Can we talk about the $180 'astronomy' tripod that shook worse than my $30 one
So last March I got it in my head that my wobbly shots were the tripod's fault, and I dropped $180 on a heavier photo tripod from the camera shop over on Commerce. Big fat regret. The thing weighs 6 pounds and every time someone walks across the deck, the whole rig jiggles anyway because the deck boards flex, so turns out the tripod was never the problem. I dragged it out for the Jupiter opposition in early April, got the focus dialed in, and the planet was doing a little dance in the eyepiece for a solid 20 minutes before the vibrations died down. My cheap $30 aluminum one settles faster because it's lighter and doesn't fight the wood. Now the expensive one lives in the closet and the junky one is back on the deck, which is embarrassing to admit. Should I be looking at a patio stone base or some kind of hanging weight to steady things, or am I just chasing my own tail here?