A Guide to Choose and Use the Right Tripod

A Guide to Choose and Use the Right Tripod

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A Guide to Choose and Use the Right Tripod

In addition to camera and lens, tripod is another photographic equipment that’s worth investing in. A tripod can stabilize a camera to ensure clear and sharp images. It is also an indispensable item for taking long exposure shots with a slow-speed shutter. Either case, you have to do it with a tripod, and the photo result cannot be achieved simply by post-editing.

Tripod and Head

Most tripods have 3 extendable legs for stability. A tripod head is where the camera attaches to the tripod and allows the camera to rotate and tilt. High-quality tripod and head are usually purchased separately to provide users with flexible combinations. This article will give you guidance on choosing the right tripod and how to use it.

Choosing a Tripod

To find the perfect tripod that suits your shooting habit, we can look into aspects like material, number of sections, extension mechanism and design.

Material

Aluminum and carbon fiber are the main materials used to make the tripod. The former is heavier but cheaper in price. Because of its weight, the legs slide out easier when unlocked and are more stable. For easily accessible shooting locations, aluminum tripod is a good choice. On the contrary, tripod made with carbon fiber is lighter in weight and easier to carry around. When you need to travel a long way or climb a mountain to shoot, this is a more comfortable option.
Tripods made with carbon fiber and aluminum have their own advantages

Number of Sections

This refers to the number of sections the tripod legs can be extended. The more the number of sections, the shorter the overall folded length or the higher the tripod can stand. However, a tripod becomes more unstable if it contains too many sections. In general, tripods with 3-4 sections are useful enough.
Tripod with more number of sections is usually shorter in folded length

Extension Mechanism

Tripods come with 2 types of leg lock mechanism. Flip lock is quick to open and close while twist lock is more durable (as flip lock uses a spring to lock the legs which can get worn and torn easily) but not as fast as the flip one. There are also chances of slippage if the twist lock is not fastened tight enough.
A flip lock (upper one) is quick to open and close while a twist lock (lower one) is more durable but there are chances of slippage

Maximum Height

A good tripod is one that reaches your eye level when fully extended (including the camera but not the height of the central pole). This makes it more comfortable to use without needing to bend down.

The Right Way to Use a Tripod

Don’t Lift Up the Central Pole

When taking photos of distant subjects such as landscape or buildings, whether the central pole is lifted up or not do not affect the composition much. A lifted up pole, however, can introduce unwanted vibration to the camera or even a chance of falling due to the heightened centre of gravity. Therefore, you can simply omit the central pole and go out to shoot with lighter equipment. To give the tripod extra stability, we can hang some heavy objects to the hook attached. But be sure that the hanging object can reach the ground or else the tripod may fall when the object hanging in mid-air is blown by the wind.
Without lifting up the central pole
It doesn’t affect the composition much even if the central pole is fully lifted up

Keep One of Legs in the Direction of the Lens

When you stand your tripod, you should keep one of the tripod legs in the direction of the lens to prevent the lens from falling because of its weight. This can also reduce the chances of kicking the tripod down when you move behind the camera.
Keep one of the legs in the direction of shooting to prevent the tripod from falling. Besides, the optimal height of a tripod is one that reaches the eye level at its maximum so that you don’t have to bend down too much
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