Tripod Advice?

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by Ross

I've been at this since the early 1960s. At first glance your advice seems sound, but there are too many things missing. Affect of wind on the setup. Affect of movement of the subject. Affect of latent vibration in the camera due to shutter. And lots more. My point is (and my images stand as a testiment of which I speak) that the more solid the setup, the more clear and distinct the image. I would never go back to a cheap tripod. It sends a false signal that the setup is solid thus the fuzzyness must be the camera or something else. With macro work (especially long exposure work of several seconds exposure) you get what you pay for. I personally have two scenarios: for studio and working from the car, I go with the Gitzo (Manfrotto) tripod. Heavy? Yes! Solid? Like a rock. For walking around, hiking etc. I use a "foot pod" strap. Both have Arca-Swiss quick release mounts.

Ross I totally agree with you that a expensive tripod is the way to go if you can afford the price. And I'm sure once you get one you should never need another. In the original post price was a issue!!. Again there are ways around the not perfectly stable tripod, I already mentioned one and the other is (my) camera has image stabilization which will compensation for shutter and motor movement plus most wind and minor earthquakes. Does this Nikon have IS?