Thanks for all the advice, between you guys, a search on the internet and a well timed travel tripod review in my photography magazine, I have a much better understanding of what I need. (That said it is STILL a minefield!)

I've had a think about price and I really don't want to spend more than about $400. I understand I may want to upgrade later and thats ok - I should be in a better financial position in a few years time as at the moment I am trying to save for a house, save for 4 months travelling and update my camera lenses!! Also at present my camera and lenses are reasonable compact and i can't imagine upgrading them much in the next few years - after that perhaps but once I've made these few investments, I really do have to focus on my house deposit saving for a year or so!

Mostly my need for a tripod relates to landscape photography. Therefore mostly I will use a SWA or a 35mm prime lens. I barely do any macro or formal portraiture. I like photographing weddings and wildlife for which some would argue a good quality tripod is a necessity but I prefer to keep my lenses light and shoot handheld so I have maximum flexibility and can shoot candid animal and wedding portraits spontaneously as the moment happens. (My largest lens is a 55-300mm - only 530g - i can't imagine eve upgrading to something much more than 1kg) Arthurking83 - I like your advice about continuous mode shooting for lower light handheld work which I will try in the future! I also try to keep my aperture wide for this sort of work to keep shutter speeds fast enough for handheld work!

The lightweight factor is still important to me so I think I will have to choose a carbon fibre tripod. If I chose a heavy tripod I think it would get left behind way too often! But it seems that on ebay and sites like global, I can still pick up a travel tripod for $300-$400 that is carbon fibre.

Now my problem is that there are still too many to choose from that fit those criteria! So does anybody have suggestions for a tripod under $400 that is carbon fibre which is the most stable that it can be? I understand it may not be the best and most stable tripod ever made and may not be suitable for larger lenses than mine but I just want to work out what the best I can get for my budget is?
Thank you all so much for your help!