for tripods that are light and rigid, even
when extended to standing height. These
can be strapped to a backpack or easily
packed in luggage. Don’t get a cheap
unit with channeled legs, as it won’t be
sufficiently stable when extended. Top
your tripod with a quality light or medi-
um-weight ballhead, and your images
from the Appalachian Trail will all be
sharp. Typical specs: Tripods in this cat-
egory weigh around 2 pounds and can
support about 20 pounds of gear.
Heading to Europe or Asia? This same
tripod will easily pack into luggage or
attach to a backpack carry-on. Long expo-
sures in the low light of a castle, temple or
church can’t be accomplished handheld,
but you’ll be ready for those conditions, as
well as for panoramic landscapes, video,
garden macro and time-lapse. If you’re
doing street photography, just leave your
tripod attached to the pack on your back.
Medium All-Purpose: These tripods fit
into a large suitcase, so there’s no excuse
to travel without one. It can be tempting
to choose a unit with four leg sections
because they’re shorter when collapsed,
but the more connections, the greater the
chance of loss of rigidity. For this reason, I
prefer the three-section systems. A quality
medium tripod, used properly, can handle
a 500mm telephoto—and while you can
pack the tripod in a checked bag, I recom-
mend that you, or your non-photographer
traveling partner, carry the lens onto the
plane. Typical specs: These models sup-
port approximately 35 pounds of gear and
weigh between 3 to 4 pounds (without the
head) depending on the material.
Medium Heavy Duty: Let’s say you’re
a wildlife photographer packing a 500mm
or 600mm telephoto. You even use 1.4x
and 2x tele-extenders on occasion, and
you photograph in difficult conditions. You
need this level of tr ipod, especially if you’re
work ing on unstable sur faces such as sand,
streambeds or gravel or in breezy weather.
And pushing a tripod into deep snow can
spread the legs and put undue stress on the
center casing, possibly fracturing it. (I’ve
had it happen.) Typical specs: Designed for
use with longer, heavier lenses, these weigh
about 5 pounds without the head and can
support between 40 and 55 pounds.
Heavy Dudes: I don’t use these, even
when I shoot at 800mm and 1600mm.
These are intended for the folks with
large format (like 8 x 10) and large video
cameras, and even they’re using much
lighter cameras these days. Chances are
that if you have one of these heavy leg
sets, you won’t use it. Typical specs: Able
to support about 80 pounds, the legs can
weigh 6 or more pounds depending on the
material, without the head.Heads
Ballheads. We don’t see much of the
three-handle tripod heads anymore. Most
tripod kits are sold with a ballhead—
today’s norm. Ballheads come in manyconfigurations, quality and sizes. Get
one that will handle the heaviest weight
you plan to place on the tripod. If you’re
interested in using longer lenses, such
as a 100-400mm zoom, choose a more
robust head; a small ballhead won’t hold
the weight, and the lens will “creep”
when you want to lock in on a subject.
For general outdoor and nature photogra-
phy, a medium-sized ballhead is a good
idea, and a larger one will be more reli-
able with heavier cameras and lenses. I
have several Really Right Stuff BH-55
units that are, in my opinion, the best
all-purpose ballheads money can buy—outdoorphotographer.com May 2019 31