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Camlink TP2800
by boredindunoon
When required for Digital Photography a Tripod has a number of uses and applications many of which I've detailed below.
1: It allows you to keep your camera far more steady than is possible by hand which means sharper
shots. This has the advantage of aiding your photography in low light conditions or when ...
photographing moving subjects.
2: It makes it possible to use slower shutter speeds (for example when photographing waterfalls)
without introducing camera shake.
3: When photographing landscapes it ensures that the horizon is kept level.
4: To support the camera for long periods of time.
5: To help in certain photographic shots, such as panning or bracketing, HDR and panoramic.
6: For group portraits or when you want to be included in a photograph when using the self timer.
7: They aid in both macro work and "low level" photography.
In reality a Tripod has a great deal many more uses, and this "Camlink TP-2800" tripod with a three way Pan & Tilt head is capable to them all.
With tripods on the market up to and sometimes well into a three figure cost I would curious to find out exactly how good this budget model actually was.
Firstly product features are plentiful and go beyond what you would expect at this price range. Included is a free carry case which is good quality. The tripod itself has a carrying handle build on to it's body, two spirit levels to help you level up shots, a braced centre column with a hood on it's base (for adding weight in windy conditions or keeping you camera bag off the ground), telescopic legs that expand to a useful height of 160cm, self leveling feet and a quick release plate to name the majority.
Build quality of the tripod body is very good being of solid construction and well assembled. However the tripod head is only of average quality, it's not the smoothest when moving with a camera attached and does take a bit of practice.
At 1.4kg in weight it's not the heaviest on the market so it's not unreasonable to carry but it's worth noting that a lighter tripod would struggle in windy conditions so this may prove a disadvantage.
It expands easily from it's packed form to it's full height within a matter of seconds so you won't miss any shots. The quick release plate is a god send as it allows you to detach your camera in a second should you need it. The tripod is very stable even on uneven ground and the self leveling feet compensate should you be on rocky ground.
This tripod would suit photographers more than those interested in shooting video, mainly to that ball & head. I did record video a few times and found that the lack of smoothness did make the video jump every now and again as you swing from left to right.
There are many advantages to buying a tripod and if your on a budget then this "Camlink TP2800" model is ideal for most. It has a few faults but these are greatly outweighed by it's advantages. Considering the cost (£27.60 at time of reviewing) it really is great value and out classes many more expensive tripods.
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Velbon DV-7000 Video Tripod
by clarkjames
A bargain- but gave me nothing but issues since the day I bought it.
For the price I knew I wasn't going to be getting a quality product, I knew there were going to be compromises- but for every day I used the tripod all I could remember were those compromises, not that cheap price I got it for.
So if they say 'buy ... the best, cry once', the opposite is 'smile when you buy, cry everyday after'
I bought it as I was looking to get into shooting video- I only used it a few times for shooting video and to be honest the pan head was smooth, it's the best part of the tripod and it's not a bad product for video. I have heard that with regular use it will eventually fail, and I can see why because the whole head is basically made from plastic. The 'fluid' adjustment knobs on the side of the head don't really seem to work as advertised either as you have to turn them quite a lot in order to tighten or loosen the head.
There are nice touches to this product, but the whole thing seems to continuously disappoint, I had zero confidence in this product.
I started to use it as a photography tripod, which I realised a job it was not suited to at all. Despite being able to support the weight of a 1 series camera with 70-200 the tripod is incredibly bulky, and quite heavy. The giottos tripod I as my main photography tripod is about half the weight, and much less bulky- the Velbon has really thick legs.
The tripod head is the best part of the tripod, the leg's themselves are sturdy, but too bulky. I appreciate the fact you might use a very heavy broadcast camera on it, but if you're only filming with a 5d2 then you don't need so much support, and for the price you paid for this tripod it would suggest that you're using fairly inexpensive (and therefore lightweight) camera equipment.
2 things that are really annoying about this tripod is that there is a bubble level on top of the tripod, but the head completely obscures it unless you force the head to point straight down- which makes levelling your shots when the camera is attached an absolute pain. Another pain is working on uneven ground as the legs are attached to a central column, so can't be angled independently, a lot of video tripods are like this but it forces you to find flat ground, with a solid photograohy tripod you can put a fluid head on and still get good footage with more versatility.
it's much more expensive but i'd go for a set of gitzo legs and a better fluid head- and you'll have a product to last a lifetime.
But if you're on a budget, then maybe the dv7000 will fit your needs.
specs:
weight 3.4kg
lowest height 61cm
highest height 162cm
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Hama 4024 Mini Tripod
by NotMyToothbrush
This is most probably the most basic tri-pod you can possibly find. it consists of a screw top and plastic legs which slightly deform to give you the desired angle/height.
I got this tri-pod before my current gorilla tri-pod for my pocket camcorder. I liked it because it was really easy to attach and detach from it and ... therefore made it really good for travel, along with its really compact size, I could keep both in my pocket, side-by-side and have them ready to shoot within seconds by just screwing it onto the bottom of my device.
The rubberised plastic feet are probably the main reason I don't use this any more, they really didn't sit on a surface well. I like my devices to be secure when i place them down and i really didn't trust the lack of grip that the feet of this tri-pod had to keep my camcorder still. The bendy legs pushing in to revert to their old position was usually enough to move the feet a centimetre or two; this means that I would have to re-adjust my height or angle which could get frustrating after a while.
You can use this tri-pod to wrap around objects to film from instead of merely placing the tri-pod on the ground. This does enable more interesting shot to be taken due to the variety of angle you then have to film from. However, I now use a gorilla tri-pod which has rubber all over the legs which aids in grip when in these situations. The grip of this tri-pod is far worse on the legs and it can either not attach or struggles to stay still when attached to these objects. The legs are a little more restricted in their movement too and this makes them unsuitable fro many objects.
An advantage of this tri-pod is that if you do manage to keep it still on a table, the shot will remain level and give you some nice footage as all of the legs generally go in and out to the same points easily - it really annoys me with certain tri-pods when you can't get all of the legs at the same length or angle and therefore you get an unlevel shot, this is something I don't have to worry about with this tri-pod.
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