I'm looking for a lightweight, inexpensive tripod I can take hiking with my GL2 camcorder. Something sturdy enough to hold the camcorder with either a wide-angle or tele-converter lens, light enought to carry strapped to a LowePro camcorder backpack, functional without extra bells and whistles, and in the $200-$300 or so range.

Any suggestions?

Hi Stephen

Take a look at this. It's a duo-pod. It is a
mono-pod but has the stability of a tripod.
I don't have any experience with this and do not
know how much it costs.

http://www.16x9inc.com/duopod/dv.shtml

There's the Bogen Wilderness tripod. I haven't used it but it seems to be what you're looking for.

http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=3221WN501

I have the bogen and it weighs in over 9 lbs. which is a little heavy in my opinion for long treks. However, I carry mine strapped to a bottom carry plate attached to a military alice pack frame and this arrangement works well for me.

Regards,

Mark

I checked out the Bogen Wilderness/501 combo today and this tripod is quite large for trekking around. I think it will do quite well for the price ($270) for work where you won't be doing a lot of moving. That combo comes in at close to 11lbs or so, and it is very bulky... unless someone else will be carrying it.

I have a Slik 300DX and it is pretty good for the money ($100). It is lightweight, compact... BUT you won't get smooth movement of a nicer head.

Personally, I'm looking for a good 1/4" head to use on this Slik, if such exists.

Thanks for the ideas. I'll explore them. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with the Slik Compact-XL? Can it handle the weight of the GL2?

Does anyone have any experience with the Gitzo G-1128 or G-1228?