Keep in mind, speaking of the choice Steve mentions, 100 bucks seems to be getting you in Tiltall range. It's not a ballhead, and it's by no means petite, but they're solid. And that's what tripods, come down to it, are *for.* It's what I'd have if I hadn't been lucky when Amvona was flooding Ebay with stuff that occasionally you could get really cut-rate. Since, at the time, I simply had no camera support, (All lost or given away over some hard times) when I had about fifty bucks, I got something oversized I knew I could fix if it was poorly assembled. (Which was good, as it turned out Some unintended assembly was required. but the ballhead... I got a good one. Treasure.
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A tripod I can carry comfortably is simply not something I expect to get out of cheaply.
What I have for the time being to be smaller is actually a vintage thing of, I suppose 'fancy amateur grade:' well-made old American metal from perhaps the Fifties or early Sixties that's not tremendously-good to support full sized rigs alone, but is functional enough. Rather clever, too. Sort of presages Benbo in that the legs are sealed: the wide sections at the bottom, capped with rubber, and released from the top.
(Basically don't overlook Ebay,too: if it looks simple and reliable, it likely is. There are a number of things that are much better built, I bet, than most things that come cheap, these days, but for all that, only ever made to be 'camera holders.' In this case, I have to admit I was partly-motivated by curiosity about if the flip-locks had been made to last. They clearly did.
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Here's an antique I keep in the car: I happen to have a photo cause someone wanted to see my Signet:
Sometimes old is good,too. In an age of Ebay, a lot of yard sale fare will be the plastic-headed dregs, but people really did used to expect more. IIRC correctly, this one claims to have been made in Florida, of all places.
Post #2 by raider
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