Articles
Why use a tripod?
More than almost any other piece of equipment, a good tripod will do more to improve your images. However, many photographers either don’t use them, or use cheap, flimsy models which can actually do more harm than good.
What does a tripod do for you? Well, a few things as it happens. Most obviously, it will hold the camera steady for you under the many circumstances where it would be impossible for you to hand-hold the photograph.
When You Can Get Away Without One
No matter how steadily you can hold your camera, you’re not made out of stone. There’s always a little bit of shake. Now, under bright conditions the shutter speeds are generally fast enough to get the shot without registering the movement, giving you a sharp image.
How do you know how fast is fast enough, though? There’s a handy rule of thumb you can use. Take a look at your lens, and check what the focal length is. Your shutter speed needs to be the inverse of that number – so if your lens is at 50mm, then your shutter speed needs to be at least 1/50th of a second. If you’re using a telephoto at 300mm, then the shutter speed needs to be at least 1/300th of a second. Any slower than that and you need to be on a tripod. You just won’t be able to hold it steadily enough.
One exception to the above rule is if your lens (or camera) has image stabilization. If so, you can use a slower shutter speed – normally at least two stops slower than would otherwise be possible.
When You Need to Use One
In landscape photography, very often the shutter speed necessary to get the shot is too slow for hand-holding. There are a few reasons for this. The first is that generally speaking we want to use a middling-to-small aperture to get adequate depth-of-field in our shots. Using a smaller aperture means that your shutter speeds are going to be slower.
In the image above, the focal length was 13mm, the aperture was f/10 and the shutter speed was 1/8th of a second. Taking this hand-held would have resulted in a less-than-sharp result. Even had the shutter speed been higher, let’s say 1/20th of a second, my position was distinctly uncomfortable and maintaining balance was difficult. Not conducive to steady camera technique.
Other reasons for slow shutter speeds in landscape photography are simply that we go out photographing when the light is low. Near dawn or dusk the shutter speeds will often be several seconds instead of a fraction of a second. Photographing in the woods, even in the middle of the day, the shutter speeds can also go to multiple seconds due to the gloom.
Why Not Just Increase the ISO?
A common argument against using a tripod is that we can just increase the sensitivity of the sensor by raising the ISO number. This is true, and will result in faster shutter speeds, but at a cost in image quality. Raising the ISO increases noise, which shows up as a graininess in the final shot. While some of the new DSLRs to the market (as of 2009) have impressive high-ISO, low-noise performance, they are still not noise free except at the lowest numbers. If your aim is to produce the highest quality images, then a tripod is still necessary to make the shot.
Other, Less Obvious Reasons
I’ve discussed the technical reasons to use a tripod, but now let’s get into the less obvious, artistic reasons. The major one is as an aid to composition. Composition is the most important element in the image – without paying attention to it, you might as well pack up and go home.
Using a tripod forces you to slow down, and this helps you become more contemplative in your approach. You think more about the image you’re about to take, and the tripod will allow you to precisely position the camera and frame the shot.
One of the great things about digital cameras is that it doesn’t cost you anything to take the photograph. This leads to people going out and shooting too much, and not really thinking about each individual image. A tripod will help change that.
Also, if you take the shot, and you discover a techincal problem such as under- or over-exposure, or a lack of depth-of-field, you can correct the problem and re-take the photograph without having to recompose and find the composition again.
So What to Buy?
First off, you should avoid the cheap tripods carried in the main street camera shops. You know the ones, the plastic ones that only go up to about three feet when fully extended and cost €50. Almost every photographer (myself included!) falls into that trap when they get started, thinking that one tripod is as good as another.
The problem with these is twofold. Firstly, they are extremely flimsy and will shake at the slightest puff of wind (not to mention your finger on the shutter). Secondly, they never extend high enough, so you’d get a bent back using them.
What you want is a quality tripod that is sturdy, reasonably lightweight (without sacrificing rigidity), tall enough to use comfortably without requiring the center column to be extended, and that supports a range of different heads.
That part about the center column is important – that’s the thing you crank up to get a bit of extra height once the legs are fully extended. Using it sacrifices a huge amount of stability, and is to be avoided wherever possible.
Heads
When you get a good tripod, that’s all you get – the legs. The head, the thing your camera attaches to, comes seperately. This is because there are a whole range of different styles of heads. For landscape photography, without a doubt the best head to use is a ball head. This is a simple ball-and-socket joint that allows full and free movement of the camera with just one control to lock or unlock.
There is a variant on the standard ball head that is commonly sold, which is the ‘pistol-grip’ ball head. I don’t recommend these, as they require one hand on the head whenever you’re adjusting the camera position. This may not sound like a big problem, but it can be very irritating when you want both hands on the camera instead (such as when using a heavy lens, etc). They are heavier and more expensive than regular ball heads, too.
Recommendations – Budget
For the budget-conscious photographer who wants great quality, without a doubt the make to go for is Manfrotto. I used these tripods myself for many years, and have no cause for complaint. They are also readily available in most good camera shops.
The 055XPROB is the budget tripod of choice. There is a smaller version, the 190XPROB, but this should only be considered if weight and cost are critical factors.
If weight is a concern, then both of those options are available in carbon fibre. There is an increase in price, but it’s not as bad as it once was.
For the head, I recommend the 488RC4. It’s a standard ball head with the added bonus of an independent panning lock. This allows you to lock the camera in position, and still pan freely – great for stitching panoramas together. The 488RC2 is the same head, but it takes smaller quick-release plates and is therefore a tiny bit lighter. Unless weight is a huge concern, I’d go with the RC4 option.
Thoughts on Budget vs. High Quality
The budget option above will give you a serviceable tripod that is relatively stable. It will require disciplined camera technique to ensure that there is no shake at exposure time – using mirror lock-up, cable release and/or the self timer to be sure. The following option will give you a (potentially) lighter and more rigid system that will be far more resistant to camera shake. If you’re serious about your photography, going direct to this level will save you money in the long run, as you’ll end up upgrading eventually.
Recommendations – Top Quality
Now, if you’re looking for higher quality and are willing to spend more to get it, the choice for legs has to be Gitzo. Long respected as the world leader in tripod design, most of the best working professionals use these legs in some of the harshest environments. They are lighter and more rigid than the Manfrotto options, and offer more flexible configurations.
The model that I use personally is the 3541XLS. This is a carbon fibre tripod with four leg sections. With three extended, it brings the camera to my eye level, but with all four extended it will put the camera well above my head. Useful for getting a different perspective, and also for when working on a slope where ground level is below you.
For a head, there are several options. The most popular at the moment, seems to be the ReallyRightStuff BH-55. This is a very high quality ballhead which will easily support even the heaviest camera gear without slipping or drooping. It’s the one I use. Other options are the Markins M20 and the Arca-Swiss Z1.
If you go for any of these heads, you’ll need to buy mounting plates for each of your cameras and collared lenses. These can be expensive, but are worth the cost and a very necessary part of the system. ReallyRightStuff makes mounting hardware which is compatible with all the best heads (using the Arca-Swiss mounting system, which all three heads I mentioned above support).
In Conclusion
Tripods are not a sexy purchase. They get in the way, they’re an extra thing to carry and they can be expensive, too. However, using one will certainly improve your images much more than upgrading to the latest whizbang camera or lens – guaranteed.
They take a bit of getting used to, but once you’ve gotten accustomed to using one, you’ll never go back.
I hope that you have found this tutorial useful. If you’d like to improve your camera or post-processing techniques, I run regular workshops at my studio in West Cork and in Dublin.
On top of that, I also run ten-day touring workshops. Contact me for details.
.