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I have a Nikon D90. I am looking for the lightest weight tripod I can afford, but one that will be sturdy enough not to be blown over or unbalanced by a heavier lens. I have a had a look but there are so many I am now in a spin. Any personal recommendations would be welcome. I can spend up to £250 ish. I plan to use it for landscapes, slow shutter speeds and close up macros. Please help.
Just note that you will possibly also need a new tripod head as well.
I cannot recommend a specific tripod but suggest that you take your camera and heaviest lens along to Park Cameras in Burgess Hill where they have an extensive range on display 
Just look up your cameras lens and camera, take a note of the wieght and then compare against online rating of tripods your intrested in, manfratto give a load capacity column and can hold up to 18kg with carbon fibre
EG
http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/product_list/8374.58969.82552.0.0/190_series
I have a Nikon D90 and I bought a Slik Pro 400DX Tripod last year and can highly recommend it. The heaviest lens I have is a Sigma 50-500 and I also have a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 - tripod copes well with either. I also do a lot of walking and this tripod is a good compromise between being sturdy enough and light enough to walk miles with it. I bought it via Amazon and they currently have the 400DX down from £144 to £89.99 with free delivery.
Hope this helps.
jude
manfrotto are very reputable, reliable, solid and nearly bomb proof (please note i did say nearly) the carbon range are excellent and there was a deal going whereby if you spent the kind of money your talking about you got a free trigger friction ball head worth £100
been manfrotto myself for 5-6 years no complaints, but recently invested in a carbon Velbon (£179) with the larger trigger friction ball head in the manfrotto range (£129) because of the weight capacity both items less than £310 but a solid investment which will last at least another 6 years.
Jack
I just bought what I think was a bargain on Amazon, I bought it for the wife as she wanted a lightweight tripod for carrying around. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford an all singing and dancing carbon fibre jobber, so did a fair bit of shopping around and decided on this one. Tripod
Now don't be put off by the fact it's cheap and cheerful, because this little gem has really surprised me, it's solid, light and extremely strong! I've put a 50d with battery grip and a 500mm lens on it and it was solid as a rock. Even more surprising is the fact in comes in lighter than some top of the range all singing and dancing well known brands. Can't say how durable it will prove to be over time, obviously that might prove it's downfall over time, but all the clamps seem strong and it really does seem well built, what's more it comes with a really strong ball head......Certainly the best bargain I've found this Christmas!
Ade
Ade,
Can you confirm if the head is removable in case you wanted to fit a different one? Also, if you don't mind, do you know what the closed length is of just the tripod itself, without head? The specifications don't seem to give that measurement.
I'm after a lightweight one myself for hiking/backpacking. There's a GITZO one which looks perfect at just 1kg in weight, but the price is way,way over the top. So I'm after a cheaper alternative. The Hama tripod may just fit the bill.
Quote: Can you confirm if the head is removable in case you wanted to fit a different one?
Yes mate, head is removable!.....One of the first things I tried, because the wife has a trigger type head she likes to use off her old and very heavy Calumet tripod.
Ade
P.S. Incidently, remember Amazon have a very good returns policy, so if you're not happy, you can very easily return it.......Don't think that will be happening with the wifey's though 
Quote: With the series 1 ball head
Yes, They are extremely good, We have been using a couple of them for the last 2 years, Supporting heavy camera and lens combos with no problems ( Cam/Lens combos Canon 5D MkII with Canon 100-400mm and a Nikon D700 with Sigma 150-500mm ) Verdict these ball heads are so flexible, There is no way we are going back to previous head types.....
We use these Giottos ball heads on a mix of Manfrotto tripods, ie: 190 and 055 Pro models, That said I checked out the Giotto models first hand recently, In a showroom evaluation, They seem every bit as good as the Manfrottos models that are similar in spec......
Hama...? Don't want to dampen the spirit here, But that is a very budget brand, The price alone is a giveaway, Reviews can be very misleading as many are written on an out of the box experience, Often by people with little or no experience, So you have to dial into the equasion a little rose tinted views.....
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