Tip 3 - Why And How To Choose A Tripod
If you ask me “do I need a tripod?” My answer is "it depends".
If you are just into portrait photography, you can skip this tip and go to my next chapter. But if you enjoy travel photography, keep reading.
As a traveler, you’ll probably want to minimize luggage and weight. Or you might think only professional photographers use tripod. Or you are happy with whatever digital gadget you currently have, and don’t see an upside of using a tripod.
I get you. I was in the same boat many years ago, until I wanted to capture more mother nature in the most beautiful light during sunrise and sunset. Tripod has changed my entire photography world, and opened up so many new avenues to document my travel journey. Without a tripod, my photo activities were limited to the day time, and in good light conditions. But now I can take photos almost anytime anywhere.
Since 2020, tripod has become even more important. If you want to take family travel photos, you no longer want to approach strangers, and have to do it yourselves. Not to mention you want to take selfies. Although sometimes you can set up your camera on a bridge, rock or bench etc., such creative solution isn’t always available.
In short, a tripod is probably the next big investment beyond a camera and a lens that will change the course of your photo journey.
Why Tripod
We use tripod to stabilize our camera and avoid camera shake in hand-holding position, particularly in dim light situation - when we need to slow down our shutter speed to get more light.
We also want to include ourselves in the picture without asking help from others.
How to choose tripod
There are so many tripod choices. You can spend hours researching online and still can’t decide. So below is my best advice based on my own experience.
Once again, you can skip the following if you only want to photography people. I wrote this ebook during the pandemic, so there’s a special value of tripod to do selfie, which I detailed in tip 29.
The following video is my recommendation of choosing the right tripod for long term use. If you only want to take some selfies here and there, you might not need to make such serious investment.
I own two tripods:
👉 The first one is a Gitzo Carbon Fiber tripod. Technical name is Gitzo GT1542T Series 1 6X Carbon Fiber Traveler 4 Section G-Lock Tripod. I purchased it on Amazon at about $600 over 10 years ago. Right now it might be slightly cheaper.
👉 The second one is a MeFOTO GlobeTrotter 64.2" Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod. I bought it on Amazon one year after buying the Gitzo. It cost less than $400.
Owning two tripods allowed me to photograph landscape side by side with different composition, and record video tutorials. After using both tripods for so many years, especially Gitzo, they are both in excellent condition.
I would recommend you considering the following 6 factors before your purchase.
1. Weight And Size
It has to be light and compact. Carbon fiber tripods could be half the weight of aluminum ones. If you are a regular traveler and are into landscape photography like me, you don't want to pack a super heavy tripod on a hike or a climb. Even if you are much bigger than me and don't mind carrying the weight, it is still a lot better to have a light-weight and compact tripod that can easily fit in your backpack. The heavier the weight, the more unlikely a regular backpack can hold your tripod. You end up having to invest in a professional camera bag, or have to hand carry it which is inconvenient.
Total height of a tripod is also important. Apparently you don't need a tall tripod if you are short. Read carefully how tall a tripod is before extending the middle column. You want to avoid extending that for stability reasons - the longer you extend the middle neck (or column), the less stable your camera is. I extend my middle column a maximum of 2-3 inches. In high wind conditions, I typically don't extend it at all.
2. Durability
Carbon fiber tripods are less susceptible to corrosion than aluminum ones if used in rainy or wet conditions. They also handle cold better. I have used my tripods in many harsh conditions and weather, eg. in the rain, snow, desert, ocean, sand etc, and both of them survived perfectly, thanks to carbon fiber. It’s important to consider these factors particularly if you are into wilderness or remote countryside travels.
3. Stability
Stability is affected by many different factors. Apparently the heavier, the more stable. Does this make carbon fiber an inferior choice? Not really. Carbon fiber dampens vibration faster than aluminum. And many carbon fiber tripods come with a hook at the bottom of the middle column so you can hang a bag to increase weight.
In my case, since my tripod is among the lightest models, and I chose a medium sized ball head (Really Right Stuff BH40 instead of BH25, or 30), I did have a stability issue when I mounted my first full frame camera, Canon 5D Mark III, with the Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS II USM Telephoto Zoom Lens in high wind conditions. The total weight of the camera and lens is around 5 pounds (3 for the lens, 2 for the camera). In the same high wind conditions, when I mounted my Canon EF 16-35mm F2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens, which is half the weight of the telescope lens, there were no vibration issues.
However the solution was pretty easy: hang a backpack or camera bag from the middle column of the tripod. This was almost an everyday must when I was in Iceland.
