Help me buy a... Tripod

What should you look for, and how much should you spend? Here are the top eight things to look for when you’re choosing...

You won’t get far in photography without a tripod. You can take all sorts of photos handheld, of course, but if you want to take night shots, time lapses, wildlife shots with long telephotos, carefully crafted still-lifes, long-exposure landscapes and more, you need the support of a good tripod.

Tripods vary considerably in size, price and features, and you’ll quickly find out that a cheap tripod can be a false economy. Here are the key things to look out for:

Aluminium vs carbon-fibre

These are the two most common materials used for tripod legs. Aluminium tripods are cheaper but weigh more. They’re ideal if you want the maximum stability for your money. Carbon-fibre tripods cost more but weigh less, and absorb vibration better. They’re good if cost is less important than weight – but the price premium can be substantial.

Leg sections

Tripod legs may have three, four or five sections. A larger number of sections means the tripod is shorter and more portable when it’s folded, but it will usually take a little longer to set up and may well not be quite as stable.

Leg locks

These come in two main types: twist locks and flip locks. Twist locks take up less space and are generally a little quicker to use – you can often unlock all the leg sections in a single movement when you’re setting the tripod up. Flip locks are operated individually and may be bit slower. Try both types to see which you prefer.

Head

Sometimes the tripod head is included, sometimes not. You can change one head for another depending on how you like to work. Ball heads and three-way heads are the most common types.

Folded length

The weight of a tripod is important if you’re going to carry it any distance, but so is its folded length. If it’s too long to strap to your bag, and it’s unwieldy in trains or climbing over stiles, then it’s going to put you off taking it anywhere.

Maximum height

How high do you want your tripod to go? Shots aren’t always improved by shooting them at eye level (lower often works best), but it’s also about getting a comfortable working height. Check the height without the column extended, if you can.

Centre column

Not all tripods come with a centre column, but most do. You can extend this upwards to increase the height of the camera, although this introduces extra wobble. On some tripods, the centre column can be rotated to produce an angled boom.

Leg angles

Tripods typically offer not one leg angle but two or three. The standard leg angle will be fine for regular use, but it’s often useful to splay one or more legs outwards on uneven surfaces or to rest them on walls, say. Splaying out all three legs will allow you to shoot from a much lower angle.