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Cheap and light weight tripod for airline luggage.
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I am looking for a cheap lightweight tripod I can put in my bag for trips away. Lighter the better and needs to only go up to about 4 feet as I will be using a Bronica SQAi with WLF. Argos sell a Vivitar for €25.00, anyone used one of these ? Will only be used for travel as I have a beast for use at home. Might not even use it but if I needed one for a longer exposure for example I would be kicking myself for not taking one with me.
The camera weighs between 1.5 and 1.8 Kilos depending on the lens it has attached so not an overly heavy camera.
Any suggestions?
Thanks :)
have you tried 7dayshop? they have a good range of lightweight tripod, very
reasonable.Forgot about this.
Just to let people know the tripod in Argos is Crap with a capitol C. Was taken back for a refund the next day.
I remember having this same dilemma a good many years back, wanting to bring a tripod for night shots, yet finding one that would fit inside a moderate sized case that would probably be just at the upper spectrum of airline cabin baggage specifications. Back then I settled for a set of Manfrotto 190 3-section legs, which when the head was removed, would fit in my case diagonally. Luckily back then weight restrictions were not such a pain, and it did not matter that the legs were heavier aluminium, and not lighter carbon fibre.
If I had to do it all over again, I would more than likely settle for one of the 4-section carbon fibre traveller tripods offered by a reputed tripod company like manfrotto/ gitzo, etc, and perhaps also some of the high quality knock-off’s like Benro, etc, also. I think any of these tripods will suit your needs perfectly, and will provide the stability needed. They will not be so so inexpensive though, and with a head, I would budget at least €150- €200 (legs & head). If not, I suspect you will regret the low cost, cheap as chips option tripods out there, such as the more typical type of rubbishy tripods you tend to find in Argos, and most lesser camera shops. I used to fool around with some of those before plunking down for the manfrotto I ended up with, and nowadays I wonder why I even bothered, as none of them ever did their job properly and I would have been better off with no tripod at all.
In all though, a tripod would not be one of my most favourite items to travel with, but for some of the night shots I have returned from trips with, I have been very pleased I brought one.
Good luck with whatever you choose, and am sure if you do decide to go for one of the better quality, 4-section carbon fibre traveller-type tripods, you won’t find yourself contemplating this issue again for a long time.
Thanks for the input. I agree with going for quality first. I only had a couple of days to sort something out so was trying to pick something up locally and cheaply for a once off use but I didn’t realize just how bad the really cheap ones are, they should be illegal :lol:
Back now and will sort a decent one out before my next trip. Probably go with a Manfrooto, Gitzo or Benbo model. I need something smaller for carrying around in Ireland anyway.
jmccoy wrote:
Is a tripod permitted as carry on luggage ?
I’ve always packed mine inside my checked luggage, but if I had to bring it on as carry on, I would probably tote it in a tripod bag. Else carrying it inside your carry on luggage, as mentioned, would be more than fine I imagine. Weight restrictions for carry on luggage these days would likely be your biggest enemy, if going with the latter though.
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