Home page » Digital Cameras

Search:

Refine search for Digital Cameras

Arguably, and the way the comments section has been recently you probably will argue, a decent tripod is the single most important accessory for any keen photographer. By attaching your camera securely to a solid support, you totally eliminate camera shake, which means you're free to use much longer exposures than are possible when holding the camera by hand. Plus, setting the camera up on a tripod gives you time to think about your shot, and forces you to consider the position and angle of the camera and to compose your image, rather than just snapping away. A good tripod can make you into a better photographer.

A good tripod needs to have a particular set of qualities. First and foremost, it needs to be rigid. A tripod that wobbles or bounces is no use to anyone. Second, it needs to be strong enough to support your camera, which in the case of most enthusiast photographers means a digital SLR, probably fitted with a long zoom lens, which can easily weigh a couple of kilos. Finally it needs to be light enough to be portable. There's no point buying a tripod if you never take it out with you because it's too heavy to carry around.

The cheapest tripods, usually made from extruded aluminium with plastic fittings, are often very light, but fail on the first two criteria. Most are about as rigid as a blancmange and would likely crumple under the weight of a large DSLR. They're just about OK if you use a small compact camera, but they're still pretty flimsy.

Most enthusiast-level tripods are made from strong tubular aluminium with magnesium alloy or steel fittings. These succeed on the first two criteria; they are certainly strong and rigid enough to support a large semi-pro camera, but in many cases they fail on the third quality. I know from bitter experience that lugging a full-size tripod around is no fun at all. I have a Manfrotto 055XPROB, a popular model with enthusiasts, and while it is unquestionably a superb tripod, with the standard 804RC2 head it weighs over 3.2kg, which is a lot it you have to carry it a few miles.

Fortunately there is a material which can be used to make tripods that are rigid, strong and lightweight. I'm referring of course to carbon fibre, or rather to carbon-reinforced plastic, a space-age construction material used in many applications where high strength and low weight are important, such as sports equipment, aircraft components and overpriced add-ons for excessively customised hatchbacks. Carbon fibre is an especially good material for tripods because it doesn't transmit vibration as readily as metal. Most of the popular tripod manufacturers have carbon fibre models in their range, and although they are relatively expensive they have proved to be popular, especially with travel, wildlife and landscape photographers, in other words anyone who regularly has to carry their camera gear more than a few yards.

For today's group test I've got four of the latest carbon-fibre tripods from four different manufacturers. I've chosen broadly similar mid-range models ranging in price from £156 to £270. There are some cheaper and many more expensive examples, but these are likely to be popular models with many hobby photographers. If I was shopping for a new tripod, this is the sort of thing I'd be looking at. Let's see how they compare.

Add your comment

© 2003-2009 TrustedReviews & IPC Media
About Us | Contact Us | Legal | Privacy | RSS