With meticulous cost consideration and specification review I was able to get a manfrotto tripod and a benro ball head (made in china) combination to fit my budget. Details as follow.  

Ball head : Benro Model BH-1, 6kg capacity, 36 mm  ball diameter



I choose the model BH-1 ball head for its price and for its single lever adjustment knob which is also convenient for use in a monopod.

Tripod : Manfrotto 190 X-PROB, height 146 cm, weight 1.8 kg, max load weight = 5kg

Review link page http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/review/Manfrotto_190_XPROB_11725.php



In choosing the right tripod you should consider the maxload it can carry, and to be on the safe side you should allow it to carry only about 80% of load capacity. This will be enough to support my Nikon D80 (weight 585 grams) plus any of my other lenses which I averaged to weigh not exceeding 2kg.

Should I opt to upgrade to a Nikon D300 in the future (still droolling and dreaming about it ) which weighs about 0.825 kg the tripod + ball head combination will still be enough to carry the gear weight on the safe side.

This manfrotto model can turn the center column at 90 degrees which I like very much and especially useful when doing macro shots in portrait view and I no need to buy an L bracket. You need to extend and position the legs to keep the center of gravity at balance to maintain a stable setup so it wont topple forward with the camera attached.



Total cost = Tripod @ 432 AED (Al Salam) + Ball head @ 170 AED (Grand Stores) = 602 AED

I was able to get 10% discount on the manfrotto tripod from the original cost of 480 AED.

Alternative ball heads model from benro the KS-1 (585 AED) or KB-1 (389 AED) with pan head, which will allow you to pan the camera in 360 degrees which is good for shooting panoramic landscapes which also good for video cameras. These models comes with a convenient quick release plate so you just need to slide your camera in place and tighten the lock knob to secure. Dont forget to tighten the lock knob, otherwise you will subject your camera and lens to its first drop test.



Link for Benro ball heads
http://www.benro.cn/ENbenro/AA_Product.asp?BigClassName=Professional%20Head  

--Last edited by pelagio castro on 2008-09-28 09:31:11 --