This article may contain affiliate / compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here
What should you look out for when buying a tripod? There are three specific camera tripod recommendations!
One advice right at the beginning: Don’t take a cheap 20 Bugs tripod, because then you will look for a new one half a year later. Normally, you will use a tripod for several years, so it is worth to plan a little more budget. My recommendations range between 100 and 220 Euro. The article is very detailed, if you are just looking for a recommendation.
Here is an overview of my best picks:
- stable, light, compact, spherical head — Manfrotto Befree
- stable, nice hight, a bit weight, choose your own head — Manfrotto 190 (Allrounder)
- very stable, great hight, lightly heavy, choose your own head — Manfrotto 055 (maxium stability)
Why do you need a tripod?
You need a tripod if you are shooting in low light and would otherwise blur your shots. But how do you determine the point at which your photos are blurred? You will find the one-by-focus rule of thumb below!
A tripod is also very useful for video shoots and when you are alone and no one can hold the camera.
So you need a photo tripod whenever you want to take pictures in low light or if you want to take long exposures. In most cases, a tripod is used in landscape photography and architectural photography. The goal is always to take blur-free photos.
Does every camera fit on every tripod?
The tripod threads of digital SLR cameras, system cameras and also compact cameras are now standardized. Thus, one can say that the common cameras fit on every common photo tripod. Here you do not have to pay attention to anything special.
The most important criterion for me: weight
The ideal tripod is always a good compromise between weight and stability. A 200 gram tripod will rarely be stable, while a 5 kg tripod is almost always stable but also heavy. The tripods I recommend below weigh between 1.4 kg and 2.7 kg. This aspect has a particularly high priority if you travel a lot. Below I give a hint which is the best tripod for me.
What height is necessary?
The question of how big the tripod should be, is quite exciting. It depends on your height. Your tripod should be big enough so that you can look through the viewfinder without the center column being extended. This way you can take pictures comfortably and concentrate on your composition without having to strain yourself.
Twist or clamp closures
In order to extend the legs of your tripod and then fix them in place, fasteners are necessary. Mostly clamp fasteners are used here. However, you also have the choice to purchase twist locks when buying. I have used both closures and I cannot say that I have a particular favorite.
Of course, it is more difficult to get your fingers caught on the twist lock. Some colleagues say that they can set up tripods faster with twist locks, but when working with a tripod, the two seconds longer set-up time is not so important to me. My opinion: It doesn’t matter which locks you use.
Pay attention to the load capacity
What matters is how much your camera and lens weighs. Each tripod has a fixed maximum load capacity. This load capacity should of course be higher than the weight of your photo equipment.
If you don’t pay attention to this value, it is possible that your picture section will be lowered during the exposure. If you put too much weight on the tripod, it can also be damaged.
The difference between using wide angle and telephoto lenses
Another rule of thumb: For a telephoto lens you need a more stable tripod than for working with a wide-angle lens. That’s because with the long focal length of a telephoto lens, images can blur more easily. This also applies to very small nudges on the tripod itself. Or even in situations with strong winds. Telephoto lenses in combination with a tripod are used especially in animal and sports photography. Meanwhile, I have published a separate article with my recommendations for this kind of lenses: Canon Telephoto Lens.
The packing size: The size for transport (by plane)
You will also find another information in the data of your new tripod: the packing size. These numbers indicate how big it is when assembled and retracted. This data is important if you want to transport your tripod.
Here you should check if it fits into your photo backpack or in your suitcase for the flight. For the transport by plane I usually unscrew the tripod head and transport both between my things padded in the suitcase. My photo backpack, a Lowepro Flipside 500AW, I always have with me as hand luggage.
The choice between wood, aluminum and carbon
Tripods are usually made of three different materials: aluminum, carbon and wood.
Properties of wood:
- Very stable
- Very low vibration
- High weight
Properties of aluminum:
- Low weight
- Reasonable price-performance ratio
- Robust
Properties of carbon:
- Very light weight
- Vibration arm
- Can be used in winter without gloves
- High price
Wooden tripods are now used rather less because of their high dead weight. So your decision will probably be made for carbon or aluminum tripods.
