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Tripod on a Budget (Dolica AX620B100 Tripod Review)

ktuli — Mon, 05/24/2010 - 20:14

So after I bought my Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 lens, I decided that the cheapie tripod we had just wasn't cutting it.

I spent several weeks searching and comparing and debating and pricing various tripods. I gathered advice from several different people to try and figure out what I should buy. I was all set to spend $300+ on a tripod and ballhead combination, when unfortunately, I hit some surprise expenses that have dried up my camera equipment budget for a while.

Then my friend Tom showed me this tripod:

I won't even begin to tell you this tripod compares to some of the other tripods I was looking at. It really doesn't (well, I don't think it does, but I guess I can't say for sure since I've never gotten to work with some of those expensive ones). I did get the chance to borrow Tom's Dolica AX620B100 62-Inch Proline Tripod and Ball Head.

However, considering you can get this combination for $39.99 from Amazon.com, it really makes a strong argument. Especially in my situation where budget becomes a major factor...

There are definitely pros and cons to this tripod, so after working with it for the weekend, let me give you my somewhat lengthy impression of it.

Pros:

Price: Obviously this is a big one. Considering the other tripod legs I was looking at ranged between $170-$250, and the ballheads were an additional $50-200, a $40 price tag for both really speaks pretty loudly.

Weight: At 2.9 lbs, this combination is actually lighter than some of the carbon fiber tripods I had been looking at (and those were without ballheads). I carried it around for about 6 hours on Sunday, and definitely didn't mind at all!

Stability: I had this tripod loaded up with my heaviest combination of equipment (Canon 7D + Sigma 150-500mm + Kenko 2x Teleconverter) and the tripod legs were rock solid sturdy. At one point I had the legs spread wide for some low angle shooting, and also sitting on a slope, and the front legs were bowing a bit - not bouncing, just bowing (once they bowed slightly, they held their position and were very sturdy)

Cons:

Setup Time: Mostly a complaint with the tripod legs here. While sturdy, they are not 100% consistent in the way they extend. Most of the legs will extend with just opening the lever and letting gravity handle the rest, but in Tom's tripod's case he has two sections that don't extend without a good tug - something that is pretty annoying with you have an expensive camera attached to the top. I wonder whether this can be fixed, and also whether the expensive tripods are susceptible to eventually having the same problems.

Quick Release Plate: A couple complaints here - first, the plate seems fairly small - especially with a large lens attached to it. I think a larger plate might add to the stability. Additionally, I did not like the thumbscrew used to attach the plate to the camera or lens - it seemed a bit small to get proper torque on to tighten down very well. Which then leads into the next complaint with the plate - it used a cork type substance for some cushioning. I felt that the cork compressed (which probably increased the difficulty tightening the screw) and flexed (which reduced the stability of the head). Finally, they only include one plate - you can buy an additional one for $10, but when the whole tripod only costs $40, that seems a bit ridiculous.

Ballhead: In general, I liked the ballhead - it was a vast improvement over the pan/tilt I had been used to working with. However, I found that the head had a little bit of drift to it once I would set the framing I wanted and then tighten down the lever. This is probably exacerbated by the fact that I had a pretty heavy combination on the head, but it was well within the weight limit of the tripod (13.2 lbs). Towards the end of the day, I started getting a feel for how to apply partial tension and still be able to make fluid adjustments. However, this drift certainly made it tough to get the exact framing I wanted in my shots without a lot of extra effort. Additionally, I found that when in a vertical shot orientation, the tension lever would actually not be able to tighten all the way without moving the head and then pushing the lever past the plate and then readjusting the shot and finish tightening the lever - just poor design there.

Center Post: The tripod has multiple settings for the leg angles to allow you to get low shooting angles, but the center post is rather long and causes a minimum height of 18.5 inches. This complaint is pretty easy to fix, as I plan on taking a hacksaw to my center post and cutting it in half. Hopefully I'll be able to thread the inside of the posts on both sides of the cut and still have the full length of the center post, while still being able to get the full height from it.

I know the "cons" list seems pretty large and insurmountable, but keep in mind that that price argument holds a lot of weight for a lot of people. If you can't see yourself making the investment in a $250+ setup, this tripod goes a long way.

Additionally, I think several of the problems are resolved by replacing the ballhead. Which is actually my plan - I intend on eventually upgrading the ballhead to use on these legs, which eliminates a couple of complaints I have, plus should allow me to make a slower progression to the nicer equipment as budget permits.

I definitely see the value in a good tripod. The photos I took this weekend came out with so many more keepers just from the adding the tripod to the mix. This weekend I took 948 exposures and kept 624 (granted these are not all print quality shots, but still). I also found myself taking multiple exposures with different settings, and being able to compare them later - something that would never have happened without the tripod. I am hoping that those extra exposures will help me to learn the settings that work best.

The bottom line is that without the tripod I wouldn't have taken as many photos this weekend, nor would my keeper percentage have been as high. I definitely can see the value in a tripod that has fewer complaints against it, but if you're on a tight budget, I really think you would be hard pressed to find a better tripod for the money.

Stay tuned this week as I have a lot of photos to share from this weekend.

- Bill

PS: I'll be returning Tom's tripod and ordering one of my own this week as well.

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Tripod on a Budget (Dolica AX620B100 Tripod Review)

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