Every photographer (and videographer) needs a tripod sooner or later. There are always some shots that need a tripod, whether it’s for long exposures, stable video clips or just as an extra pair of hands while you organize props, swap accessories or film yourself talking to the camera.
But there are hundreds on the market, so how do you choose which type to get and what features should you look for?
Here’s a quick guide to walk you through the key choices and help you decide what you need.
Aluminium vs carbon fiber
How to choose a tripod? This is one of the first questions you’ll come up against. Carbon fiber tripods are lighter and therefore easier to carry, but they are also a lot more expensive. Aluminium tripods are heavier, but a good deal cheaper. A lot of people make a fuss about the weight saving of a carbon fiber tripod, but I’m not so sure. Even a carbon fiber tripod is extra weight to carry around and won’t be any more convenient than an aluminium one. The lighter weight might be good to have, but it won’t make a tripod any less awkward, and if your shooting is done in a studio or a short walk from a car, an aluminium tripod will be just as good and will save you money.
Leg sections: 3, 4 or 5?
All tripods have extendable legs, but different numbers of leg sections. This often has little to do with the height they can reach – it’s more about how small they fold down and how quick they are to set up. A 3-section tripod will still be quite long when it’s packed away, but it will be the quickest to set up. A 5-section tripod will fold down really small but will be slower to set up – and may not be as rigid because of the extra sections and clamps. Many tripod designs compromise with 4-section legs.
Twist lock legs or flip catches?
Tripod leg sections are clamped tight using either twist locks or flip catches. Flip catches used to be the most popular, but it’s easy to break a nail or catch your fingers, and they do tend to snag on straps and other objects. Modern twist locks are just as effective and much neater – they don’t get caught up in stuff, either.
Spikes or rubber feet?
Many tripods offer both but with some spiked feet are an optional extra. Rubber feet are the most useful generally, especially if you are shooting indoors or on flat surfaces. Spikes can be useful for mud and rocks but they tend to skitter and skate on hard surfaces. They look more useful – in my opinion – than they actually are. The ideal is rubber feet that detach to reveal spikes or, on a couple of tripods I’ve used, rubber ‘spikes’ which don’t harm floors but can still dig into mud and grass.
Full height vs folded length
The larger the number of leg sections, the greater the difference between the folded length of the tripod and its maximum height when it’s set up. This sounds like the perfect outcome but be aware that as explained above, the greater the number of leg sections the longer the setup time. Some of the most compact tripods to carry are also some of the fiddliest to set up.
How high a tripod do you need?
This depends on you and how you like to shoot, but there’s no rule of photography that says you have to shoot every photograph from your own eye level. If you like to use a viewfinder, then squatting down to a low camera position is a nuisance, but most cameras these days have at least tilting rear screens and often vary-angle screens, so lower-level shooting is not a problem. For comfortable eye level viewing, a tripod which will go to 1.5m is best. It’s best if it can reach this height without extending the center column, as this will give more stability – and the option for an even higher camera position if needed.
What’s different about a travel tripod?
To make tripods as short as possible when packed down, many tripod makers have adopted a ‘travel tripod design. When you fold a normal tripod, the tripod head still sticks out at the top and adds to the length. With a travel tripod design, the legs fold up through 180º to enclose both the center column and the tripod head for an overall shorter length. However, it does take longer to set these tripods up, not least because you have to lower the center column back to its regular position for shooting.
Rotating center columns
Almost all tripods have extending center columns to give you more height but these usually go straight up and down. A few, however, built in a rotating pivot so that the column can be set at an angle or turned into a horizontal boom. This is really useful for close-up or table-top photography where the tripod legs would normally stop you getting the camera close enough.
Short columns
Not everyone wants or needs a centre column. They reduce the stability of the tripod, for a start, they can really get in the way for low angle shots, and you may find the tripod is high enough for your needs without it. This is why a few tripods come with a short, ‘stub’ centre column or none at all – or a short column is offered as an option. It might sound as if you’re removing a lot of a tripod’s versatility, but a tripod with a short column or none at all is more stable and quicker to use – as long as the tripod goes high enough.
