Look up the word tripod in the dictionary. It doesn't have anything to do with taking great pictures. That's the photographer's and camera's job. The only thing a tripod is suppose to do is hold the camera still. You can get good tripods for around $50. I've seen those that costs over $350. If you look at the features, it'll say the tripod can hold 40 lbs - 80 lbs camera. How many cameras do you own that weighs that much? You might want to convince your kid that, it's better to invest money on something else.
but we all know that good quality does not come cheap i look at like this...if i were really passionate about photography, i could justify spending 350 on a tripod. i think it is better to get something of good quality to begin with than to spend money on something that you dont really like as much just because it is cheaper.
yeah but what Isaac said is true, those really expensive ones are meant to hold video camera type cameras, not a 35mm, or even and SLR, which top out at maybe 10lbs