To summarize, carbon fiber tripods have much a stronger stability/weight ratio than aluminum ones. So if I have to purchase another tripod, I will still go for the carbon fiber model.
4. Convenience
Number of leg sections is a big factor. Apparently it takes longer time to extend a six section tripod than a 3 or 4 section tripod. But this has to be balanced with the "compactness" after everything is folded. Of course the more section, the more compact you can fold a tripod.
Another design factor is how you extend the tripod legs. Twist and turn, or using a lever or switch. I prefer the twist and turn because it’s simple and takes less time to set the legs in position. A lever or switch extends from the leg and is more likely to get caught on something if you are in a hurry. I’d recommend trying various tripods in a camera store and getting familiar with how to extend the legs before purchase.
It’s important if you choose to use a twist and turn model, you need to turn it tight. In the field, when I was in a hurry to set up my tripod, sometimes I didn’t turn the tripod leg tight enough, causing the leg to shrink into its upper section during the shoot. That’s definitely something we need to avoid. However, the worst scenarios is that if you have multiple section legs, and you don’t know which section was shrinking, it would take you extra time to inspect and fix the problem. This is the only caveat for using a twist and turn tripod.
5. Connection between tripod and camera
One last thing is that many tripods do not connect to your camera directly. You need a tripod head. Some tripods come with tripod head (like my MeFoto), some don’t (like my Gitzo). For those that don’t come with a tripod head, you have to set extra budget for a tripod head, which has a wide range of prices.
The most common tripod heads include ball head, tilt/pan head and geared head. For photographers who don’t do video often (like me) and want to minimize equipment size and weight, ball head is the best choice in my opinion. If you have video needs, or need higher precision for camera angles, you’ll need to look at tilt/pan head and geared head respectively. Since this eBook does not cover video and landscape photography with special tripod needs, we won’t expand too much detail about tripod heads here.
When choosing the ball head, make sure to pay attention to its load capacity. You need to know the total weight of your camera and lens, ideally the heaviest lens you will possibly use on the tripod. This total weight shall not exceed, or in fact be much lower than the tripod head load capacity. Or you’ll run into stability issues.
Beyond the tripod head, you need something else to connect your camera with the tripod head. For example, an Arca Swiss plate, which could cost less than 10 bucks attached to the bottom of your camera can click into the slot of the top of your tripod head. Just bear in mind, not all tripod head is compatible with Arch Swiss plate. Manfrotto quick release plate is a different type, which is often paired with Manfrotto tripods. I wouldn’t recommend either of them if you have a large full frame camera.
L-plate is a much better option for quick change between landscape and portrait orientation without maneuvering your tripod set up constantly. It’s also much more stable for larger cameras.
Sony A7III sitting on the Really Right Stuff BH-40 ball head through a simple Arca Swiss Plate.
6. Budget
Last but not least, budget is of course important. For me I’d rather pay twice for something that lasts twice as long instead of getting something of inferior quality and having to replace it often. The total cost over time is what I consider. If you take a long trip like I did, and will visit wilderness where there is no camera store within a radius of hundreds of miles, the last thing you want is to have unreliable equipment. Generally carbon fiber tripods cost twice as much as comparable aluminum models. If you will use your tripod outdoors often, get a carbon fiber one.
Of course, beyond tripod, there are so many other camera accessories you might want, depending on what kind of photos you want to take:
memory cards and memory card reader
extra battery & battery charger
remote shutter release (see above image)
lens filters (if you shoot video, or photograph landscape)
light (if your camera doesn’t have flash)
In the next few chapters, most of the tips you’ll learn only need a camera, together with a lens and a memory card. Only tip 14, 15 and 29 suggest optional help from a tripod, and perhaps a remote shutter. Even in those scenarios, additional equipment is not a must, and just nice to have.
Here are my top 4 favorite websites:
Almost all of my photo gears in the past 10+ years have been purchased from Amazon, B&H Photo Video and Adorama
I also always check dpreview —> buying guide for in-depth analysis and equipment comparison before a major purchase. [Update: unfortunately, dpreview went out of business in 2023 but you can still check past information]
I have listed my most recent photography equipment and a more complete list (before 2023) for your reference. Note I am not an impulse shopper, nor a hoarder of camera equipment. All the purchase choice has a strong logic behind it. Check out my free video guide Mirrorless Camera Ultimate Buying Guide which detailed the rationale you might want to consider when choosing your camera and lens.
I hope the tips I provided above will help you come up with a sound decision so you can start your own photo journey and document your happiness.
Go back to Camera Equipment Chapter
