Finally I got my tripod - Vanguard Alta+ 204AP

Just a quick post today: no, unfortunately no travelling this weekend (I'm still doing laundry from the skiing week...), even though I've just booked some airplane tickets and I'm finalising the plan for the next weekend!

Today I just went to the center to finally get my tripod: it's what I wished for  as Xmas present and, with a fancy delay, it's what I got myself.
Without counting the hours I've spent on internet forums, tripod producers' website and youtube channels with the only aim of finding "the perfect tripod" today I spent another full hour just checking and testing the ones available in the shop (I actually did exactly the same for more than 2 hours just before Xmas). The motivation is more than clear: it's damnly tricky to select the right tripod!
According to me the tripod should be:

• Portable;
• Stable,
• Affordable.

I put portable at the first place of my lost because, as you know, I like to travel and I need to get my tripod along with me! It has to be light and when closed it has to fit perfectly in a carry on bag for airplanes. It also has to be light otherwise you won't ever carry it on any walk.

Stable: if your tripod shakes under a light breeze then you do not need it at all! Unfortunately the more stable a tripod is - usually - the heavier it becomes.

Affordable: I won't ever pay more for a tripod than for my camera so I self-limited myself at 150-160 eur.

If you speak with any photographer about tripods, he'll probably suggest you Manfrotto. And actually that was my initial plan. Unfortunately, apart of the very low-end series, Manfrotto's tripods are quite cumbersome: the 4-sections ones are pretty portable when closed down, but still they won't fit in your 55*23*20cm trolley....

A cheap solution was given by Hama: but it was cheap in really a lot of aspects, so I skipped it.

And then my selection: Vanguard Alta+ 204AP. It feel pretty stable, quite light and folds down to a very compact dimension, One of the knob is foreseen to be unscrewed for better folding and fitting in the carry bag it comes with. It was available also in the 3-sections version: much more stable and heavy but also those few centimeters longer that would have made it unsuitable for my needs.

Finally, with a 139 eur price-tag it was just perfect!

Of course I had to test it right the way, and here the result in a very easy indoor situation:

What do you think? I love the amount of detail and the clarity that I got with a long exposure.

As I said, new airplane tickets are already in my pocket and a short trip next weekend is on the agenda, so I'll have thousands of occasion for better tests. 

Downside of my trip to the shop this morning: I saw the D800E and I fell in love..... damn if it was only 1/4 of the actual price!