UKH

Whilst I take tonnes of photos, I don’t really know much. Used to use my wife’s tripod but it broke and after a replacement. Any recommendations? I see some don’t have the tilt lever lock thingy but I thought this would be important for say tracking flying birds. Any advice most welcome. 
 

Ed: I use a dslr with 600 ml lens. 

Not a big fan of tripods generally and not for wildlife, so limited knowledge purely for that useage. Feel free to ignore my 2p comments, therefore. If you are carrying one ready for shooting at a second’s notice I don’t think tripods are ideal IME. If in a hide though that’s would different, but may expand consideration to small ones.

Have you thought about a monopod “if” it’s for on the go instantaneous type use? Maybe one with base feet also? That would now with hind sight be my choice to look at. If hide or similar use only, then my tripod is good.

Really for me for wildlife it would be just to support the camera/lens combo taking the weight. I would use it for support so still be gripping camera with one hand and lens with the other just like handheld. Therefore, personally, I wouldn’t be bothered with locking features as such nor of even a lever to move the head unless you are going to shoot without holding the camera and lens.

Anyway, make sure it’s adjustable enough for you. If your tall, for example, one that can go high enough and still be stable. Choose one that is rated for the weight of your camera and lens you will be using.  A ball head would be my thought for personal preference or a multi way head.

For what it’s worth, I have a fairly old now Manfrotto (190X), and a three way Manfrotto head; not the cheap end of market, but ….. I got rid of two, or might have been three, cheaper tripods I’d bought previously before I realised you get what you pay for (up to a point!).

Three legged thing (that’s their name) seem to get good reviews now a days and they do one that can be converted to a monopod as indeed other makes do also I think. I would be looking at 3LT if I wanted to change again as a starting point. However, I would recommend looking at Manfrotto as  reliable and sturdy if the price is not off putting.

HTH. Have a bump if nothing else.

I have a 400mm  for birds and wildlife and I almost never shoot from a tripod, but that is probably because I don't really have the right head for it. I have an older, heavy manfrotto B55BN tripod with a manfrotto ball head 322RC2 which is ok if you are out and you see something static like a nest or perching point that you want to just focus on until something interesting happens then then just shoot but it's not good for more dynamic shooting.

If I had a 600 lens I would be going for something like the gimbal head in this vid.

I have seen a lot of these at bird hides over the years. They seem to be quite pricey though which is the main thing that puts me off. However, if I had a 600mm lens I would definitely go for one.

youtube.com/watch?v=ndgJlndob9s&

I bought a monopod many years ago which I used a handful of times but I gave up on it really quickly.

I would also make sure I got a tripod with spikes rather than just feet like in this video.

youtube.com/watch?v=x450CZRDKmY&

I don’t shoot much wildlife but have recently just had to change my tripod legs (corroded leg locks always wash your tripod after sea scapes)

I own a lightweight 3 legged thing punks for light weight mountain stuff and did have a manfrotto 055 carbon as my “heavy” tripod. This is the one that broke.

with a 60mm lens I would go big with the tripod (unless your walking huge distances/have a bad back), my replacement was the 057 which I found cheap on eBay it’s pretty bulky but also fairly burly and rock steady. Watching your camera and 600mm lens slowly topple over into a puddle/rock will be a traumatic and expensive experience trust me.

Spikes are good and can be bought after market.

Tripods are one of those things that if you use them relatively frequently then spending money pays dividends 

probably because they are relatively simple but require precision engineering and quality materials cheapness is exposed pretty quickly.

As has been mentioned, high but good quality iso setting and VR allow a lot of hand held shooting 

These are very good: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075KVP5BX/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=U...

Designed for shooting but comes with an adapter for cameras.

Al