Your price range doesn't fit it, but I LOVE my Gitzo 1541T. Small, lightweight, and sturdy. Well worth the elevated price tag, IMO. I haven't seen anything in your budget that looks like it will take the beating my gear takes.

Brian,

I recently picked up a lightweight tripod for exactly the same reason. My requirements is that it had to be stable with my Nikon DSLR and a 70-300 zoom attached along with an external flash and not break the bank either.

Normally I use Manfrotto/Bogen so I was happy to see at the local Sam's Club they had a travel backpack with laptop sleeve and it came with a Manfrotto tripod along with it for around $80 total. It is Model: MKC3-P01 and Sam's Item #:507215

It is not as robust as my normal tripod but even with the included backpack it fits on airplanes easily. You do have to reverse the center column to get it to fit inside the backpack but the positive side is that you can lower the center column and not extend the tripod's legs to be able to get the camera almost to ground level and feel secure. Also there are a set of straps that can be used to hang the tripod on the outside of the backpack if you choose to do so.

I just used it to shoot roughly 500 timed exposures inside a museum and they all came out as good as if I had been lugging around my big tripod.

I would go check it out in person if possible to see if it meets your needs.

Tim

According to Manfrotto, that one will only reliably support 3.3 lbs. When I'm using a 5D Mark II with a 24-70 f2.8 or a 1Ds Mark III with a similar lens, they come darn close to exceeding that. The Gitzo will comfortably hold about 17 lbs. It's very important to figure out how much your gear weighs and make sure the tripod you put under it will support that. Not saying it doesn't work for you Tim, since you didn't mention with camera you have, just saying in general, you want to be sure it supports what you need.

I agree with the previous comments. You need to make sure it will support your camera and lens. You need a tripod and ball head that supports more than the total weight. Remember when you are on that trip and there is a wind blowing, that will also affect the situation. I want to be sure that the shot that I setup for is not going to be ruined by a breeze because my tripod was not sturdy enough, with some of my long 3 minute exposures. I going on a trip in April with someone who has purchased an Oben tripod. I stuck with the benro travel tripod. I have a Manfrotto for non-flying trips.I have a Canon 7d with the canon 100-400 mm lens - so it weighs quite a bit.

Rick,

The discussion is great because I had never considered either the Gitzo (or the Oben) and I am like you in the regard that since I do this for a living, I make sure my equipment fits my needs.

The biggest challenge with the initial premise/inquiry was the budget which is what my reply was based upon. I had even considered recommending Brian check out the Gorillapod SLR-Zoom or Focus but they do not get you off the ground far unless there is something to hang them on. If you ignore his stated budget then lots of other possibilities open up.

You and Sue are exactly right about making sure your equipment does more than barely meets the mfr. specs. I try to not even get close to the mfr. max supporting weight because I want something a lot more stable even for 30 second exposures, happily I do not do 3 minute exposures, yet.

I have a couple of Gitzos (GT 2530 and GT 0530) and a Bogen 055. The Gitzo 0530 is extremely light and small, and thus perfect for travel and backpacking. It is not very tall though, so it has some drawbacks; but one has to compromise to get the weight down. I have the Really Right Stuff BH-25 ballhead on it, which is also extremely light.

I have an old, heavy Slik tripod I use occasionally, but I hate lugging a tripod around. I do appreciate how invaluable one can be at times, but I make do with two alternatives. First is a TekPod XL monopod. It is not cheap...around $400 a while back. It has three short legs that can convert it to a tripod of sorts, but these will not be adequate in situations like wind. It is light, carries in a bag with shoulder strap and fits in my moderately sized suitcase. It will not match the possibilities of a full tripod, but with some care and practice can yield nice results.

The second alternative is cheap and invaluable. I made my own bean bag of sorts. Rather than use rice, which is often suggested but is heavy, look for something like a travel pillow and put the "stuffing" in a zip lock bag. I keep one in my car and get great results using it on the window sill or any other solid object.