What makes a 'good' tripod?

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Pinpho

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Just wondering what you would consider a good tripod? I bought one yesterday for £12.99 from Currys. It is 50 cm at its smallest and when fully extended it is around 130 cm. It hold the camera there pretty well and there's a lock sort of thing that you can tighten to prevent the camera being moved. People always say don't go for cheap tripods as they aren't very good, but I was trying it out last night and it seems fine to me... I don't really know what makes a good tripod so could someone please enlighten me?

Next on my list is a remote shutter release I think :cool:
 
A good tripod is one that fulfils the requirements of the owner. If the £12.99 one does everything you need it to and you're happy with it then it's good enough for you. If you need more functionality, lighter weight, ability to take a greater load etc.. then you can move onto something else when the time comes without having lost much.
 
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Lots of variables.
Would you seriously consider trusting a £13 tripod with a thousand or two, or three, pounds or more of camera and lenses?
The most important requirement is that the tripod/head does not move under shooting conditions, including weather. It needs to be able to be adjusted to how you need it and stay there. It needs to be transportable. Cost is probably far down the list unfortunately.
 
Thanks for the guide and the information guys. I am pleased with it so far. It didn't come with a sheet to explain all of the features and having never owned or used a tripod I had to find out all the little extra bits myself, but I was always pleased finding new and useful little things that it can do. At £12.99 it seems like a bargain to me and a great tripod for me as a new tog :) and at that price when I come to replace it in the future it's not like I have really lost anything :)
 
Use it till you find it's limitations and weaknesses and then upgrade to something that covers those :)

Or... Realise you don't use it and it would have been a waste of cash to buy something better :P
 
At a guess, you'll soon find its limitations and upgrade. The one you've just bought can then be used as a support for an off camera flash.

In general, people want 3 things from a tripod - cheap, light and sturdy. Generally speaking you can select 2 of those wants. Most of us have at least one old tripod at the back of a cupboard having found its limitations (and some cash down the back of the sofa!)
 
stability.
expensive ones should be more robust too :), my redsnapper copes with 5-6kg rock solid :)
 
Nod said:
At a guess, you'll soon find its limitations and upgrade. The one you've just bought can then be used as a support for an off camera flash.

In general, people want 3 things from a tripod - cheap, light and sturdy. Generally speaking you can select 2 of those wants. Most of us have at least one old tripod at the back of a cupboard having found its limitations (and some cash down the back of the sofa!)
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This is a very good point.
 
Take your £13 'bargain' and extend it to its full height. Now put your longest and heaviest lens on the camera and attach it to the tripod. Look through the viewfinder and get a subject smack in the middle. Now tighten the 'lock sort of thing' whilst looking through the viewfinder. Observe how the camera droops so that your subject is no longer in the middle. A decent head will lock without any drooping.

Of course, I'm assuming that your heaviest lens isn't too heavy - otherwise your tripod may have already collapsed under the strain.

The next test also uses your longest lens. Set the camera on the tripod and take a shot of some distant object using a fast shutter speed. Then change the settings so that the shutter speed is a lot slower. Compare the two images. Any additional blur will be due to the instability of the tripod.
 
Pinpho said:
People always say don't go for cheap tripods as they aren't very good, but I was trying it out last night and it seems fine to me... I don't really know what makes a good tripod so could someone please enlighten me?
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Old saying, buy once, buy wise. Taking the average spend on people buying bodies and lenses, a good tri-pod is for life at a fraction of those cost- if your tripod requirements doesn't change that drastically. £13 isn't going to break the bank - but may end being the price you pay to learn what makes a good tripod.

What does a good tripod mean to me? Light, sturdy and EXPENSIVE, admittedly the third is a by-product of the first two.
 
I noticed a real difference in image sharpness when I swapped a cheap aluminium and plastic tripod for one with carbon legs and metal joints.

The other main difference for me was the amount of sag in the cheap tripod when I had squared up all the verticals and tightened everything up it would then sag 2 degrees to the right once I had removed my hand.

For me the best tripod is heaviest stiffest one that you can carry to the location.
 
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