My tripod leg gave out at 2am in Joshua Tree and my 6 hour star trail shot became a 4 hour smear
Drove out to Joshua Tree last Saturday for the new moon, set up my camera around 9pm for a star trail shot over the Arch Rock area. Around 2am I heard this soft click, and one leg of my cheap tripod just folded up on itself, camera tipped over maybe 15 degrees. I lost about 40 minutes of clean frames before I noticed, so the trails had this ugly bend right in the middle of them. I ended up tightening everything with the allen key from my car, restarting the shot, and getting 4 decent hours before dawn. Anyone got a tripod they trust in cold desert wind that doesn't cost more than my lens? I'm scared to drive 3 hours again just to lose another night.