What’s different about a video tripod?
You CAN use a regular tripod for video, but if you want to use panning movements while filming, then a video tripod is better. That’s because the good ones will have levelling bowls to get the base perfectly flat – essential for panning – and ‘fluid’ heads for smooth motion. There’s more on these gadgets below. Serious professional video tripods may also have double-shaft legs and ‘spreaders’ for added rigidity, but unless you’re shooting with a full blown cinema camera and a film crew, this is probably overkill.
Levelling bowls
Levelling bowls are used with video tripods. They fit into a bowl shape in the top of the tripod and can be adjusted to provide a perfectly level base for the tripod head without having to make lots of tiny adjustments to the tripod head. Many video tripods come with levelling bowls and bases built in. 3 Legged Thing makes a levelling base that can be used with a regular tripod.
How to choose a tripod head
Working out how to choose a tripod is only half the battle – you also need to choose a tripod head. Tripods and tripod heads are sometimes sold as a kit and sometimes sold separately. The tripod produces the support, the head offers the camera movements. They are interchangeable so you can swap different heads around on the same tripod to suit what you are shooting.
Ball head or three way head?
Ball heads are by far the most common. They have a simple locking ball mechanism which allows the camera to move in any direction and then locked in position by turning a single knob. The better ones also have a separate panning axis for horizontal movements only. Ball heads are compact to carry and quick to set up, but they are not very good for small, precise movements, especially for close up or architectural photography. For this a three-way head is better. These have separate pan, tilt and rotation axes which can be moved individually without affecting the others. They are larger and slower to set up but better for precise work.
Video heads
Video heads are a variation of the three way head design but with some adaptation. They dispense with to rotate axis on the basis that you won’t want to shoot vertical video. If you do, for social media use, you can use an L-bracket for turning the camera vertically. Video heads will often have a longer camera mounting plate to help you balance the weight of the camera better. They will also offer ‘fluid’ movements on one or both movements to allow smoother panning and tilting actions, often with adjustable ‘drag’.
Quick release plates
In the old days tripod heads had screws which went straight into the thread on the base of the camera. A few still work this way. Usually, though, tripod heads come with ‘quick release’ plates that you screw to the base of the camera. These then slot quickly into the tripod head and can be detached just as quickly if you want to take a couple of hand-held shots. The nearest thing to a ‘standard’ quick release plate is the Area Swiss type, which can usually be swapped between tripod brands and heads. Manfrotto makes its own bespoke quick release plate, which is fine if you stick to the Manfrotto brand,
Panoramic and VR heads
Panoramic heads are designed for shooting ‘stitchers’, or very wide panoramic images made up of a series of overlapping frames stitched together in software. You can do this with a regular tripod with a panning axis, but panoramic heads also have adjustments for the camera position than help you eliminate parallax changes with objects close the camera. VR heads are a development of panoramic heads designed for all-round 360 stitching, not just horizontal panoramas.
Gimbal heads
Very heavy telephoto lenses will come with their own tripod mounts that help you get the tripod fixing point directly under the centre of gravity – but they can still be difficult to use when following fast-moving wildlife or sports subjects. A gimbal head, however, mounts the lens on a one-sided or two-sided ‘yoke’ with bearings that allow fast and smooth movements when following subjects.
Geared heads
Geared heads are three-way heads designed for even finer and more precise movements. They have geared knobs for very fine adjustments and are especially useful for macro work or architectural photography. They are more expensive than regular heads and may appear slower to use – but may in fact make perfect framing a lot quicker because a regular head could leave you struggling.
How much should you spend on a tripod?
You can get tripods for as little as $100/£100, or even less if they come bundled with a camera deal, but while these are better than no tripod at all, there are good reasons for spending more.
Tripods in the $200/£200-$500/£500 price band will offer much more stability, many more features and will almost certainly be quicker and more satisfying to use.
Beyond this, tripods in the $500£500-$1000/£1000 price range are more for professional users who want the best quality and engineering and are prepared to pay a lot more for comparably small gains.