Buying a tripod - advice wanted

Hi,
Some time ago my camera tripod broke and I'd like to buy a new one shortly. Ideally, if I'm buying one, I'd like to get a reasonably good quality one (albeit not too expensive either) which would also hold the weight of a small refractor (such as a PST, which I'd like to get sometime) on it.

Anyone here have suggestions as to what I should look out for in a tripod?

Thanks,

which would also hold the weight of a small refractor (such as a PST, which I'd like to get sometime) on it.

How and why would you do this with a camera tripod Mike? If it is of a way to actually mount the camera on to the tripod and itself fitting onto the refractor, you will have a problem. With my camera tripod, when I use the telescopic lens on it, it is so heavy that I really have to tighten the adjustment knobs to stop it from tilting. Because of this, its hard to maneouver... thus making it quite useless. If its a refractor like the Skylux, its near the same weight as my telescopic lens. BUT, the telescopic does have its own fixing hole same as the camera body, so I can mount that on to the tripod. If you can make such a fitting for your refractor when you have the weight balanced according to the length of the tube etc, you should get away with it.

Otherwise, the only option is to really spend the bucks on a really good camera tripod.


Seanie.

I bought a Manfrotto from Andromeda Optics a while back for my 4" Mak.

Not the cheapest of tripods, but sturdy.

Cheers,
~Al

I would also recommend a Manfrotto tripod. This is what I use myself for photography and like Albert said very sturdy. Mine is rated for 2.5Kg and you can get Manfrotto's rated higher. The problem as I see it for scopes is counter-weighting for without this your in danger of tipping over when the scope is at an angle.

The kg rating is for when it is horizontal, is that correct?

The kg rating is for when it is horizontal, is that correct?

Don't actually know and I don't remember ever reading the rating as for any particular alignment. From a photography standpoint if your using a big long lens it's usually recommended that a lens collar be used so that camera and lens counter-weight each other. Another thing, on my Manfrotto there is a hook for attaching more weight such as a bag, this is on the center column so it's balanced.