inexpensive good tripod It took me a long time to learn that you cannot use all 3 of those words at the same time. > I want one that is sterdy Hmmm ... did you mean steady or sturdy? ... Doesn't matter, a good tripod will have both. Steady comes into play (becomes important) when you are getting a picture of a distant subject with an extreme zoom. The term "optical lever" comes into play: a little tiny amount of shake/camera movement translates into a big image shift that can ruin the shot. MGD