Looking for a tripod/ballhead combo on a budget of $600

[eldarhau]

I have owned more tripod/head combos than I like to think about. Slik, Manfrotto, Vanguard, Benro, Cullman and more. I always thought Gitzo was too expensive and probably not worth it. So I managed to tell myself that I did not need that much quality and went for the cheaper alternatives. It is also easy to say that you don´t care about some extra weight, but in the end you probably do. After a long life with lots of poor buys, I now only have Gitzo tripods (3) and monopods (2). It sounds like a series-2 would fit your requirements. They are great tripods. Light, very stable, easy to set up and they look great.

But stay away from their ball heads. There are at least three reasons. 1: They are expensive, 2: They are not very functional and have a very annoying (and proprietary) locking mechanism and 3: They do not support Arca swiss plates.

The remaining problem then is your budget. The best advice I can think of is to hang on to the one you have a little longer, eat bread and drink water for another month and wait until you can get the right stuff.

There was a long and interesting thread about tripod/ballhead some time ago: http://community.the-digital-picture...ead.php?t=7067

/Eldar

[btaylor]

The best advice I can think of is to hang on to the one you have a little longer, eat bread and drink water for another month and wait until you can get the right stuff.

/Eldar

Or even the Really Right Stuff?

Seriously, that's good advice. It's really important to have good support gear, we often don't give enough credit to our ancillary equipment. I bought into the Really Right Stuff system a while ago and it was a very good decision.

Sorry I haven't answered your recommendation query but have a look on the RRS website. They have a great range.

[eldarhau]

Or even the Really Right Stuff?

Indeed! I have just ordered a RRS MH-01 Pro monopod head, which will be my first monopod head ever, and a RRS BH-30 LR for my travel tripod, to replace the useless Gitzo GH1780TQR that came with the GT1551T in a tripod/head combo. The tripod is great though.

I have no experience with the RRS tripods. They look good on paper and with their fairly stiff price tag, they should to be. It would be interesting to hear any experiences anyone may have to share.

/Eldar