Appreciation post: That $15 tripod vs the $80 one for filming fails

My buddy swore I was wasting money on a cheap tripod for filming my dumb skateboard attempts. But after dropping his expensive one off a ramp and watching it shatter on the third try, my $15 one survived a full season of wipeouts. Sometimes cheap and sturdy wins out over fancy.

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the_piper3mo ago

...and honestly that tracks with my own experience too. I've had cheap plastic tripods take a beating and keep going while the aluminum ones bent or broke on the first real drop. The leg locks on my $15 one are a little wobbly now but they still hold. Your buddy's $80 tripod probably had some fancy quick release mechanism that just wasn't built for crash testing.

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andrew_rodriguez3mo ago

@the_piper nailed it with that "fancy quick release mechanism" point. Those features look cool but fall apart fast when you actually use the gear. My cheap tripod has wobbly legs too but it still holds my camera steady enough for the shot.

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