I was thinking about picking up a tripod for 180. THe guy at the shop said that is about how much it cost for a mid range one. Should I go ahead and pay that much or will any $50 tripod work. I am doing a dinner for an important political person tomorrow and thought I should bring a tripod.

 

When I went to samy's to get a tripod I was looking at spending close to that, but they talked me out of it. They said w/ my XT and the lens I use it was overkill and showed me one for $79.99 that I LOVE! It's real light as well and sturdy


It's a Slik Pro, don't know the #'s i'll see when I get home

but I think this is it

http://www.samys.com/product.php?ItemNo=SLIK613331

 

Regardless of brand/cost, here's two things to consider.

First, be mindful of the tripod's height. You'll probably end up hating anything that requires you to bend over more than 6"-8". If you end up having to raise the center column to get to your desired height, then be doubly sure to test the tripod with your intended load on it.

Second, consider a ball head if you can. They're generally way more flexible to work with than pan/tilt heads and often eliminate concerns about leveling the tripod. That said, decent quality ball heads can often cost more than an equivalent quality pan/tilt head.

 

I have a bogen/manfrotto 2031b Pro with a 3130 head that I use for everything, including video. I wouldn't trade it for the world. The Carbon-Graphite tripods are nice too, but they're a little too light for me (probably just my own opinion). I don't carry it everywhere...I bought it new from B&H for around $180 shipped.

Sunpak's "PRO" model is quite good for the price, can be found for around $75.
http://www.adorama.com/SU3300K.html



Slik makes good 'pods too...

2 other things to try - look for a Sima (not just cause I work for them...) Monopod. You can find them on ebay cheap, and they are very compact, very versatile. The other thing I use a great deal of the time is "the POD" (www.thepod.ca). It's a hockey puck shaped beanbag that I got from Adorama.com a few years back when i bought my first digital camera. It's the definition of versatile - I use it with my little Casio, my former Canon P&S cams, and even with my Rebel XT and my Film cameras (Elan IIe, Rebel2k, Elan7Ne).