Have Your Say

Tripods are one of the greatest inventions in photography. They all but eliminate one of the trickiest problems there is – a lack of light. With tripods, you can shoot multi-minute exposures and capture details so dark that they are invisible to the human eye. Even in a brighter scene, tripods improve the stability of your composition and help you take sharper photos.

So, when should you use a tripod? If your subject is stationary, almost always. That means landscape photographers, architectural photographers, and still life photographers better have a good excuse if they aren’t using a tripod.

Macrophotography is another case where tripods are essential. At high magnifications, even the excellent in-body image stabilization (IBIS) of today’s cameras cannot compensate for the very low light and long shutter speeds required for truly excellent macro work. Even if you are using flash, it is very difficult to get the plane of focus right. The only solution is a tripod.

Event photography and action are a bit different because it’s true that a tripod can slow you down. The same is true of travel photography; as much as you may want to bring along a tripod, it might not be worth the hassle.

That’s fair, but know that you’re missing out whenever you leave your tripod at home. If you offered me the choice between an entry-level DSLR and a tripod versus the best camera/lens combo on the market without one, I’d pick the tripod kit every time.