The lesson of having a good tripod is sometimes one that takes many years for some photographers to learn. Often, the idea of spending more money for a tripod than a lens seems crazy to some. Once you've used a good tripod, you understand.
A cheap tripod simply can't hold your camera steady in a heavy wind. I've seen many photos ruined by camera shake, many in my early years before I understood what was going on. Stability is especially important when you're using a large lens.
In this video by Nick Page, he covers what I consider to be a significant aspect of tripod selection: personal preferences. His obsession with finding the perfect tripod exposed him to the pros and cons of various makes and models. Admitting his own bias and acknowledging his preferences, Nick explains what he liked and disliked about the numerous tripods he has tried.
Nick covers the various aspects of size, weight, height, strength, and operation of the tripods he has owned. For the inexperienced, this is a wealth of information as he covers things that you may not think about if you haven't had much experience with tripods.
The video ends with multiple recommendations for each category of tripods: budget, ultralight, mid-sized, and beefy.
The gitzo traveler(series 1 or 2) it’s the smallest tripod that won’t compromise stability I’m willing to carry other than a couple rock solid table top mini tripods for ground work. I also had a mountaineer series 0 and that thing was rock solid but wasn’t as compact and quite short fully extended so decided to sell it so my traveler 1 is pretty much all I need for 95% of my needs.