VALUE-ADDED TRIPODS

What price is a decent tripod? Matthew Richards searches out the models that deliver premium performance at a reasonable cost

Tripod kits that comprise a set of legs and a head, range in price from around £10/$15 for a flimsy, often unbranded option, to about £1,250/$1,500 for a top-of-the-range Gitzo. But how much do you need to spend to get a good one? With an eye on stability, load bearing capacity, features and performance, we’ve selected eight sturdy tripods costing up to around £250/$300 – which we think will get you a good-quality tripod. But while the prices are fairly close, there are some fundamental differences in design.

Most tripods fall into one of two categories – they’re either full-sized, sturdy beasts, or relatively small, lightweight travel tripods. Practically none of us want a tripod to just use at home, so there’s a lot to be said for tripods that fold down to a fairly small size and are easy to carry. The lines of distinction between the two categories have become blurred.

Tripods in this round-up weigh between 1.4kg and 2.6kg, so they’re lightweight enough to be easily carried. Some include telescopic leg sections, enabling them to fold down. However, there’s also a growing trend for legs that invert for stowage, as this reduces the overall carrying size (see ‘Put your feet up’).

All of our featured tripod kits come with a ball head, apart from the Benro Mach3, which bucks the trend with a 3-way head. They also all have a maximum load rating of at least 5kg and some are rated at twice that or even more. Let’s take a look and find out which kit will best suit your needs.