Photographer’s Best Friend! (tripod)

The four legged variety (a dog) may be a mans best friend, but for a photographer it is the three-legged one – the which deserves that epithet! In fact, after the camera body and the lenses, a tripod has the most significant impact on the quality of pictures you produce. It helps to better compose your pictures and makes them sharper, with just a small investment.

Consider what a tripod can do for you:

• It steadies your camera.Whatever the fancy technologies like VR/IS/OS etc. can do for you, there is a lower limit in shutter speeds below which these technologies are not effective. Typically this can be around 1/15 sec or so. At shutter speeds slower than this you must use a tripod even if your system has image stabilization. If you want a slow shutter speed to capture a flowing stream, a night scene, etc. there is simply no alternative to a tripod.

• The tripod slows you down and makes you to compose more carefully and deliberately. It helps to give due consideration to background and extraneous elements in your frame that can potentially ruin a good picture.

• Even at hand-holdable speeds a tripod has measurable impact on sharpness especially when high magnifications are used, like in macro photography or when using long telephoto lenses. A steady camera means sharper pictures.

• Some types of photographs that involve capture of lightening, light painting, star trails are only possible with a tripod.

A tripod has two main components – the legs and the head. Much like a D-SLR camera body that can accept interchangeable lenses, more expensive tripod legs can be mated with a suitable head. In many cheaper tripods, the legs come with a fixed head, thus limiting your choice.

Here is the description of these two components for you in more detail.

Legs: The legs can be made of wood, or metals like aluminum or titanium (their alloys) or carbon fiber. The latter are lighter, more rigid but expensive. Carbon fiber tripods also absorb camera vibration a lot better than the aluminum type.

The legs are telescoping, that is, the sections that make up the leg slide into one another so that when not extended, a tripod will be short in length and easy to store or carry. The number of sections is normally three but you can get four-section tripods too. These are more compact when folded but areless rigid.

The telescoping legs naturally have to be locked when the legs are extended. This is done by the leg locks. While there are many types of locks, the two most popular types are – twist locks  and flip locks.

Twist locks, as the name implies, need a twist to lock or release. Hence, these are somewhat slower but give more positive locking. Flip locks are like levers which will allow you to lock and release legs in a snap by flipping the lever. You can also make out, just by seeing whether a flip lock is engaged or not as the lever projects out when released.

The leg spread (angle) should be individually adjustable. Plus, once you set the leg at a particular angle, there should be a provision to lock it at that angle.

There are some tripods that have a center brace to increase stability. However, the brace will prevent individual leg angle adjustment and hence will force all the three legs to be at the same angle. This is actually very restrictive on uneven ground. So avoid this type and go for a tripod without a center brace.

The three legs are joined together at center by a part commonly called the ‘spider’. Through the spider there will be column which can be raised up or down through a gear or a locking screw. The gear gives more precise positioning at the expense of slower operation.

If you do a lot of table top, copying, macro or low level work, consider tripods that allow the center column to be tilted. A very good example of this type is the Gitzo Explorer Series. Some center columns also have a hook to which you can attach a weight. This will help you improve the stability of the set up. The top of the center column has a stud (a bolt) which is of 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch in diameter. The tripod head is screwed to this stud. The 3/8 inch stud is larger and hence can support heavier loads.

At the end of each tripod leg you will find the tripod foot which will make contact with ground. These are either made of rubber (most popular) or have a metal spike. So which is the best one for you? Rubber feet are best when you use your tripod on a hard or a smooth surface. Spiked feet will simply slip on such surfaces but are best when you use your tripod on soft soil or grass. Some tripods have retractable or interchangeable feet which offer the best of both worlds.

Tripod Heads: The most important part of a tripod is the head. For this reason you must pay particular attention to this issue. The most popular heads are pan heads and ball heads. There is another type of specialized head called gimbal head which you will see in brief.

Pan heads: A pan head allows the camera to be rotated about the three axes which are perpendicular to one another. These three axes are called yaw (or pan), roll (or tilt) and pitch.

Rotating about the yaw axis allows you to rotate the camera left to right or vice versa. Photographers call this as the panning axis. It is extensively used in videography.

