tripods

[sifurat]

Hey guys just got my hands on a canon 10d and im a little lost on the hunt for a good tripod. This will be used for lots of situations ( cause i have shaky hands haha ) but its mainly going to be for sports shots ( mainly sportbike racing ). So its gonna have to be pretty sturdy to hold some of the longer telephoto lenses. There seem to be so many choices for tripods that i have no idea which one to get. Id like to keep the price of the tripod under $250. So any recommendations would be awesome!!

Thanks for the help.

[Sebastian]

MONOPOD

A tripod will limit you severely when it comes to sports. Don't get me wrong, a good tripod is an essential piece of gear, I'm just saying a monopod will make sports shooting much more practical.

[Ouvinen]

I have to agree. I can't imagine myself using a tripod in sports shooting. But a monopod is essential for those long telephotos. Some people use it even for panning, I don't, I just don't have the hold of it. But those head on shots with a long telephoto it's great.. And you can carry your camera screwed onto the monopod and just rest it on your shoulder while walking around, how pro does that look huh?

[gmen]

A photographer should always have a good tripod in his kit - you never know when it will come in handy... However, I have to agree with the other guys here that a good quality, sturdy monopod will be far more versatile - Manfrotto and Gitzo make some excellent ones (I prefer to work with the Manfrotto leg locking system). You don't mention what lenses you will be using but, as always, it's wise to buy the best and sturdiest you can afford to future-proof yourself.

In 'support' of tripods in sport (!) I have to say that I could not be without my Manfrotto tripod and ball head for cricket shoots. It is the ideal combination to support the 300mm 2.8 with 2x converter for very long periods - up to four or five hours at a time! This is one sport where a monopod just won't do - but then again the 'action' always happens in pretty much the same place...

[sifurat]

Thanks for the replys guys, yah im gonna have to grab both, the motorcycle races that I will be shooting will have me in pretty much 2 or 3 locations for the majority of the time so a monopod or standard tripod would both work nicely but i think ill probably make more use out of a monopod since i can use it in more situations but either way i gotta grab both.... can't go wrong with having one of each