Talking Tripods
/One of the most useful photographic tools is the tripod. For many folks, a tripod is an afterthought, and is often misrepresented or misunderstood. In this article, we are going to take a clear look at what to look for in a tripod.
Why a Tripod
Depending on what you like to make images of, you will from time to time need a stable and adjustable shooting platform. If you are shooting video clips of any tangible length, you will need a tripod lest everything look like an outtake from The Blair Witch Project or any of the thousands of shakey-cam exhibits.
A tripod is a combination of two things. First is the leg set and second is the tripod head.
Leg Sets
Really Right Stuff 3 Section Long Leg Set
Originally tripod leg sets were made of wood. The downsides were weight and that wood is a fine conductor of vibration. Then we had steel leg sets. They did not last long because of the enormous weight, although there remain scenarios where steel still fits best. Next came aluminum and aluminum leg sets ruled the roost for decades. Leg sets could be made lighter, aluminum could be shaped into U channels as well as pipe lengths, it was easy on tools and made a great deal of sense economically as well as physically.
Makers kept looking for ways to gain stability, will reducing vibration transmission and still reduce weight. Which brings us to carbon fibre. Not all carbon fibre is created equal. The weave methodology, the structural mix and the thickness of the tubes all contribute to the effectiveness of carbon fibre leg sets. When companies like Gitzo and Really Right Stuff debuted their carbon fibre leg sets, lots of folks choked at the cost involved. Those brands still produce carbon fibre leg sets, and they are still expensive, but their build quality, longevity and delivery of function remains unsurpassed in the eyes of most professionals.
Better leg sets do not have centre columns, also known as wobble sticks. Buy the leg length you need without a centre column for maximum stability. This is a close up view of an RRS Versa leg set. That’s a proprietary carbon fibre weave on thick walled tubes to prevent flexing and twisting. Yes, you do get what you pay for.
Sadly there are lots of rebrands (one maker, a hundred different brands) of carbon fibre leg sets. House brands tend to use very thin walled tubes in the goal to get the lightest weight and the lowest cost. Both are delivered, but you get a lightweight, low cost platform of questionable stability. If you can press down on the head mount with the legs fully extended and see them flex, the leg set should be avoided. I do not mean put your full weight on it, just press down. Medium quality leg sets won’t visibly flex, but will begin to twist demonstrating a weave that is of dubious value. There are a number of offshore produced leg sets that are 100% design ripoffs of Gitzo or RRS, but looking the same does not make them identical.
Get a scale, weight your camera with your heaviest lens, and whatever other kit you tend to mount. Multiply that measurement by 2.5x and that tells you what kind weight bearing capacity you need. If the leg set you are considering does not specify the weight bearing load of the leg set, it’s too low. Move along.
Leg Locks
There are many ways of locking the legs in place from a length perspective. The common options are lever locks and twist locks. Each type has its proponents. Either are equally quick after two minutes practice so that is not a consideration. If a twist lock slips under load, you have a bad leg set. If not no problem. If a lever lock is made entirely of plastic, you have a lock that has not broken yet, with yet being the operative word. For field use, I always choose twist locks because they do not fill with mud and guck if I am planting the tripod in wet or marshy conditions, which I do. In the studio, most of my video tripods have lever locks. I do not say that one is better than the other, but a particular locking system will suit your use cases better than the other. Your needs will tell the story, not advertising blurb or a salesperson.
Tripod Heads
My ball head of choice is the Really Right Stuff BH-55. I own a couple and they hold ANYTHING while remaining silky smooth in their movements.
At a high level there are three kinds of tripod heads to consider and the third is very specialized. The most common head today is known as the ball head. Whether a traditional ball or planetary ball is somewhat immaterial and really personal choice. Really Right Stuff ball heads use the traditional design. The mounting plate is on a post coming out of the ball. Arca Swiss makes a planetary head called the Monoball, where the post attaches to the leg set and the mounting plate is on the ball itself. Both are excellent designs so long as the ball is well built.
Like leg sets there are junk ball heads, medium ball heads that are clones or copies of excellent ball heads, and the excellent originals. For my money, Really Right Stuff and Gitzo do the best ball heads. The higher end Manfrotto ball heads are decent, but in my opinion, I would save my money for a Gitzo or RRS. A good ball head can be compact, but is never super lightweight/
A great ballhead has easy to operate locks that do not require a lot of force. There will be a master lock and a separate friction control to allow for movement of the head without having to unlock things completely but still hold the platform steady. It does take some practice to get the right balance of tension in place, but once you do, it is a magical working relationship. Better ball heads also have a pan lock so you can pan the head assembly without unlocking the ball itself.
Sachtler 70mm bowl video head with variable friction controls for pan and tilt. Sweet!
For video, ball heads are less useful. In video, level and orientation are critical and this is where a 3 way head adds a lot of value. This type of head will have a pan lock, and perhaps a pan friction control as well as an arm (longer the better) to move the left right pan and up down tilt. Manfrotto and Sachtler produce video kits of leg sets and heads that are superb, and both also produce dedicated heads for mounting to leg sets that you already own. If going for a proper video head, I recommend a bowl mount of at least 60mm diameter, This eliminates a centre raisable post in favour of a 360 degree bowl with a levelling arm protruding from under the head mount. No more fiddling with leg lengths to level the platform, one twist lock arm does the job.
The reason you want a longer pan arm is for smoother camera movements and better micro movement controls. A shorter arm makes for jerkier movement. You can use a bowl mount video head for stills but it will never achieve the flexibility that a ball head will deliver in that use case.
Sachtler ACE XL Video Tripod Complete Kit. A superb setup and highly recommended for any kind of semi-serious to serious video.
The third type of head is called the gimbal head and is designed to offer balanced pan and tilt when using dry long focal length lenses where the tripod mount is on the lens itself.
Really Right Stuff PG-02 Pano -Gimbal Head kit. It includes the panning platform, rail to position the lens right over the centre of the leg set, rail riser to manage camera and lens height above the platform and tray mount for the lens foot to ease balancing. Good design and superb manufacture will last a lifetime.
When choosing a head, use the same weight calculation but multiply your maximum camera weight with lens by two instead of 2.5x to get the weight bearing capacity you require in the head. I have heard either uninformed or incompetent salespeople and advertisers tell customers that weight bearing capacity really does not matter. You are best advised to avoid both as you would a contagious disease carrier.
Conclusions
You have choices when it comes to tripods. My guidance is always buy your last one first. Otherwise you end up with a closet full of junk and ne’er do wells. A higher end leg set and head will cost around $1000 CAD, so that kit you find for $149 is going to be pretty much junk. If you will use it once a year, and for something really light, it’s probably going to be ok, but if you are going to take it into the field, something is going to let go, and you will be very ticked off. A good tripod will outlast your camera and lenses and all manner of other kit. I have a very heavy Manfrotto Studio setup with a pan tilt head from 1974 that I bought for a 4x5 and it still works a charm and has never let me down, even when shooting (foolishly) in a gale.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, peace.
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I'm Ross Chevalier, thanks for reading, watching and listening and until next time, peace.
