On Thu, 17 Apr 2003 16:12:05 GMT, "ralford" <ralford@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>I am searching, maybe in vain, for a reasonable good tripod and head in the

>neighborhood of $200. I do a lot of panning and zooming with a light (sony

>trv25) camera. Before this turns into a lecture on not panning and zooming,

>my four-legged actors do not follow direction too well :)

No lecture against this from me - video is about MOTION! ;-)

>I found several candidates at B&H, a Davis & Sanford on special at $149,

>Bescor TH650 at $180 and a Bogen around $210. The first two appear to have

>double legs in the top sections... They all claim fluid heads and some with

>a "claw-ball". Seem to vary wrt a center column, number of sections and

>locking type (twist or flip).

>

>I am not sure what is important or desirable. Any comments and suggestions

>and comments would really be appreciated.

OK, I will get to the "bad" part first: there are no

good cheap (under $1500 or so - unless used...) video

tripods. Given that, there are somewhat acceptable

alternatives, like the Libec-Mathiews and Bogen

(3021 legs, 3063 head minimum) for around $200-250.

What you want (but will not get for this price) is

legs ("sticks";-) that do not move AT ALL when the

camera is moved, and a head that can move with

liquid smoothness (and great ease), but which has

high motion-damping. "Cheap" buys legs that "wind

up" (you can ease out of the tilt/pan to lessen the

backlash this causes) and a head with stiff action

and/or little damping (but hopefully [but rarely]

with little stickiness and irregularity in the

motion). I bought twice what I call "The Wreck of

the Cartoni", since the second time I valued its

rigidity and smooth motion over its broken parts,

ugly marks, and hefty weight - but for $500 I

got a useable tripod and head that would be $1800

new - and it is MUCH better than my $250 Bogen...

The dual-leg design can help with rigidity (but

a cheap Cartoni I tried was not rigid with them...),

the ball can help with leveling (but it is not

essential, or easy to use...), a center post kills

rigidity and should be avoided (or never used),

the leg-lock type is unimportant if reliable...