Choosing the Best Tripod for Photography

Video Transcript

"When you're choosing a tripod, there's some important things you need to consider. First of all, you need to make sure you have a tripod that's going to enable you to move both horizontally and vertically. So you want a tripod that's going to let you move side to side, and also one that's going to let you move forward and back. You don't want to be stuck with a tripod that's got you in one static position the entire time. Another very important thing about a tripod is to find one that has a level in it. A lot like a carpenter's level, this can be used to make sure that the camera back is flat because, and this is very important, because if the camera is tilted forward or tilted back more than you want it to be, it's going to distort your image. Another important thing about a tripod is to make sure that it's lightweight. You're going to, unless you've got a lot of assistance, you're going to be carrying your tripod around, and if you're hiking or on a trip, you want to make sure that it's light enough that you can carry it for several hours at a time and it's not going to really weigh you down. The final component of a good tripod is to make sure that it has a head plate on it as so, which is removable, and it's very important that that's removable because you don't want to have to mess around with screwing your camera directly onto the tripod. If you get these head plates you can take them off, have them hooked to your cameras, and your cameras are just ready to pop in there. So not only is the tripod important, but it's important to understand what makes a good tripod, and again you want to be able to have full horizontal and vertical movement. You want to have the levels in there so you can assure you're taking the photo how you want. You want a lightweight tripod so you don't get weighed down with it, and it's best if you've got some removable head plates that you can easily hook it to your camera and throw your camera on there."