My wife & I will be making our 2nd Paris trip this yr. Would like to bring a tripod along but it's rather bulky. Does anyone know whether a Parisian camera shop would rent one or anyone have any better ideas. Thanks..
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Have you considered one of those portable tripods? These have always met my needs for travel photography, and I use a fairly large Canon Powershot.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
The Gorilla Pod is something you may want to check out, small and inexpensive. But not a professional accessory if that's what you're looking for.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32216 posts
George,
You might want to have a look at This Product. It's designed to be a Monopod, a Tripod (albeit light duty) and a walking stick and designed for easy travel. I believe this is a new product, manufactured in Oregon. They also have smaller and more portable "tabletop" Tripods, etc.
I'm also considering one of these, but not sure if I want to pack yet more photography kit along.
Happy travels!
Posted by
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
213 posts
George,
Given that your regular tripod is "rather bulky," it sounds as if you use a fairly heavy camera like a DSLR and need more support than would be required for a point-and-shoot type camera. I shoot with a fairly heavy Nikon DSLR. On my travels I've carried various tripods. On my last trip in Europe I used a Gitzo G1098 Basalt tripod with a Gitzo G1177M ball head. It is Gitzo's compact travel tripod and collapses to less than 16 inches without the head. Even with the head on it fits in my carry-on. I used it very successfully in Europe although I usually did not extend the legs all the way. Those last leg extensions look flimsy because they're small diameter. But the basalt legs are actually remarkable sturdy with superb vibration-dampening ability. It's not a cheapie, but has served me well in my travels. It was recommended to me by a pro who used it for travel photography.
Dwayne
Posted by
dallas, tx, usa
1358 posts
Why bother with a large tripod? I use my miniature model which is about 12 inches long and useful anywhere you can place it on a table, fence rail or support of any kind. I can even turn it sideways and place it on a wall for support.
Posted by
Puyallup, WA, USA
881 posts
After thinking long, and hard about this, we are going to try the GorillaPod, and a monopod that works as a walking stick (we have one traveler who needs one). Hopefully that work work! I'll post when we're back.