Originally Posted By WTXTremor:
All tripods are not made equal. Leofoto makes a fantastic tripod in the $400 range. Personally I’d buy used, and look at one of the 364 variants. The first two numbers dictate leg width (36mm), and the 3rd number dictates leg pieces (4). Their 36-40mm legs are extremely stout, and make for a very stable tripod. As for their ball head I’d look at the LH-40 minimum sized head, or preferably their LH55. The larger the ball head the greater the clamping force that can be applied to the ball itself. I’ve got a LH30, LH40, and LH55 from them. The 30 is for my son, and it doubles as a lightweight back packing tripod for myself. It’s on a much smaller tripod that sacrifices some stability for its very compact and lightweight size. The LH-40 is probably the best all around size that offers excellent stability in a not too large package that’s a little cheaper than the 55. The 55 is my go to for long range shooting off a tripod, and is about $100 more. You can find a 364 with 40 ball head for right around $400 if you do a little searching.


I’ve ran a bunch of others, but anything I’d suggest that’s as good will be $200+ more. I’ve had a couple RRS shop tripods at my disposal for a few years, and my Leo’s were 99% of the tripod at 35% of the price.

Originally Posted By Loonytik:


Good write up. Looks like the tripod alone(LS-364C) is $480 and then I need to add the head for along the same price.

Trying not to spend that much since I won't be using it that often.