Is the extra charge for carbon worth it?
If you are going a lot on foot, like in landscape photography, you can save some weight with a carbon tripod. Compared to an aluminum tripod, it is about 20–30% less. Carbon tripods cost much more. A recommended carbon tripod is the Manfrotto MT190CXPRO4. I have been using the Manfrotto Befree GT Carbon for a few months now.
Are spikes necessary?
Spikes are small metal spikes that can be extended from the tripod feet by a rotating mechanism. They are useful if you often work on slippery ground. In landscape photography this is the case if you want to set up your tripod on snow, ice or mud. Most tripods have rubber feet that hold well on almost all surfaces. I have not experienced a situation in the last 10 years where I would have wished for spikes. Therefore, spikes are not a decision criterion for me.
Is the angle of the legs important?
On some tripods you can adjust the angle at which the legs can be adjusted. This makes the tripod stand wider and therefore more stable. But at the same time it is of course also lower. The angle of inclination means that you can spread the tripod legs further. I use this feature on my Manfrotto Befree from time to time when I’m shooting in very windy situations. Then the tripod has a little more grip.
This feature is also interesting if you are looking for a particularly deep shooting situation, depending on the purpose. Many of my pictures are taken relatively close to the ground, the tripod legs are not extended at all. With such a composition of images in combination with a wide-angle lens you can create a lot of depth in the picture. If I can then get a little closer to the ground and the motive by the angle of the legs, this can be quite helpful.
The shooting height and the angle of attack are also interesting for macro photographers. So if your photographic world is focused on insects and plants, this feature will help you get closer to your subjects.
When is a folding center column worthwhile?
Also interesting for macro photographers is the foldable center column. As the name suggests, you can use it to attach your entire center column not upwards, but as a kind of boom on the side of the tripod. So the center column can be tilted by 90 degrees. This is important if you can’t place your camera tripod directly at the subject, but a little beside it. With the foldable center column, the camera is not placed centrally above the tripod, but to the side of it. This feature is available on the Manfrotto MT190XPRO4, for example.
Is it worth using the hook on the center column?
Some tripods offer a hook at the bottom of the center column. This hook allows additional weight to be attached to the tripod to increase stability. It is conceivable, for example, to attach the photo backpack.
The colleagues came to the conclusion that it hardly makes a difference whether you hang additional weight on these hooks or not. Based on this test, the hook on the center column is not a decision criterion for me.
A nice feature against cold hands: The foam rubber coating
If you’ve ever had a tripod before, maybe made of aluminum, you know the situation in winter. Below 0 degrees the material is very cold for the fingers. If you carry and set up the tripod without gloves, you will have really cold hands afterwards.
A foam rubber coating is the remedy. On some tripods, one of the legs is coated with it as a carrying option, on others all three legs. So the fingers don’t get so cold while handling.
It is definitely not just a feature for wimps — I can concentrate much better on photography and image composition if I feel comfortable with it. Warm hands definitely contribute to this in winter.
The one-by-focus rule of thumb
The guiding principle is: You can hold a maximum of 1/focal length from your hand.
Okay, let’s get a little technical. The focal length you’re using can be read off your lens. An 18–55mm lens has a focal length of 18–55mm, depending on whether you zoomed in or not. You can read the focal length you are using from the front of the lens.
Depending on which mode of your camera you are using (e.g. A, P, AV, TV or M), you will see your exposure time displayed in the viewfinder when you press the shutter release button halfway down. This can be 1/200 second, 1/50 second or even 1/10 second. The 1/200 second period is much shorter than 1/10 second. At 1/200 second the probability of blurring your image is much less than at 1/10 second.
The longer the exposure time, the more likely you are to blur your image without a tripod. For example, if you take a picture with a focal length of 50mm, you can take a maximum of 1/50 second without a tripod. If you have an exposure time of 1/25 second, the picture will probably be blurred. If you have an exposure time of 1/100 second with this focal length, you will probably get a sharp picture.
Lenses or cameras with image stabilizer will of course help a little bit. With image stabilizer you can hold a picture with a 50mm lens at an exposure time of 1/10 second.
