Canadians: Where did you buy your tripod?

[Paul Alberts]

I'm looking at a tripod for my xha1, looks like I'm going for Libec LS-55 or 38. I have no idea where I can purchase those tripods, living in Prince George sucks for buying any type of camera equipment... I looked at Vistek and Henrys, and can't find them their either.

So, where did you buy your tripod, and what did you buy. Is there a good tripod store in Vancouver that I can call up and get one shipped to me ( at a fair price... )

[Ian Firth]

Bought Miller Solo DV2 legs and a Vision 3 head over the Internet from EVS in California www.evsonline.com

The first person I talked to on the phone was not sure about the spring I needed and was to call me back. There was no response after two days, so I called again and got a different person. The second person was very helpful and apologised for the lack of callback. Sorted out everything for me and went out of his way to get it into the mail for me.

I have in the past got various stuff sent from B&H but the head was on back-order from them with no date for filling my order.

I have found that about 60-70% of my gear is cheaper from the States after paying duty and everything, with the rest being the same or cheaper here, if you can find it.

Cheers, Ian

[Dale Guthormsen]

Paul,

I only use two places for equipment, B and H, and videoguys. I bought my tripod from B and H. Both are sponsors of this forum too. Both are totaly trust worthy. If you search E bay most of the stuff sells for more than b and h a lot of the time, so be careful there. Oh yea, I am out of Saskatchewan.

[James Hooey]

Just bought a Manfrotto 503/352MVB2 combo from Vistek in Toronto. I live within 3 1/2 hours of the store and emailed then in advance to ensure that a salesman would take some time to show me suitable tripods for the A1 if I came to the store.

The service was ok, nothing particularly special. I found out probably more info from DVinfo then from the salesman but in my experience they're salespeople are no less helpful than most other retailers. They did let me try all the tripods I was interested in (that they carry anyway) and generally suggested Satchler as the way to go. After trying various models out (with my own camera/mic setup) I felt that the 503/352 combo offered the best value for the money. The Satchler DVII combo was nice but missing a few features and the spring didn't seem to balance the camera quite as well as the 503 (due to the DVII plate not having the same range of movement to balance the camera.

I believe they are also on commision and it begs the question are they selling based on a clients needs or rather a agenda of higher margin sales. Anyway, it went well and I got the tripod that best suits my needs for the money. The combo was on sale as well so the price was quite acceptable. Now to learn how to use it well!!!

Vistek (Toronto) - 4 out of 5 stars - might be a 3 if Canada had more options.