I'm heading to Yellowstone for a photography seminar with National Wildlife. I use a Nikon D40x with 55-200 lens. Anyone suggest a sturdy but lightweight & easy to use tripod? Anyone used a manfrotto 718B? Anyone know the differences between the 718 & the 728 in terms of design & usability?

Does National Wildlife have a tripod you could borrow when you get there? Both tripods you mentioned are budget models - fine for shots of the family in the living room but I wonder how they'd hold up to a national park hike. It's weird but saving money on a tripod is a false economy. In difficult circumstances, no tripod at all is better than having one.

Things to look for in a tripod: maximum load; moveable central column; independently adjustable legs; weight.

The carbon fibre numbers from Gitzo are very nice.

I use an ancient Benbo Trekker II but it's heavy: taking it out in the field is like having a really big workout.

well, i have never used the manfrotto 718B. my plastic tripod is lightweight and compact. i am loving it! maybe u can just refer to my [tripod I love to spam].

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[In case you haven't noticed by now, I'm a low-level spammer. Don't worry - the situation is well in hand.]

I would look around the net for a review site.

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