What's a general, high quality tripod to use?

[freelanceshots]

I need some practical advice from folks that have experience using different brands of tripods that they like. I've seen some posts before on this site talking about tripods but I have my own specific needs when shopping for one. What tripod offers the best bang for the buck for my area of use? I bought a Dynatran aluminum tripod off Ebay about 4 years ago and it has been worth every penny I paid for it. It's sturdy, affordable price, has a bubble level, it's heavy, legs open with flip levers, and it will open to approx 6ft tall when extended with center column. These are all things that are important to me. I am not looking for a tripod to hike around with so I look as the added weight as a benefit. I most likely won't be needing a tripod to support any large 400mm or 500mm glass as this is strictly for commercial/studio stuff. Typical lenses that I will use on it will be the 100mm macro, 16-35mm, 15mm fisheye, and the 70-200mm. I will need to purchase another ball head with it but I'm definitely not in the market to spend 400 dollar for a Arca-Swiss or similar unit. I did not pay alot for my Dynatran AT-818 tripod where I bought a Fancier brand FT-6664H ball head and I am happy with how they have held up under heavy use. I open and close the legs on my tripod more times in a day then I care to think about. The ball head from this low end brand name manufacturer has held up well and does every thing I need it to do so why spend crazy money when you don't have to.


The reason why I need another tripod is that my situation has changed where I need a second tripod. My old tripod will mainly be used for my 360 Precision Panoramic Head where the new one will be for my other lenses and general work. My newest photography work has me doing loads of interior shots where I start out shooting 360 panoramas then I move to shooting still images with my 16-35mm. Setting up one tripod to do both is really slowing me down in the long run where I think its time to make a change. This time around I want to treat myself to a nicer unit but don't want to spend over 300 dollars for the support.


I'm currently looking at the Giottos MTL 9371B 3-Section Compact Aluminum Tripod, Maximum Height 63", Supports 22 lbs as its priced around 210.00. I like the idea of having the Multi-position center column that comes with this tripod plus it has all the things that i like and its a Giottos.

[Oren]

Feisol

[Bombsight]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/557127-REG/Slik_615_317_700DX_Pro_Tripod_Legs.html


SOLID!

[Oren]

<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"]Weight: 5.88 lbs (2.67kg). I want to see you carry this one with you all day long.


Never mind, I didn't read the whole message - sorry [:$]