The next axis is the roll axis and is needed to keep your camera horizontal. It is also the axis about which you position the camera vertically or horizontally. The vertical positioning is called “portrait”orientation and is useful for taking photographs of subjects which are taller than they are wider (e.g. a tall building, a standing human, etc.). The horizontal positioning is called “landscape” orientation and as the name implies it is best suited for sceneries, etc. This is also sometimes called tilt axis.

Good pan heads have three separate controls one for each axis. These can be locked by handles (or knobs). Handles are more convenient to use but can be obstructive. Also tripods with pan heads having handles are difficult to carry. Pan heads are somewhat more precise in operation than ball heads, but are slow to operate for the same reason: you need to control movement in each axis separately. They are also cheaper than ball heads. Pictures 9 and 10 show how a pan head orients the camera.

Ball heads: In this type is a ball with a small stem to which the camera is attached. The ball moves in a socket in all the directions, covering most of the upper hemisphere. The ball has just one control which locks the ball at any position and hence you can set up your camera in the quickest possible way, especially in field. Ball heads can also carry heavy loads, more than 25 Kgs depending on the model. They are fairly light and compact and hence easy to carry. A good ball head should not shift in position when the ball is locked. If it shifts, then you will have a major problem when doing precise framing (for example, macro work).

More expensive ball heads have a pan base with a separate lock. This helps to pan the camera without loosening the ball. A good pan base should have graduation in degrees. This feature is useful if you plan to take panoramic photographs.

The best ball heads have an additional feature called “tension” control. This is an interesting feature which will allow the  to be tightened in such a way that head there is enough friction to keep the camera from flopping when you release your hand but you can yet move the camera by applying a little force. This is invaluable when you want to track moving subjects as it allows very easy and quick positioning. In fact with the image stabilized (vibration reduction) lenses, some photographers do not even fully tighten the ball with properly adjusted tension.

Ball heads have two disadvantages – one, they are expensive. Second, you need to exercise some caution since if you loosen the ball head inadvertently without holding the camera it may flop to one side damaging the camera or even hurting you. All said and done most professionals use ball heads.

Gimbal Heads: These are specialized devices meant for using with very heavy and long lenses like 400mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4.0 or 600mm f/4.0. By providing a support which passes through the center of gravity of the lens, they provide a mechanism for “finger tip” handling of heavy lenses. This allows easy tracking of subjects like flying birds, racing cars, etc. which would otherwise be impossible to follow. In fact they provide unmatched performance for this type of application. However, they are useful only for heavy long lenses and are very costly.

Quick Release (QR) Adapter: The top of the head also has a stud (screw) which is of generally of 1/4 inch diameter. The bottom of your camera will have a . inch receptacle (called tripod socket) into which this screw can be inserted and tightened. While this is an acceptable method of mounting your camera, it is a very cumbersome way to attach and remove your cameras from the tripod.

For this reason you should look at a head which has a quick release (QR) adapter. The QR adapter has two components, a plate that you fix to your camera and a clamp which holds and locks the plate. The clamp is fixed to the ball or pan head. The clamp will have a mechanism which will allow you to lock or release the plate very fast – hence the name quick release. Thus you can securely fasten and remove the camera (with the plate) in an instant.

There are two types of QR adapters. The first is an open channel QR adapter, of which the Arca-Swiss type is the most popular and is widely used around the world. Though first designed by Arca-Swiss Company, compatible plates and clamps are made by several different manufactures and can be used mostly with one another. Being open ended (see picture) you use longer clamps and plates when you want to carry heavier loads like large tele lenses. This is the best QR system and like all good things in life, expensive!

The closed type has a fixed size cavity and has a less robust securing method but is faster to use and cheaper. In our country it is more popular even than the Arca Swiss type. There is unfortunately no standard for this type and you need to buy a compatible pair (plate and clamp).

Load capacity: Make sure that the load capacity of the tripod and head is sufficient to take the heaviest equipment you want to put (for e.g. the heaviest lens + camera combination). All tripod legs and heads will have a load capacity associated with them. This is measured in kilograms (kgs) and will be mentioned in the instruction manual or literature. Remember that the tripod legs have to bear the weight of the head plus your equipment. So you should choose tripod legs with a suitable capacity.

