HELP!

No, I'm not sick. And, no, I haven't lost my mind, although you might think so with me posting this photo.

But, what I do need is your help. My Dolica tripod just died. Thankfully, my wonderful husband bought it at Costco, and it can be returned.

So, I need to buy a new tripod as soon as possible. I went down to my local photo shop and they were not at all helpful. They wanted to sell me a tripod that didn't even support the weight of my camera and lens . . . "but it is such a good buy!" Good-bye!

Anyway, I need a tripod and tripod head that can support at least 4-4.5 lbs (2kg). As you can see from most of my photos, I use a tripod mostly for landscape, some macro and some portraits. The legs have to be sturdy, light weight and small, since I will be hiking and traveling with it. The head must be able to firmly hold my camera and lens, but I also don't have the hand strength to really crank down on the knobs. I've only used a ball head, but I've also heard that 3-ways (pan-tilt) are good for landscapes. And my budget is limited right now to around $400.

This is an essential part of my kit. So,I need HELP! Rather than open it up to the Forum, I thought I would ask my faithful blip-buddies what you would recommend.

What do you use (likes and dislikes), and what would you recommend?


Thank you so much! I do appreciate your thoughts, comments, ideas, recommendations, etc. And thank you for your great comments on yesterday's shot of Joseph and his suit!