This rule of thumb is valid for APS‑C as well as for full format.
How to find the right tripod head
In principle, each tripod is basically made up of the tripod itself and the tripod head. Many tripods are therefore sold with different heads or generally without a tripod head. Below I will give you some hints about certain bundles that I think are useful.
Many tripod manufacturers use a so-called quick release plate for the connection to the camera. Here, each brand usually has its own system. The quick release plate can be removed from the head and screwed under the camera. When attaching it to the tripod, the camera and the quick release plate are simply hooked into the tripod head and secured. This does not take a second. This technique also has the advantage that, if you have several cameras, you can use several quick-release plates, which you attach to one camera at a time.
For many applications it makes sense that a spirit level is integrated on the camera tripod itself or better on the tripod head. This way the tripod and thus the photos can be straightened. There are also tripod heads with spirit levels in more than one alignment, for example for two axes.
What are the heads?
The spherical head
With the spherical head, the base of the head sits in a kind of joint. On top of this base is the camera. The advantage of this head is the quick adjustability and good stability. The ball head is the most used tripod head. How tightly the ball sits, can be adjusted with a knob. A ball head is not so easy to use for exactly aligned panoramas, because when you move the image section, i.e. when you loosen the position, you quickly change the height as well. But all in all it is the most universal head.
3‑way-panhead
With a 3‑way panhead you can adjust each axis separately. This is useful if you want to align your images and thus the camera position very precisely. However, this process takes more time. When is this head useful? When you want to align your pictures to the millimetre. This can be useful for reproductions of paintings, or for architectural photography. Whenever millimetre precision is required, a three-way head is worth considering.
2‑way panhead
A 2‑way panhead reduces the possibility of adjustment to two axes. It is therefore a simpler version of the 3‑way panhead and is often referred to as a video head, as it is well suited for this purpose. So if you are planning to shoot a lot of videos, this head is particularly suitable for you. It can be used to realize soft camera pans. By turning the long lever you can operate the locking mechanism. I unknowingly used a 2‑way panhead for a very long time for my landscape photography. In this respect this head is also suitable for photography.
Geared head
The gearhead is basically a 3‑way head, but the axes can be adjusted with millimetre precision using a mechanical gear. Accordingly, this head is suitable for very fine adjustments regarding the camera position.
Panorama head
If you almost exclusively take panoramas, then a suitable panorama head is interesting for you. The special feature here is a graduation, with which you can determine the overlap for the individual pictures exactly. Most panorama heads have an integrated spirit level, so that you can align the horizon exactly. When setting up the tripod, it should be aligned exactly so that you do not have any distortions in the picture. If you now know your focal length exactly, you can only take your panorama using the graduation, because you can read off exactly how many degrees you have to turn after taking the picture.
The tripod head is also standardized with regard to the thread and almost every head fits on almost every tripod.
My recommendation for the tripod head: The spherical head — for example a Manfrotto 496RC2 Compact. With it you can adjust your camera completely free and relatively fast.
The best way to transport your tripod
There are basically three ways to transport the tripod during hikes:
- Carrying it in your hand
- Carry with a shoulder bag
- Attaching to the photo backpack
I prefer the third possibility, because the tripod can be carried well over longer distances. When buying a photo backpack you have to make sure that the tripod can be attached to it well. Not to be neglected here are also ergonomic aspects like weight distribution or that the main weight is carried as close to the body as possible.
Some manufacturers deliver bags directly with the tripod. Alternatively there are also padded bags to buy.
Durability: The right maintenance
The maintenance effort for tripods is kept within limits. Every few years I tighten the screws of the clamps a little bit. Theoretically the lubrication of a ball head would have to be renewed every few years, but I never had to do that.
More important is that you rinse and dry your tripod after shooting in demanding situations. These include environments with sand and salt water. When I take pictures by the sea, it happens from time to time that I place the tripod legs directly in the sand and water to get my composition right. In the evening in the accommodation I then take the tripod legs off again fully and put the tripod in the shower to rinse it off. This way you avoid sand collecting in the leg segments and dragging them together during the next setup.
