Kia ora tatou:

I know I have banged on about tripods ad nauseam, but I feel it is time to visit this again, having been at a workshop where the $80 tripods which are a chiropractor’s best friend were present. A good tripod is indispensable for a photographer.End of story.

If there is one piece of equipment which is absolutely indispensable to a landscape photographer, it has to be the tripod. Put simply, any landscape photographer worth his salt has a really good tripod … or two. Whenever I am teaching landscape photography workshops, it never ceases to amaze me how little emphasis would-be photographer’s give to the selection of their tripod. They spend an amazing amount of money on the best cameras, the best lenses and high-quality filters, then spend a pittance on the tripod. Buying a cheap tripod is, quite simply, false economy. And here is why.

Shooting with a digital camera is quite different to using film. The nature of film is such that you can get away with a little camera shake. Digital photography is a much more demanding master, which insists that you pay real attention to your technique. The merest amount of camera shake may not show up in an A4 print but, because digital allows you to make really big prints, any flaws in your camera technique are going to become really obvious with greater enlargements. Furthermore, the more megapixels you have on your camera, the more necessary it is to eliminate any trace of camera shake. You can do this by using a remote release and mirror lock-up, but the single most important tool for ensuring you get the sharpest possible image is your tripod.

A former mentor of mine had a rule which he would tell his students: buy the heaviest tripod you can afford, then buy the next heaviest one. There is a lot of truth in this. A solid, heavyweight tripod will dampen down any micro-vibrations caused by mirror slap (when the mirror on your DSLR flips up out of the way and generates a tiny shock throughout the camera) and the action of you using your finger on the shutter button (of course you use a remote release, don’t you?). Because of the way that light strikes the millions of tiny photosites on your sensor, it is critical to make sure that there is no movement whatsoever. Perfect camera technique means that you will spend less time on sharpening and correcting these minor defects. If the thought of carrying a really heavy tripod up a hill makes you groan, just remember that it is not always necessary to walk vast distances to get a great photograph. The great photographer Edward Weston took some pride in the fact that most of his landscapes were made within walking distance of his vehicle. And they are still making four-wheel drives.

Remember too, that the landscape photographer is often out there photographing in difficult conditions. In fact, it is true to say that some of the best shots you will ever get happen during stormy weather, or when the wind is blowing. The wind striking your camera is also creating minor tremors throughout the system, with the risk of causing camera shake so it is important to keep the vibrations dampened down as much as possible. Using long lenses makes it even more important to use a solid tripod. To understand what happens, use a period of strong binoculars and notice how difficult it is to keep the image steady. The same thing is happening with your long lens on the tripod.

So here are some tips to choosing a great tripod which will not let you down in the field.

1. There are cheap tripods and there are good tripods. There are no good cheap tripods. As with everything else, it is a truism: you get what you pay for. If the tripod cost under $100, then it is probably of little value or use. Be prepared to spend more.
2. Choose one of the main brands. These guys put big dollars into R&D, to give you the best possible product for your money. Manfrotto tripods are solid and reliable. Gitzo   in many quarters as the gold standard of tripods, but there are others. Benro and Induro tripods are two Chinese brands that really deserve a second look.
3. When you go to buy your new tripod, here are two things you can do to make sure that you are in the ballpark.
   1. When you go to your favourite camera shop to buy a tripod you think you would like, take your camera gear with you. Mount your camera on the tripod with the longest lens you have (if you do not have one, borrow one from the shop staff) and extend the legs all the way out. Do not extend the centre column. Now see how far you have to bend over to look through the viewfinder. You should be able to look through the viewfinder comfortably without bending very far at all. Ask yourself whether you would be happy bending thus far all day. If, after a couple of minutes, you are getting a sore back, then the tripod is too short, and you need to pick one which is taller. The centre column should be your absolute last resort. Extending it dramatically increases the risk of camera shake. In fact, one of my teaching colleagues insists that his students cut off the centre column of their tripod with a hacksaw.
   2. Now, with the legs at full extension and a long lens mounted on your camera, gently tap the end of the lens barrel. If there is even the slightest hint of vibration, then the tripod is not heavy enough. If it does that in the shop, imagine how stable it will be when you are out in the field, photographing in windy conditions. Your chances of getting a high-quality A2 print will be zero. Choose a heavier tripod.

Most of the good quality tripods you can buy allow you to mix and match the tripod head and legs. At this point it is a matter of personal choice. Some people love ball heads, others hate them. Some people are happy with alloy legs, others insist on carbon fibre.. They all have their advantages, so choose a heads legs combination which works to you. Whatever you decide, the key word is solid. Here are some more tips to choosing a tripod which will see you right.

1. 1. Look for a tripod with a hook on the bottom of the centre column. This allows you to hang your camera bag from it, effectively increasing the weight and down force on the tripod dampening any potential vibration. Some people make up a webbing sling which they hang from the hook. They put 1 foot into it and press firmly down, thereby putting downward pressure on the tripod and further reducing vibration. It can make all the difference in the field to getting the perfect photograph.
   2. Pay particular attention to the locking mechanism on the legs. With the tripod at full extension, press firmly down on the top of the tripod and check any slippage in the legs. Check that the catches on each section is straightforward to use and not likely to bite you and draw blood. If the leg locking mechanisms are of the screw variety, make sure they do not slip when you tighten them up.
   3. Check the availability of spare parts. Ask the shop staff whether spare parts (particularly leg catches) are available. Tripods too need servicing from time to time, so it should be possible to bring your tripod in and have it serviced if necessary.
   4. Buy an extra tripod plate or two and carry it with you in the field. You can put one on your camera and mount the other one on the lens collar of your 100-2000/1.4 mega-zoom. This will save time in the field and mean that you do not lose the shot of a lifetime because you are busily changing plates.

Case history:

I made this photograph one day in Fiordland, New Zealand. A storm had been blowing in from the Tasman for nearly a week but it was beginning to retreat. The wind was blowing at perhaps 40 to 50 km, but it was a breathtaking scene and I knew there was no room for error. There was a shot of a lifetime, one rich with fine detail, which deserved to be at least A1 in size. I used a Canon 1DS MkIII with a Canon 24 to 70/2.8L lens. The tripod was a Manfrotto 058 Triaut tripod with a Manfrotto 229 3D Super-Pro head. Nothing less would do.  Even though it weighs 8.05 Kg (ouch), I was working close to the vehicle, so I did not have to carry it very far. With the wind blowing towards me, slightly from the right, it was important to minimise any vibration. Because of the micro detail in the scene, I chose ISO 100 to get as much as possible, which meant an exposure of 1/60 @ f8. I used a remote release and mirror lock-up to further minimise any vibration. To make doubly sure that I had the best possible file, I made around 50 exposures, doing my best to trip the shutter in the gaps between the wind gusts.

The payback for this effort was seeing a razor-sharp A1 print slowly emerging from my Canon imagePrograf 6100 printer.