Tripods are an essential tool for photographers. When critical sharpness and composition is needed, you need to keep your camera as steady as possible and the best way to accomplish that is with a tripod.

There are two key components to a tripod. The base or legs and the head. As the name implies, there are three legs, this is for stability in almost any condition. These legs usually can be adjusted to various heights so that the camera can be level regardless of the terrain.

Likewise there are a variety of heads available to attach the camera to the tripods. There are pan heads and ball heads. Pan heads have various adjustments so that you can pretty much angle your camera in any direction you need. The ball head allows complete control of your angles. Be careful with panning on a ball head, you may lose you level plane as the ball will be looser and all angles are controlled with the same function.

 

Ball Head             Pan Head

Just like there are two types of heads there are two ways to attach your camera to your tripod, screw mount and quick release. The first one, the screw mount, you leave the unit on your tripod and you have to screw the camera onto the mount. The second one, the quick release, you put the release plate on the camera and then clip the camera with the plate onto the head. The quick release allows you to quickly take the camera off of the tripod to use it handheld.

Screw Mount     Quick Release

Here are some factors to look at when buying a tripod

       1.  Weight

       2.  Strength

       3.  Height

       4.  Feet

       5.  Center post

It all depends on what you are photographing and how far you need to carry your equipment. Below are some good choices for tripods and heads

Good shooting!

 

 

• Z-SHAPED TILT HEAD: Helps to adjust shooting angles you may need for photography; Various shooting angles to capture the best scene; NOTE: Camera is NOT included
• STANDARD: Equipped with 1/4 inch screw to mount your camera camcorder stably
• UNIVERSAL USE: Designed with 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch screw hole at the bottom, it can be used with tripod, video track slider, stabilizer and other different devices of photography for camera and camcorder
• SOLID MATERIAL: Made of CNC Machined Aluminum; Standard Load-bearing: 3 kg/6.6 lbs
• CONVENIENT: Foldable design, convenient for storage and carrying on a packet

• The use of high-strength aluminum T6 aeronautical grade build, hard anodized surface, wear anti-scratch, texture and beautiful.
• 360 ° horizontal rotation panoramic head. Three independent control knob, adjust each different rotation angle of the head separately, precisely control every adjustment of the ball head;
• Removable quick-release plate, comes with 1/4 "screw, suitable for all SLR cameras; The bottom of the ball is 3/8 "screw holes, can be widely applied to various professional tripods.
• Security systems intimate design, effectively prevent the camera from accidentally falling off.
• Built in 2 bidirectional bubble level indicators, make it convenient to shoot (horizontal or vertical).

• Window mount with 3 way panhead and quick release plate (QS-36 included)
• Supports up to 8.8 pounds
• 360 degree rotation
• Tilt ranges +90 to -60 and 0 to +90 degrees
• Adjustable, extra-wide base
• Product weight: 25.7 ounces
• Product height: 5.75 inches