Can I save a tripod and edit the image in Photoshop?
There are simple effects such as long exposure, for example, that cannot be created by post-processing. Of course you can also take pictures with higher ISO to avoid using a tripod. But then the image quality suffers, even if you denoise the image in post-processing. The most important point for me is that a tripod makes me work slower. It practically forces me to do so. And so I worry more about my photos and the pictures get better.
Special tripods
In the following I have described some special tripods which might be interesting for you depending on the application.
Gorillapod
A special type of tripod is the Gorillapod. It has flexible plastic legs and can be attached to things like fences or trees. The Gorillapod is relatively light with about 200 grams and therefore practical for travelling. The disadvantage is that one is very limited concerning the camera position. Of course, this tripod can also be set up straight on the ground. The maximum load capacity is 1 kg, thus it is only suitable for smaller cameras.
Mini tripod / table tripod
For situations on birthdays or just to have the compact camera with a small tripod there are the mini tripods. These minis are usually only about 10 cm high and have a low carrying capacity. For ultimate low weight in combination with a compact camera it is worth to have a look at a mini tripod.
These minis are also called table tripods, because you can just take them with you to a party and place them on the table for a group photo. Not every table tripod is very stable. But there are also some representatives of this category that can be used for a long time exposure outside.
Last August I was in China and had only my Fujifilm X100F with me. I only wanted to have light equipment with me, so I limited myself to this camera.
If you find a wall or something similar, you can place this mini tripod on it. I made a long time exposure of an intersection in a city with it and the picture became exactly as I imagined it. The Pixi tripod worked without problems, the picture was crisp and sharp. So if it should be small and light and a good possibility to set it up is to be found, then such a table tripod is a useful alternative.
Monopod
Monopods are especially popular in sports and event photography. Here you practically only have one tripod leg to support the camera. This is useful for longer focal lengths of telephoto lenses. Of course it is not suitable for long exposures. Advantages of a monopod over a tripod are the low weight and that you can change the position where the tripod is needed very quickly.
Tip for stability: leave the center column retracted
On almost all tripods the center column can be extended to use the maximum height of the tripod. But specially a fully extended center column takes some stability away from the tripod. Therefore I generally recommend to use the center column only in exceptional cases.
What is an L‑Bracket and when is it worthwhile?
To attach the camera to the tripod head a tripod plate is normally used. You screw this plate to your camera and then hook the camera and the plate onto the tripod head.
An L‑Bracket is useful if you often switch between portrait and landscape format. It is a rail that is attached to the camera similar to the plate. You can switch between portrait and landscape without having to tilt the tripod head to the side.
An L‑Bracket must always be purchased individually for the respective camera, so that the connections on the camera remain free.
When do I use a tripod?
In Germany, panoramic freedom applies. This means that you are allowed to use a tripod to take pictures from public ground. As soon as you are inside buildings and on private property, I recommend that you find out if you can use a tripod before taking pictures.
A typical example is churches. Sometimes you can buy a photo permit for a small fee. But I would definitely ask in advance.
In foreign countries the panorama freedom does not exist throughout. It is always better to get information beforehand than to deal with the police or security personnel.
My tripod test — I have already used these products
I have used various tripods over the last years. In addition, I was always able to try out new tripods with other photographer-friends. Out of these tripods three models have emerged which I would recommend. All three tripods are Manfrotto models, because I am very satisfied with the quality and the price-performance ratio of this manufacturer.
This is not a real tripod test, I will show you my personal recommendations here.
- stable, light, compact, spherical head — Manfrotto Befree
- stable, nice hight, a bit weight, choose your own head — Manfrotto 190 (Allrounder)
- very stable, great hight, lightly heavy, choose your own head — Manfrotto 055 (maxium stability)
The best tripod for me personally is the Manfrotto Befree. I use it 95% of the time because I walk a lot and the weight is very important for me. I also find it offers good value for money. The Befree is also available in a carbon version. Because of the low weight it is also the best travel tripod for me.
Do you have any other tripod recommendations? Let me know in the comments below!