

NikoDoby said:
Pretty soon with in-camera photo stacking you won't need a travel tripod. My Sony point & shoot does a really good job combining images. My moon shot on my flickr page was taken hand held without a tripod. I've also got some night photos of the family that came out very good hand held. I don't need a tripod for panoramas either. My camera does it that automatically for me too.

That's true- my cousin's Sony WX-1 I believe is a fun little camera. It responds quickly and has that low light stitching thing you were talking about. It also has an automatic panorama mode too- you just sweep it in one direction- done. Too bad it uses memory stick. I hate memory stick.

Pretty soon with in-camera photo stacking you won't need a travel tripod. My Sony point & shoot does a really good job combining images. My moon shot on my flickr page was taken hand held without a tripod. I've also got some night photos of the family that came out very good hand held. I don't need a tripod for panoramas either. My camera does it that automatically for me too.

I bought a Manfrotto Modo a while ago hoping it would do for everything I want. Turns out it will not, but for pano's etc. when you are hiking all day, it is OK as it is very small and light. I have a Slik 700DX en route for using where I am not carrying it too far.

The Modo is availabe new for only (£40 ish) and I got the Slik secondhand for £77. Reezult.

I wouldn't go for Benro - it's one of the company, which instead of designing their stuff makes direct copies of this what's in the market (Gitzo, Manfrotto, Wimberlay) and lowers the prices and quality. As for travel tripod, I have the Manfrotto 190CXPRO4, and I'm more than happy with it.

Good, hope that tripod is working out well for you.

anjz said:
Thanks Mark. I just pulled the trigger on the Benro. Paid $190. The Feisols look nice.

Sorry, for the no direct links just want to provide info.

NikoDoby said:
Please don't put direct links to commercial websites in the forum.

Please don't put direct links to commercial websites in the forum.

If you want a nice deal maybe try the Adorama carbon fiber series. They seem like good tripods for a great price. I was tired of using heavy tripods so I finally just sprung for the $600 Gitzo carbon Fiber Gt1541T. Its been wonderful and it really is super light. I like hiking with it and perfect for air travel. Is it worth $600? probably not but at least I'm using it and trying to get my moneys worth. The real key is the ballhead you put on your tripod. Living in South Korea I went with the Korean made Markins ballhead and its decent. I'd like to have an acratech or really right stuff head though.

Thanks Mark. I just pulled the trigger on the Benro. Paid $190. The Feisols look nice.

I bought a FEISOL Traveler Tripod and have been very happy with it. It cost me about $400, I think the price has gone up but it is worth a look.

Here is the link:

*link removed*

Mark

Going with the Benro A-269M8 TRA269 Travel Angel Alum. Tripod. Thanks for the advice and the links!

The D90 and the 70-200mm isn't too heavy of a combination. I put my D700 with a 400mm on my 269, and it held up fine...no problems whatsoever. You could probably get away with the cheaper ones that hold 13 or 17lbs, but the drawback to those is that they have a shorter max height...so if you're a taller person you may be hunching over a bit.

See these previous discussions on tripods and heads

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=590
http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=1951
http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=753
http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=1951

Thanks. I have a D90 and pretty small lenses, but I hope to get a 70-200 2.8 VRII one day, so want the tripod to be able to handle it.

I think that would depend on the weight of your equipment. I have the TravelAngel TRCB269, and I really like it. If you don't mind aluminum over carbon, you can get the TravelAngel for quite a bit less than $400. They say that there's less vibration in the carbon vs. the aluminum, but I guess it would depend on what you're taking pictures of. The head, by all accounts, isn't all that...but it's serviceable...at least in my opinion. I love the fact that it's small enough to fit in my regular sized backpack.

Another cheap tripod that I purchased broke. Time to buy a good one.

I'm hoping I can get some recommendations on good travel legs and ball head. Something that can get low to the ground, be carried all day, fold pretty small and remain steady. It seems that the Benro TravelAngel series is good but I am having trouble figuring out which specific model to get, along with a head. Looking to stay under $400. Significantly under $400 if possible. Any suggestions?