Dirt Cheap Tripod Idea

Underpass Abstract, #3. Boulder, Colorado, 2014

The trail for most photographers to their final, ultimate, personal best tripod–as is often said by those who have gone before–is littered with the corroding carcasses of a half-dozen cheaper to progressively more expensive models starting with the incredible $9.75 WalMart special . This is known as constantly “throwing good money after bad”.

The best advice is usually this: The purchase of a tripod is in the same league as purchasing a new camera body or high-quality lens–don’t hold back spending the big bucks; get the best you can possibly afford.

This is all true. And, the tripod can indeed contribute as much to improving your image quality as a good lens or camera. So, the old craniums have it right.

However, what if you are a college student living off of a work-study salary and have trouble scraping up the funds for a Domino’s Pizza once a month? What then, Buckwheat?

Well, here is a real alternative: the 3-pound, aluminum, Vista Voyager Tripod with BHQ8 Ball Head, now available for around $50.00 at B&H (or possibly Adorama?). We just bought one for use inside the house with a smallish point-and-shoot, the Sony RX100ii, and it does the job just fine–almost overkill, in fact, for such a compact camera.

For the price, I am actually surprised at how close they came to building a “normal” tripod. It has a very functional and easy-to-use ball head, it comes with a camera attachment plate (1/4″ screw) and a carry bag, folds to 21″, has a max height of 63″ and a max load rating of 8 pounds (oh, the optimism!). The kit even includes an Allen wrench (in the hidden pocket in the bag) to tighten the tripod legs when required. Finally, there is also a ten-year workpersonship warranty.

It is not of particularly high build quality, so you won’t want to knock it around much in the trunk of your car, or overload it with Ansel’s 8×10 view camera. Despite the eight-pound rating, I think a DSLR with a big lens up to that weight would be very marginal and a wobbly in any fluttering breeze at all. A compact DSLR with a prime lens, or a mirrorless machine, would be fine as a frog’s hair.

So, this tripod is definitely a consideration for that someone on a boa constrictor budget.