i'd also like some ideas. i'm 6'5" or so and often find in cases of low stages and tall people in the crowd that getting the camera up to my eyes isn't high enough, and i need to be able to get it a few inches above me and reach up to operate it, to get worthwhile footage. thus, i need the max height to be a minimum of 80" or so. this is tricky because very few tripods have a rated max height of anywhere near this. more common seems to be in the range of 50"-70" or so, usually topping out around 75". and that's even with center column extended. i know you can squeeze out some extra height by tightening up the footprint, but i don't want to cut it so close that i have to tighten up the footprint to the point where it's bordering on unstable, just to get every last inch of height i need. in other words, i'd prefer to have some breathing room with the height. the Manfrottos are nice, but every tripod (seemingly from any brand) that i can find that has enough height and a decent head seems to be $300-$400 or more. looking for a more affordable solution than that.