SLIK 505QF....Asking for it for Christmas....Solid 8 pounds, handles 11 lbs, should make short work of my 2/3 pound GL2....Fluid head, what looks to be some solid sticks.... Has anyone used this? Is it a good buy? 3 year warranty...Would I even need it? Well made? Solid construction? Nice head, locking mechanism? Thanks in advance.

I've no experience with this particular tripod and head. But I can say that you should consider getting a ball-leveling head rather than this geared center column configuration for two reasons. First, the taller you crank that center column the more unstable the camera will become. Second, this type of tripod is difficult to level outdoors. You have to fiddle with the leg lengths. (BTW, you should also look for a head that has a bubble level built into it.)

I'd recommend saving up a little longer and perhaps look a Bogen/Manfrotto rig.

I don't have any experience with it either, but have owned several SLIK tripods in the past. Basically, they were cheap junk. Perhaps they have improved? When they're new they do seem to be solid, but they deteriorate very quickly. Lots of cheap plastic parts. The head snapped right off one of them!

I agree with Ken; Bogen/Manfrotto makes much better quality inexpensive tripods. I'd suggest avoiding SLIK if possible. The lack of response to your question would suggest that not many DVinfo members are using SLIK tripods, and that should tell you something...

Thanks guys....I've been doing this video thing for about four years now and never have had a nice tripod....I'll look at bogen.

My thanks.

What about this one?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?BI=155&O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=223630&is=REG

Cheap, I know...But it's a good 8 pounds, supports 12 pounds, looks of solid construction, fluid head....Anyone use that?

Ditto my earlier comments.

Ken, what kind of tripod do you use? Instead of checking each one I might consider could ya'll just post links of tripods you know are good? I'm looking at 200$ and below...but a little bit over (215-230) is acceptable....We may shop for it on ebay.

Thanks.

Corey,
I use three tripods, but I'm afraid they're all beyond your stated $200 budget (even used models).

I still advocate looking for a good Bogen/Manfrotto rig. Many are close to your stated budget. Search around in this section of the forum. We have hundreds of threads dealing with the subject.