Advice From An Old Git

So... So, you want a tabletop tripod? You've succumbed to the advertisements that show someone shooting a picture of a flower or a still life of fruit and nuts, and you are going to tell yourself that it will be a good thing to buy to be artistic. So it may be, but let's come down to brass tacks - you're really buying it so that you can make great selfies... Admit it - it is no bad thing. Selfies made with tripods and self-timers are a lot less intrusive than the ones that you make with selfie sticks and they are a lot better than the ones that you make by trying to hold the camera at arm's length. But there are tripods and tripods - as I discovered on my recent holidays. I took a Novoflex tabletop tripod to Sydney and Melbourne - fully realising that it would only come out when I needed a selfie or a steady photo of the Sydney Vivid light festival. It pulled apart and tucked into the Crumpler camera bag I carried. Hardly any weight and no excess baggage. And a royal pain in the potatoes to use. It pulled apart to store and then pulled apart when I tried to use it. Parts fell down on the floor in the pub. Word was spoken, and not nice ones, either. I should have had the Gitzo. The Gitzo tripod is all in one - no legs in sockets - you just fold the darn thing out and the legs can go in several positions. And you are not trying to use the dinky little key to tighten it - the Gitzo has a central collar that twists to lock it firmly - no rattling and no creep. Okay, I knew Gitzo was the best tripods in the world - my Studex 5 showed me that and I realise that they are not inexpensive items to buy. But you don't count costs when you are scrabbling about on the floor of the pub looking for tripod legs. I'll know next time.