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Tripod Advice?


13 years 3 months ago #18383 by writers_wife
I take quite a few photos of birds in flight, moving animals, etc. and it can often take some time waiting for just the right shot. I want to purchase a tripod to make my life a little easier. I'm using a Canon EOS Rebel XS and I came across a checklist to help me decide what to get. Problem is, I don't understand one of the questions. What do they mean by TRIPOD HEAD? The entire question is "What tripod head will be mounted on it?"

Can someone define tripod head for me? Also, if anyone has any tripod recommendations, I'm all ears.
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13 years 3 months ago - 13 years 3 months ago #18395 by bhowdy
In the context that you ask the question a "tripod" is only the legs of the entire package. The tripod head is the part / piece that mounts on the tripod legs and then the camera body (or lens) mounts on the tripod head. There are several different types of "tripod heads" and many many different manufacturers.

You mentioned the camera body that you use .... what lens do you use for your birds in flight, etc photos .... This will help us give you our opinions / recommendations

Here's a link to some tripod heads
B&H Tripod Heads
Bob Howdeshell

"If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera" ~ Lewis Hine
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13 years 3 months ago #18407 by Alex

writers_wife wrote: I take quite a few photos of birds in flight, moving animals, etc. and it can often take some time waiting for just the right shot. I want to purchase a tripod to make my life a little easier. I'm using a Canon EOS Rebel XS and I came across a checklist to help me decide what to get. Problem is, I don't understand one of the questions. What do they mean by TRIPOD HEAD? The entire question is "What tripod head will be mounted on it?"

Can someone define tripod head for me? Also, if anyone has any tripod recommendations, I'm all ears.


First question for you is what sort of budget are you looking to spend. The thing about tripods is that you can find them as inexpensive as costing under $100.00 to others that cost over $1000.00 all day long. Most will recommend to not go cheap on a tripod, as these instruments will last you a long time, plus make taking photos or getting set up for that shot easier or more difficult depending on the tripods setup.

As far as recommendations I can only speak of Manfrotto in terms of Tripods. I have aluminum tripod of theirs and also their carbon fiber set up as well.

Now the tripod head Is the ball head unit that connects your camera to the tripod and has various movement to it. The two brands I can speak of are Manfrotto for one, actually both my tripods had Manfrottos 488R4 ballheads, till I moved to Acratech's GP ball head system. I would recommend both, but highly recommend the Acratech by far the most.

Hope this helps!

Alex
Thank you for making PhotographyTalk.com your photography community of choice.
Photo Comments
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13 years 3 months ago #18638 by Joe Photo Daddy
Manfrotto seems to a have nice selection of middle of the road to higher end tripods.
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13 years 2 months ago #26824 by detective
The pan head on a tripod is a flat plate on top of the tripd that the camera is affixed to along with a handle that extends back from the head to allow the camera to be panned. This type of head keeps the camera in a horizontal or near horizontal plane. Pan heads are generally used for video setups, but lots of still camera shooters use them, too.
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