No, not about to reveal one of my dogs has lost a limb, but something that was once my religion, my creed and my obsession needs revisiting.
Tripods precede photography, as literally the mandatory support for early cameras and have stayed relevant right up to now.
If I wrote this fifteen years ago, my advice would be “get one, get a big one, always use it” then, drop the mic……. .
The reality is, when I shot full frame Canon SLR’s I needed every trick I could think up for absolute clarity when shooting slow shutter speed landscapes. I would lock up the mirror using the self timer or live view (they lacked mirror-lock otherwise and this helped with accurate focus also), place a finger on a leg to feel for vibration, use the heaviest tripod I could carry (and often curse it all the way there and back) and weigh down the legs or use a “stamper” which is an elastic strap attached the centre column run under my foot for extra down force.
I learned the hard way all the traps and tricks, such as buying lens tripod collars or support plates, watching for strong vibrations on rocks near powerful waterfalls, creeping heads, shifting sands, poor leg locks and slippery carbon fibre legs, quick release plates with their own agenda, heads with limited movements, poor leg shapes (round and solid wins-always), the benefits and limitations of different leg materials and on and on.
These days it would probably go something like “get one, make sure it is heavy enough for your kit but not too heavy, one that won’t fall apart, has the right head for your use and use it when common sense dictates” and…… probably not drop the mic as I have a better appreciation of microphones now.
My history with tripods, like my photography and now videography has had several phases with plenty of wins, some lost opportunities and lamented sheddings. Currently I have moved on and settled on some basic but acceptable remains.
A solid, entry level Manfrotto 190 with basic three way head was my first tripod, because I actually took the advice of those who knew best. If I had known what I know now, I would probably still have it.
You could do worse as a thirty year investment.
I upgraded to the 055* for extra sturdiness through weight and more height and I think the flip-out clamps appealed over the slower twist knobs of the 190. The funny thing is, I think I paid the same for it then as I could have a few years ago, about $350au, but they have gone up a lot lately.
I then rotated through other brands from Berlebach sport ash* (332 or similar), Manfrotto 055 carbon fibre*, various smaller ones from Slik and others, then ended up decades later with…… a Manfrotto 190, saved from the throw-out bin at the camera shop I worked at.
It had been stripped of parts like a straggling wildebeest meeting a helpful pack of Hyena, but like all Manfrotto’s, most parts were easily sourced if not a perfect cosmetic fit.
Heads are a thing.
Video only needs two smooth actions (up down and side to side) although a levelling plate is handy for heavy cameras. Stills need three (for going vertical), but they do not need to be smooth.
Ball heads are popular and ok, but non ball heads are pound for pound and dollar for dollar more stable, so only go ball if you can do it well (if the neck is thinner than a pen or the ball smaller than a decent sized grape, avoid them).
Ball heads are also poor choices for video as they lack smooth panning.
The little Gitzo in front, the only bit of Gitzo I am springing for, was a bargain clearance. The Promaster, a generic head found in a dozen different ranges, is a decent size and mechanically sound (the dual tension knobs are annoying).
Quick releases are personally a pet hate, although I do use them for video (Neewer universal) as I have several different rigs and heads and multiple cameras, as well as the less fluid nature of video means I am less likely to have a handling accident. I am even putting a Neewer QR adapter on the existing QR plate I have for my ball head, meaning I have a QR plate on a QR plate, but consistency rules.
I have found a simple screw-in head is often as practical as a quick release that needs secure locking and you are still unsure of. It will not magically release on you and they are never rendered useless by a lost QR plate***.
The classic Manfrotto three-way head made way for the monster pro version (029), then I moved to ball heads, back to geared and lower profile three-ways (460 MG*), then hydraulic ball (Manfrotto MG 468*), then back to the simplest two directional (#234) and now I have a little of each, scrounged from sales, left overs, forgotten ideas etc. I think at one point I had a dozen of those ubiquitous Manfrotto hexagonal plates, now not one is to be found.
