Good lightweight tripod for dslr video shoot

[kingjen]

Hi all,

Like to seek opinions and advice of any good lightweight tripod for dslr video shoot as I plan to get one for family trip during school vacation. Actually I have one tripod, a free gift from purchasing my camera, but I find it unstable and a little shaky when I even start or stop the camera, not to mention the panning motion. Thanks.

 

[Bamboopictures]

Video tripods are different from photographic tripods in 3 main respect due to the need to smoothen out motion. First, video tripods usually have double pronged segments for at least the top two sections of the legs. The double pronged design prevents twists and snapbacks of the legs as the tripod head is panned. The second difference is in the extendable neck column. There simply isn't one on a video tripod. The third difference is in the head. Video tripods have much heavier and bulkier bowled heads to accommodate fluid dampers and springs for smooth pans and tilts. There are also no 90 degrees portrait mode swivels for obvious reasons. So for a family trip, carrying a stock video tripod is really out of the question (if you want to stay married) As a compromise, you could buy a good DSLR fluid head like the emate/weifeng WF718 from sgcamerastore and pair it with your choice of traveling sticks. (sgcamerastore has a carbonfibre flatpack traveller by weifeng). This combination will already add at least 2kg to your load. But it will give very smooth results so long as you press down on the tripod as you pan or tilt.