Recommend me...a few things

Thanks for the Slik recommendation. This one looks pretty good!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006I5SI

Any comments before I buy?


1) Again, the 3-way pan/tilt head is designed for video cameras and is incredibly annoying for use with still cameras. You'd be better off with a ballhead or griphead.

2) Absolute maximum load is 5.5lbs. I generally use a safety factor of 2 for my tripod loads, so the max weight I would think about putting on there is 2.75lbs. That's not a lot at all. My camera with no lens weighs 1.4lbs all by itself. My telephoto weighs more than 2.75lbs with no camera attached!

Never skimp on something that is the only thing keeping your equipment from crashing to the ground.

Have a gander at Thom Hogan's tripod article, keep in mind he speaks from a professional landscape photographer's perspective. I find he goes a bit further than an amateur needs, but his comments on cheap aluminum tripods are spot-on.

http://www.bythom.com/support.htm
 
Do tripod heads and legs connect using some sort of standardized mechanism or does it depend on the brand, etc.?
 
@Epp_b, they are usually pretty standard. My legs are an old gitzo and my head is that slik (see above link.) They work together just fine. If you get the legs only, it usually comes with a screw up top and then you take the bottom of the head and screw it into the legs. Then you take your camera and screw it into the head.

Of course, there are a few "non standard" ones out there but, for the most part, the tripod screw is the tripod screw, is the tripod screw.

G'luck.
 
Software tip:
Grab Adobe Lightroom. It'll set you back about $99- but it's well worth the money, and seeing as 2.0 is coming out soon, you could easily get that. With Lightroom, there's really no need for other software editing unless you're doing something very extravagant.

My tip.

Also on tripods, Bogen/Manfrotto if you can find one. Buy used if need be =]
 
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