For stills, I use the lightest sturdy and decently tall tripod (4 1/2 to 5’) I can get away with like an old set of Velbon Sherpa legs, with a tiny Gitzo ball or Manfrotto 234 tilt head, maybe a Promaster (generic) large ball head I picked up cheap at the shop, but only if the rig is bigger (300mm lens). If the lot comes in anywhere near a full kg, I am doing something wrong.
This is all you need for most things and hard to find a more sturdy, or simpler head design. It only takes about five turns to secure the camera. Even the vertical orientation for stills is a matter of turning the camera on the head. If I know I am only doing stills, the little Gitzo ball works also.
With M43 mirrorless cameras, electronic shutters, touch activation and often higher shutter speeds thanks to the depth of field benefit of M43, anything else is overkill and that is if I even need it with the stabilisers available**. The ability to weigh it down with your bag using a handy carabiner fixes strong wind issues. Strong is good, but not heavy.
Video is a little different. For that I use the now relatively monstrous Manfrotto 190 legs, a Neewer fluid video head or the Promaster heavy ball head often with a set of bracketed wheels on the bottom, more for stability than movement.
I also use the heavy ball head on a video slider.
Even then, this whole setup is pretty light compared to many past ones.
“Big Bertha” is in reality what I would call a medium-light weight in the old days. At the base of the centre column is a carabiner strong enough to take most bags. 5kg tripod anyone?
My ifootage Cobra monopod came with a small tripod option, which is surprisingly handy for low angle or heavy lens use. This is good, because it has not been a win otherwise.
Super short and heavy for it, but hard to find anything more steady.
The things you want to avoid if you can are tripods so short you need to constantly crank up the centre column or smallest leg sections for sufficient height (which are the least steady bits), are fiddly and annoying, cheaply made-especially odd shaped legs, have an unsafe or quirky quick release system (if you must at all) and a non standard QR plate in case you lose one. This is the single biggest reason cheap tripods get retired.
Good features are the ability to go low, which also means independently adjustable legs, go high without extending the neck and leg clamps that are easy to apply and time tested, especially if you need to wear gloves or work near water. No more than three leg sections are best**** and buy the right head for the job.
At the shop, we used to sell several quite expensive “full of cool (stupid) ideas” generic brand tripods with angle-flexible centre columns, removable legs, reversible columns, legs with pencil thin end sections and fiddly leg locks. They just sent shivers down my common sense spine.
They were too complicated, especially for a new user, too short and when used at full height, you were extending anything up to five leg sections and the neck, which took ages and was poor form!
On top of that they were quite heavy for their size, which was “easily fixed” by buying the carbon fibre version for triple the price, but only dropping a couple of hundred grams because the over complicated joints and head were still all metal and to top that off, they were often unreliable.
The best we had I felt, the “Scout” I think it was called, was a tall three section unit, solid and simple, reliable leg clamps, was cheap, made of aluminium with a simple three way head. The boss hated me selling them over his “cash cow”, but I could not pretend it was ok.
Finally, watch the odd video on best use practices for your and other tripods. The very best tripod will fail you if you fail to face a leg down a hill, don’t secure it’s legs or use the quick release properly.
*All things I regret selling, especially the wooden one. The original 055, sold a few years ago is still going with bits from a friends own thirty year old one and with my original Domke F2 were the only two things remaining from my very first kit in the 80’s.
**Sometimes a tripod, no matter how solid is less stable than a good in camera stabiliser, especially if ground vibration is an issue.
***When I held classes at the shop, the last task was always chasing up the lost QR plates forgotten about on students cameras and I often see them at schools, not on tripods, but on cameras. It is not a coincidence that most cheaper brands have little or no consistency in plate sizes. It sells them tripods.
****Really compact tripods need more (shorter) leg sections, but that does not necessarily mean they are lighter and definitely not sturdier.