I have a Star Adventurer mount and it is now clear that my old tripod is limiting me from getting properly polar aligned. Slightly touching the mount or camera is enough to get it out of alignment.
The tripods with the thick round steel legs look nice and sturdy but I am not sure on which to get, or if they are suitable.
At the moment my camera, lens and mount would weigh at most 5kg.
The tripod will be used on grass if that makes any difference.
Thanks David. Have you noticed how tight the shaft is and if it is square to the tripod when extended? My current tripod has a bit of play in this area.
Dave47Tuc made a very sturdy tripod out of construction timber. I checked it out at one of the Snake Valley camps. Very simple but amazingly effective. BYO tripod head. Just search the forums for wooden tripod by Dave47Tuc. I'm planning on doing the same for my Mak soon.
I use Induro CLT-403 which is a 3 section, 9 weave carbon fibre tripod.
I specifically bought this one because it had reasonable leg diameter. The 3 sections are 36mm, 32mm and 28mm.
Centre column is a collet type lock which is probably the best i've seen and locks down securely. The centre column also has a groove in it so it has no sideways play. It is 32mm thick so again, very sturdy.
base plate is 60mm wide and has a standard 3/8" thread for attaching various heads.
my tripods are multi-use for photography with my SLR, for using with my 80mm refractor, or for mounting my spotting scopes.
