Tripod Buying Guide

Tripods are essential tools for photography and videography but buying the right tripod that really works for your specific needs may not be that easy.

This tripod buying guide will help you to choose the best tripod – or tripods - for you, and help you discover how tripods help you explore the multiple styles of photography and expand your creative and technical possibilities.

Key Considerations when buying a tripod:

Size: Tripods range in size from mini tripods that fit in your pocket, travel tripods that are perfect for a camera backpack and professional studio tripods capable of securely supporting the heaviest professional cameras. Make sure you buy the right size tripod for your needs.  If you will be traveling with your tripod, consider this: Never buy a bigger tripod than you are willing to carry… But always buy the sturdiest one you are willing to carry.  If you plan to use your tripod in a studio or at home, a larger more solid tripod may be your preferred choice.
 
Weight: The weight of a tripod is one of most important aspects to consider if you will be carrying your tripod. In addition to size, weight is influenced bywhat material the tripod is made of. Carbon Fiber is the lightest and strongest material for tripod legs and so is often preferred by outdoor and traveling photographers. Aluminum tripods are strong and lightweight and while a bit heavier are more affordable than carbon fiber.
 
Stability: To function well a tripod must be free from movement and shake. A quality tripod has secure connections at all joints and is made of rigid materials that do not flex or bend. Quality in both design and materials is key.
 
Camera/Device Type, Size & Weight: For the best results match your tripod to type of device as well as the size of equipment you will use it with. Consider also that video camera tripods are specialized and need extra weight capacity and stability.
 
Type of Tripod Head: It is uncommon to just use tripod legs alone.Consider the type of tripod head that will best suit your needs, type of photography and equipment. You can choose a kit that combines a specific type of tripod head paired to an appropriate set of tripod legs .  The most common types of tripod heads are Ball Heads, 3-Way Heads, 2-Way Heads, Geared Heads and Fluid Video Heads. See our Buying Guide to Tripod Heads for a more in-depth look into selecting the right tripod head for you.
 
Additional Features: Tripods may have many different features that add value to certain types of photography.  Center columns can add height to tripods and in some tripods among the Manfrotto 055 series or 190 range may also be used horizontally. The type of leg locks may differ on tripod models. Some people prefer QPL Travel lever locks while others prefer the lighter weight twist style M-Lock.  Another very useful option to consider is a removable leg that quickly converts into a monopod as found in the Befree 2N1.

Why Do I Need to Buy a Tripod?

A tripod is not just for when the light gets low, requiring you to use a lower shutter speed.  There are many reasons, both practical and creative for placing your camera on a tripod. You may be a wildlife photographer that is supporting a very heavy lens, you may be in the studio taking time to frame the perfect portrait or a landscape photographer waiting for that one ideal moment of light. Tripods allow for creative possibilities such as when you want to open your aperture, add a strong neutral density photographic filter or get a hard to reach angle or perspective. Other very common types of photography requiring a tripod include capturing multiple images to create time lapses or for long exposure shots such as in astro-photography.

As you can see, tripods are creativity tools that allow you easier control over light, not just support for dim light environments. Without a tripod, many of the photographs from the past would simply not exist. Many of the photographs we praise from masters, such as Ansel Adams, would not have been possible without a tripod.

The Best Travel Tripods

Traveling photographers are concerned with carrying as little as possible and so they look for the lightest, most stable tripod they can find. This makes travel tripods a good choice for landscape, nature and travel related photography as well the most popular choices for an all-around tripod.

Manfrotto’s Befree series is considered one of the best travel tripods collection for photographers. Befree tripods are surprisingly compact yet stable and come in multiple variations and styles with the choice between carbon fiber and aluminum.

Lightweight and compact is also the 190go! ideal for professional photographers who love the extremely fast-operating twist lock mechanism. 

Tripods for Enthusiasts and Professionals

Manfrotto 290 collection was carefully designed to accompany passionate hobbyists as they take more serious steps in their passion for photography.  With the right balance of performance, practicality and versatility, the 290 is transportable, without any sacrifice in camera stability.  Available in both aluminum and carbon fiber and in various sizes and head kits, the Manfrotto 290 will help get great results across all photographic styles.

The Manfrotto 055 with a X-PRO 3-Way Head is the choice of many advanced and professional photographers. The Manfrotto 055 series tripod is available in carbon fiber versions providing extra camera stability and maximum transportability, thanks to increased rigidity and reduced weight, or in aluminum, which may be a more logical choice if you do not carry your tripod around many times. For reference, the carbon version of the 3 section tripod weighs 70.54 oz (2000 g) while the aluminum version goes up to 88.18 oz (2500 g). This is for the tripod alone, without the head.

The Best Professional Studio Tripods

If your studio is as far as you go when it comes to photography, then the Manfrotto 475B is the best tripod for you. Built in aluminum, the 475B is heavy, at 5300g, but that means it offers the ideal stability for the conditions it will be used in. Yet being heavy does not mean it is less agile than the other tripods when it comes to adjusting the legs or the center column. The geared center column allows safe, precise height adjustment, even under heavy loads up to a maximum of 12 kg, while the legs can be set to a different angle of spread for more flexible, versatile positioning, as well as keeping camera equipment well-balanced over the tripod's center of gravity.

Contributing to the 475B’s tripodstability is the center brace system, which can be operated in a symmetric or asymmetric way. This allows for a fast positioning of all the legs with the same spread or, if needed, individual setting of the angle for each leg, something that may be desirable when you need to reduce the tripod’s footprint. The telescopic center braces offer two “click stop” positions that allow you to find the position for the tripod legs.

A Final Note

How to Choose the Best Tripod to Buy: a Final Note

Finding the right tripod for you and your needs can be a trial and error process but hopefully our guide will begin to point you in the right direction. As a reminder here are our top tips for choosing a tripod;

Be clear on it’s purpose whether it’s photography, video or accessories
Think about where you will use it and how you will transport it
Be sure on your requirements, what kind of head do you need, what will your load weight be?
Many photographers will use multiple tripods. A typical tripod arsenal could consist of two monopods and a normal tripod, this allows the user to be equipped for any eventuality, especially if more walking is required where a monopod could be ideal.

Hopefully this guide helps you to understand that tripods are essential for photography, and not just for when the light starts to fade. Tripods are not just a camera accessory; they give photographers extended creative options. In a time photography is becoming more and more popular, a tripod could really help you stand out from the crowd.