When is a Fluid Head Tripod Right for You?

By Hailey B. Catson

Every serious photographer needs to have a tripod. Video photographers find them particularly necessary. They're very versatile, and have a wide price range depending on your requirements.

Not only will a tripod be used to take self portraits, but they are also used for long shutter shots. No matter how much stabilization your camera has built in, low light shots such as night photography will be much crisper with a tripod.

A tripod will also give you lots of wiggle room to play around with double exposures and timed exposures. Even if a regular photographer can make do without one, a videographer would most definitely have a difficult time without a tripod.

Any time that you're working with a heavier video camera, you want to make sure that you use a fluid head tripod. It's very important that you have a stable tripod for your video camera.

You need to give some thought to what you'll be using this fluid head tripod for. One of the most important considerations is the height; you don't want to limit yourself. Think of the subjects that you'll be using to capture with your camera or video camera.

Photographing stills such as food or small products will require a more compact tripod. This is the time when you will choose a solid tripod which is adjustable, or more compact.

On the other hand, the folded height is much about the transportability of the tripod. For instance, photographers and videographers should always consider how they travel and what their means of transportation often is.

The material of the fluid head tripod matters because it would mean manageability and convenience. However users should focus on the stability and weight support capacity over the lightweight features one has.

You want to make sure that a fluid head tripod has manageable controls that are easy to reach when the camera is attached. You should also be conscious of pan range and tilt range. Most of the time these tripods will have a leveling bubble, which will insure that the picture doesn't turn out tilted - unless it was meant to be that way! - 30452

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