Late last year my tripod gave up the ghost (just as I needed to take a photo with it, of course), so the GPS receiver has been shunted back another few months to fund its replacement.
I’ve had a number of tripods over the years, all of which have been (a) cheap, and (b) less than a wild success, as they’ve been too big/heavy to take anyway, and too flimsy to last. So I decided this time to spend a bit more and get a tripod that should last for the rest of my photgraphic career. Although the lovely Carbon Fibre tripods by Slik and Manfrotto appeal, I draw the line at spending more on the tripod than my camera cost!! In fact, as a amateur enthusiast, I didn’t want to spend more than a hundred pounds – ideally less than fifty (but then the tripod that broke before Christmas was twenty something, and rubbish).
So I bought a Chinese knock-off of the Manfrotto, made by Weifeng Corporation. It claims to be carbon fibre, and is certainly nice and small, feels sturdy, and isn’t too heavy. It came from eBay (of course), from a seller called AVIPhoto. The only downside was I didn’t notice the sale price didn’t include VAT. D’Oh!
Anyway, full specs:
| Model | Fan Cier FT 6892 |
|---|---|
| Height (max) | 1480mm |
| Height (min) | 465mm |
| Length (folded) | 615mm |
| Weight | 1.48kg |
| Max Load | 2.5kg |
The max load is guessed because I couldn’t find the exact specs – but is conservative based on comparable models. Not used it with the camera yet, but it feels nice, and it comes in a really nice padded carry bag. Oh yes, and I needed to buy a head. Plumped for a cheap-ish ball head, again from AVIPhoto, called a CA10PH.