[e90fun]

Hey guys,

new to photography besides this one class I took in high school

My dad had a Canon EOS 5D (i think mark i, its not the mark ii for sure) and i sort of adopted it/borrowed it long term

I'm looking for a tripod/head combo, would you guys recommend any?

Also, i have one of those flash units that attaches on to the camera but im looking to buy another and set them up on tripods and use a wireless signal to set them off.

(not exactly sure of how this works yet)

Any recommendations on tripod for camera, tripod for flash units, and a flash unit would be great.

[Weebl]

1: weight an issue? (backpacking, hiking or right out of the car and shooting?)
2: long exposures? Indoors/outdoors?
3: total budget to spend?
4: what lenses do you have to use/ plan to get?
5: How deep do you want to get into photography?

Without knowing some of that it makes it difficult.
You can get away with a really light cheap tripod or have to spend ~$500+ for something a bit better.
I use a Bogen 055 pro B with a Bogen 468 head with up to a 300mm F4 lens with extender. It works but sure is heavy. Windy days I get vibration but am thinking of getting a CF one for trips and to kill off some of the vibration.
If your concern is vibration then think about getting a wood tripod- Berlebach. Wood really damps vibrations.

[The1]

the quality of tripods for the flash units shouldn't be too much of a concern, just depends how high you want to reach the flashes into the air.

as for doing it remotely, you will want some pocket wizards or something similar. If you plan on using soft boxes over the flashes, you will not have direct line of sight to the flash units, which means you will need radio activated units (which i believe the pocket wizards are, someone here will correct me if i'm wrong)

there are also infra red receiving flash units, and those are slightly easier to work with, but again, the line of sight is the huge issue with them. You would need 1 master flash unit, or an infra transmitter and however many regular flashes that can be triggered by the infra, something like an EX430, and i think the smaller units do it too, but you lose some directional control with them.

as for the tripod you want the camera on, don't be afraid to spend some money on it, a camera isn't cheap, and you don't want a cheap tripod that isn't made well holding up several pounds of camera equipment. The 5D mkI still sells for about 1000$ used without a lens.

If you aren't doing much night photography or not too much slow shutter speed, you don't need very much vibration damping as recommended by Weebl, especially as the 5Dmk i doesn't shoot video. however if you're someone who likes to shoot bridges at night on a regular basis and are doing 20 second exposures, a high end, maybe wood (again as weebl recommended) might be what is best for you.

You have a nice camera there, grab some literature on that camera, maybe even one of those photography for beginers 5D type DVDs and sit there with your camera in hand and take it all in. Then get out there, take some shots and post them up and ask for advice, there's lots of great photographers in here, and lots who are still learning, but all who can help in some way.

Good luck!

[e90fun]

weights not really an issue as im not looking to backpack or anything.

im really just trying to learn how to do some photography with my car and the girl likes to take pictures at random stops during road trips so a tripod would be better than my rig of placing the camera on top of the car.

long exposures will be used on occasion with night photography but not trying to take pictures during huge wind or anything so i dont think the vibration damping will be huge.

Looked around on camera forums and alot of people recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-190X.../dp/B000N7VPRW
With-
http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-496R...d_bxgy_p_img_b

any input on this setup?

[M_Six]

Nothing wrong with the setup you linked. But two things to consider:

1. Height - that tripod was a max height of 57". So even with that head, your viewfinder will be right about 5' 3". If you're 6' tall or more, you could be in for a lot of stooping. On the other hand, if you're under 6', it should be fine.

2. The next tripod head up the line is the 498. It's a bit more expensive, but it's got a better setup for panning and panoramic shooting. If you think you'll be doing either, you might want to invest the extra cash in the 498 head.