EQ mount legs- which be more gooderer?

[cometcatcher]

I'm soon to purchase a new EQ5 something mount or similar, and I see all these different leg choices. Wood, aluminium, steel, pier etc.

I gather aluminium is not as good a choice as stainless steel for stability? What about vibration? How do pier mounts compare to steel tripods?

I don't want anything too heavy, or expensive, yet at the same time want something stable.

Now I already have a Samson pier mount. It seems quite solid. Are any of the popular Skywatcher EQ heads or whatever they are called compatible?

[Barrykgerdes]

The mounts will come with legs if bought new. EQ5 , EQ6, G11 etc come with stainless? steel legs and are quite stable on a solid surface.

If your Sampson pier is a permanent device you can adapt most EQ heads to it. However if it is only the standard Sampson pier I think the new tripod legs will be better.

Barry

[Waxing_Gibbous]

I swapped my EQ6 legs for a portable pier, purely for convenience (much less tripping over).
The pier is very stable though not quite as planted as the stock tripod legs.
I weight the feet of the pier with a 75kg chain to ensure ultimate stability, but it's very windy here, so calmer climes would probably need much less, if any.

On the whole I think nice heay steel makes the best tripods.
The heavier the better - forget CF or lightweight Aluminium.
Because of their weight steel 'pods tend to take up less room than an equally specced wooden or Al model, though wood dampens ground-up vibrations a little better than either.
But unless you live close to a major road or a siesmic fault, it tends not to be an issue (actually we've had 3 earthquakes in the last year but they were all on cloudy nights - so no problem :D).

FWIW, I think the stock Skywatcher 'pods a very effective and I never had an issue with one.

[Larryp]

The stainless steel tripod is by far the best tripod

[cometcatcher]

Looks like stainless steel is the way to go then.

Thanks very much for the helpful advice.