It is generally a good practice to buy a tripod that has about 2 Kgs safety margin beyond the maximum total load you want to put. As an example if the tripod head you are going to use is half Kg in weight, your camera is half Kg and lens is1 Kg, then your tripod legs should have a load capacity of 4 Kgs including the margin. It is sensible to buy something with a little higher capacity so that when you buy a heavier camera or lens the tripod will continue to support your needs.

Setting up a tripod: The most important aspect when you set up a tripod is the height which will be based on your situational needs. Once this is known you can extend the legs to match this height. This is how you do it: First release all the leg locks on one leg. Now adjust the tripod by pushing it down or pulling it up till you get the height you want. Tighten the locks on this leg and adjust the other two legs to the same length. After this, you spread the legs of the tripod. This method works well if you are on an even ground. If you are on an uneven ground, after tightening the locks on the first leg, do not tighten the rest. Extend till they touch the ground and then tighten them.

Due to spreading, you will find that tripod is now a little lower than the height you wanted. Make up for this lost height by pulling up (raising) the center column a little. Now, you may ask what about the advice that you should not raise the center column as it causes instability. While this is true to a certain extent, the stability will not be compromised if you raise the center column by just 5 or 6 centi-meters. However, it is not advisable to extend the center column more than this.  After you set up the tripod and fix the camera, move the camera to left / right and top/down with your hand. If the camera moves, that means you have not fixed the camera properly to the tripod. Make sure you check this every time you mount the camera on a tripod as many times a loosely fixed camera can fall once you remove your hand thus damaging expensive equipment.

Tip: Once you fix the camera on a tripod your mobility will be somewhat restricted. Hence, first scout around to find a suitable position and then only mount the camera on the tripod.

Table Top Tripods: If you find even the smallest and lightest tripod too big then think of a table top tripod. This is a real handy gadget to have, especially for travel photography or whenyou want to travel light. These typically do not have telescoping legs but they can be folded and the tripod will be very compact. They are in fact quite pocketable. Unfortunately a huge number of mediocre products are available bringing a bad name to table top tripods. Hence, if you are keen on having one, invest in a good brand. A good table top tripod with a suitable head can easily hold a DSLR with a kit lens. They are also excellent for CSCs (compact system cameras . Table top tripods cannot be placed on ground since they are only a few inches in height. So, you need to find a suitable platform to keep them. Look around for these and you will find plenty of them. Examples are - walls, tables, chairs, cabinets, railings, car roofs, boots and hoods (yes!), etc.

Monopods: if you find regular tripods cumber some you can look at a monopod. These are not substitutes for tripods as at best they allow you to use shutter speeds up to 2 stops slower than the thumb rule shutter speed. So, very long shutter speeds are out of question. Monopods are however, easy to handle, compact and light. They are also a lot more flexible compared to tripods. If you are going to buy a monopod, pay particular attention to the head. Many make the mistake of attaching a normal ball head. This is inconvenient in practice as the ball head allows movement in all directions making the set up difficult to handle. Instead of a ball head, buy a monopod head. This rotates only in one direction (pitch movement) and is much easier to handle. These work best with those lenses which have a tripod collar as both landscape and portrait orientations are easily possible. Panning is done by rotating the monopod itself.

So, how do you use a monopod? The best way to use a monopod is to use it like a tripod. Since a monopod has only one leg where do you get the other two legs from? Well, you can supply them 􀀭! Keep your two legs little apart and lean slightly on the monopod so that the monopod and your legs together form a tripod. This gives a good stable support.

CONCLUSION:

Resist the idea of buying a light, sturdy and cheap  tripod because such a thing does not exist. You can get a relatively light and sturdy tripod that is made of carbon fiber but expect to pay a very high price. Tripod technology does not advance at the same speed as that of cameras or even lenses. The result is that your tripod will not get outdated fast. A good tripod will also last forever and is a life time investment. In these days of megapixel madness, a tripod is the cheapest way to increase the sharpness and improve your pictures with minimal investment. And hence, to you as a photographer, your very best friend!