What
To Look For In A Tripod - Or
how to choose one
Sturdiness.
A good tripod should not vibrate
when shaken. They are made of good caliber round aluminum
or carbon fiber
tubing, capable of taking a few bumps without distorting. Magnesium
fiber and basalt, allow for less expensive than carbon fiber
tripods, but what you save in cost you pay in weight for equivalent
load capacity and sturdiness.
Height. The
ideal is said to be one with a platform at least as high as
your eye level with the legs open at their smallest setting
angle. The idea behind this recommendation is that
in the wilderness, it is too often that one or two legs of the
tripod will rest at a level lower than where you are standing,
so the tripod feels like it has shrunken. So if you do this
often, it is better to have a little extra leg length than not.
The
above of course is not indispensable because you can always
simply bend a little if necessary.
Deduct
at least 5 inches (13 cm) from your own height (usually
the minimum distance from the top of the head to the center
of your eyes) to get the eye level height figure.
In
addition to the above, a typical head will add at least
another 4 inches (10 cm) to the height of the tripod support
and the camera body another 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 cm)
from its bottom plate to the viewfinder, depending on
whether it has a power pack or not and if on horizontal
or vertical position. If you are compromising for
compactness for hiking, you should take this added tallness
into consideration.
Also
remember that it is not absolutely indispensable to have
the viewfinder at exactly the height of your eye; you
may often want to check the camera settings on the LCD
on top of the camera body, from above. |
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Plus, you really don't want to use the center column to bring
your viewfinder to eye level; if you do, you have then successfully
converted your tripod into a monopod on top of a tripod.
| Leg
Spread. Look for tripod legs
with independent multiple angle positioning. These work
best in uneven terrain and will also let you go low when
photographing objects close to the ground -like macro
on flowers or insects- with added stability.
Center
Column Positions. Some like
quality tripods with a reversible center column; in theory
a close up photo can be taken this way or a very low angle
shot achieved. I must tell you I've been unable
to position myself in between the legs of the tripod to
make this feature useful, but others somehow seem most
happy. |
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| Others
swear by the capability to place the center column horizontally
-which makes a Manfrotto tripod to be designated "PRO".
But unless with a small camera and lens, I find it difficult
to balance. Maybe I should carry a net to place some stones
on the extreme opposite to where the camera is fixed.
In any event this does not seem essential for me and most
models with this feature show some instability. For macro
shots I rather use a Nikon
PG-2 focusing stage or the Kirk
LRP-1 Macro Long Rail Plate and open the tripod legs
wide as needed to get low and close.. |
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Also for the sake of avoiding unnecessary weight, it is always
better to get plain legs with a short center column or with
none at all.
