Tripods? Help Buying one

2 ANSWERS

1. Marie
   

   Tripods, just like cameras, lenses, filters, and camera bags come in myriad different sizes and types, and the specific tripods that will work best for you depend on your use profile—the kind of shooting you do. There are many types of tripods. You can check its various kinds by visiting the website tiffen.com.
   Tripods are a three (tri) legged or footed device that provides a stable shooting platform to: take long exposure pictures at night and in very low light conditions, carefully frame pictures (like team and class pictures) and repeatedly take that image, take extreme close-up photographs, use with low ISO settings and tiny apertures (f/11 or f/16) for sharp, finely detailed interior and studio photography, assist when panning sports images with very long lenses, For panoramic images you will stitch together in Photoshop
   Even if your camera has built in optical stabilization a good tripod is still necessary for any of the above situations.
   Tripods come in a remarkable range of sizes, weights and costs so the first step in buying a tripod is deciding what your particular tripod needs are. Your main considerations should be tripod weight, maximum and minimum height, type of tripod head, cost. Other factors are the type of material the tripod is made of-aluminum or a composite material like carbon fiber or basalt--and the type of leg locks.
    

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2. Guest4046
   

   The best way to buy a tripod is to go to a real camera store (one that only sells cameras, not 10,001 other things and cameras) and try out the ones they have on display. Since you're taking up their time, buy the tripod from them.
   
   The choice of a head should be based on how you plan to use the tripod. For sports and action a ball head might be best. For scenics and nature a 3-way tilt/pan head should suffice. A built-in level is useful especially for scenics. Make sure the head comes with a quick release plate. Buying a spare one is a good idea.
   
   Manfrotto, Velbon, Slik, are all good brands. Make sure the tripod "fits" you - if it only opens to 5' and you're 6' tall you'll quickly tire of stooping down. If you're 5' tall and he tripod opens to 6' all the better - you won't have to fully extend the legs and it will be more stable. Don't be tempted to extend the center column more than an inch or two. Why? Because having a heavy camera/lens combination sitting 2' up in the air on a slender metal tube creates instability. Think of trying to open a heavy door on stiff hinges. The farther away you are from the hinges the easier it is to push the door open; the closer to the hinges the harder the effort required.

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