Getting a Head

Photography is not a cheap hobby.

There I've said it out loud. the big dark secret of photography that everybody knows but don't realise they know until they actually get into it.

In fact when I got my first DSLR I joked that I had managed to find the only hobby that was more expensive then games workshop! Although thanks to ebay that hobby is now helping to fund my photography is some rather strange circle of life thing.

Anyway, one thing I have found is that regardless of the type of photography equipment you are buying, there is a rather large gap in the costs between the "basic" and more advanced items. Which of course leaves you with the inevitable dilemma of whether to buy a basic item now or save for a more advanced item.

I recently was due to attend a photography course and found that I would need to take a tripod, now I did have a tripod but it was quite old and although it worked it wasn't quite the image I wanted to go for attending my first course with a tripod nearly as old as me.

So I went shopping. Online shopping that is back to the same website, wex photographic where I got my 7d from. Now I had made my mind up to go for something "mid range" because if I was going to invest in a new tripod I wanted one that would last me a while. Fortunately as they have a system where you can streamline results both by price brand and customer ratings, I soon found one in my price range that seemed to have a lot of people raving.

A few clicks of the button and waiting one working day, I arrived home to find my new tripod waiting for me. After happily unwrapping it and setting it up in my bedroom ( only space we had in the house at that point thanks to decorators. Goodness knows what the neighbours were thinking), I proceeded to get out my camera to attach it to the tripod so I knew precisely how to do it for my course.

Or at least I tried to attach it to the tripod.

You see in my excitement of buying a tripod and my complete lack of experience with the latest tripods for cameras you see there was one piece of important information I had overlooked.

Most tripods now, don't come with heads, For those of you unsure what that is, it's basically the bit that you attach the camera too.

So now I had a tripod for my camera but no way to attach the camera too it.

When I mentioned this to my parents they suggested to send it back and asked if the website mentioned this. I went back to check and no it didn't mention it didn't come with a head.

But then again it didn't say that it did.

It was simply due my inexperience that I had never looked closely enough at the picture of the tripod to realise that there was no head. It also never occurred to me that tripods would ever be sold without a way to attach it to the camera.

With the course fast approaching and no time to mail order a new head, I was forced to go into Nottingham to a camera shop there to buy a head which unfortunately due to it having to be able to hold a 7d ended up costs more then 2 thirds of the cost of the tripod.

So the tripod wasn't quite in my price range as much as I thought. but at least I now had a complete tripod ready for my course.

If I had needed it mind you because as it turned out the equipment list for the course was wrong. We never needed a tripod at all.

To quote homer " D'oh!"

And I suppose it also highlights a issue buying items online, it may have cost more in a high street store but at least a staff member would have been able to tell me to get a head.

Later folks!