feelings about tripod use - DPChallenge Forums

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

01/09/2006 10:22:14 PM · #1

I don't really like using a tripod (okay, I admit mine is cheap). I seem to make better photos when I simply press the camera tightly against my eye (in my case, glasses), steady my arms at my side, hold my breath and press the shutter. Everyone says a tripod is a must. I agree to that (or something like a wall) when using extreme telephoto, but how necessary do you feel a tripod is for portraits (turning the camera for a portrait view rather than landscape)with strobes? I'd just like to hear some other opinions.

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

01/09/2006 10:26:20 PM · #2

Using a tripod accomplishes more than holding the camera steady. I suggest using one unless you can't for some specific reason.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

01/09/2006 10:28:37 PM · #3

Tripod slows you down so you can think about the picture you are taking.

TooCool

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

01/09/2006 10:32:06 PM · #4

My photography quality increased 10 fold when I started to use the tripod. Now I use it always unless there is a specific reason not to. Why did I improve with the tripod? Not sure. At the time I was using a p/s camera and I do know that the sharpness of my images improved imediately. I think there is more to it than that though. Carrying the tripod makes you THINK like a photographer. It takes time to set it up so you move around a little more before you take the shot. You look at your subject from slightly different angles, then you set up tripod/camera and click the button.

Katmystiry

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

01/09/2006 10:34:30 PM · #5

I don't care for using a tripod either but when it comes to portraits, still life, etc it has become a must. There is a world of difference!!

idnic

Canon EOS-60D

01/09/2006 10:38:00 PM · #6

Every tiny movement, your breath, your heartbeat, the breeze cause loss of sharpness. Only a tripod (and remote) assures an image as sharp as our cameras will allow, which is what we strive for. I say tripod, tripid, tripod. A light-medium easy one for out & about, heavier, more sturdy for the studio.

LindaLee

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/09/2006 10:43:56 PM · #7

I spend a great deal of my time photographing children, and it is impossible to use a tripod. I have to be able to move around freely, be able to get down on the floor, or up on the bed, or whatever, to get the shots. Children just move too much and too quickly for tripod use. So I basically never use one. I know that there are times that I sacrifice a bit of sharpness for that, but overall, I am much happier with my work when I shoot handheld.

Beetle

01/09/2006 10:46:52 PM · #8

I have learned to love my monopod for when I'm out and about.

Around home (or when the car is right there), the tripod is great, but I dislike having to carry it with me.

The monopod seems a perfect compromise. It won't let me do a 30 second night time shot, but for "normal" shots it sure helps and is nowhere near as cumbersome as the tripod.

01/09/2006 10:52:02 PM · #9

You all give good reasons for using one. I tend to have to follow my subjects, especially children and animals and always end up yanking the camera off of the tripod to move around to get the shot. I'm really trying to aim for the eyes and all the tripod adjusting usually makes me lose the shot.

Katmystiry

Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L USM

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

01/09/2006 10:53:35 PM · #10

When I shoot children I totally ditch the tripod. It is most definately not worth the effort when trying to get some great candid shots of them running around in the back yard!

lentil

Canon EOS-5D

01/09/2006 11:00:57 PM · #11

i am so glad this thread is here. I am having the same dispute in my head.
I have a tripod but it is the most biggest pain in the butt ever made. I have carry around a coin to undo it and do it up. It is light i will give it that but i hate using it because of the way i need to put the camera on. I have been toying with the idea of getting a monopod but with this wedding coming up i am not sure what would be better. The monopod or the tripod. I dont have the most steady hands
Any input would be great, sorry to hijack the thread :)
Lisa

01/09/2006 11:09:30 PM · #12

Glad you chimed in (lentil). I got a monopod for the holidays but have yet to take it out of the box. I've been so turned off by the tripod, I'm not sure I want to use the monopod, but maybe that would be an "in-between" answer. I'm getting all nervous about a photo shoot which will have about 100 daddys & daughters (separate pairs, not all in one photo!) I just am never happy with the tripod, and the thought of constantly adjusting it up and down and trying to accomplish it all in two hours is making me very nervous. I sort of thought with my strobes I'd be able to freeze them fairly well (and they shouldn't be moving anyway!)

Beetle

01/09/2006 11:11:09 PM · #13

Originally posted by lentil:

As I said earlier, I love my monopod. My first tripod also needed a coin (by the way, use a washer and tie it to the tripod, instead) which was a pain. I now have a ball head which is shared between the tripod and the monopod. The quick release plate has its own little ring to tighten it - much better!
Between monopod and ball head, it is very very quick and easy to move around, including awkward spots, and very quick to change from landscape to portrait.
A monopod can't completely replace a tripod, but is wonderful to use most of the time.

Edited 15 minutes later to add: I must be invisible :-(

Message edited by author 2006-01-09 23:27:05.

RayEthier

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

01/10/2006 12:28:38 AM · #14

Originally posted by Beetle:

Edited 15 minutes later to add: I must be invisible :-(

Peek a boo.............I see you.

mcmurma

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Nikon MF 180mm f/2.8 ED AIS

01/10/2006 12:45:20 AM · #15

I use tripods when I know I must with slow shutter speeds of landscapes, etc..., but for portraits? Never!

Why? Cause tripods SUCK! They restrict my creativity (I find the camera going where the tripod is, not necessarily where I want it to go, and this generally bums me out.)

Seriously. I see them as a necessary evil, not a necessity. I believe my hatred of tripods has caused me to shoot portraits the way I do. Which is always using a nearly wide-open aperture on fast lenses. Then I just use the iso I have to to keep my shutter at about 1/15 and faster.

At speeds this low I get lots of images with motion blur, so I take lots and lots of images. Do I sometimes miss the shot? Yep, sometimes I still do. But usually its because the light is so poor that focus could just as easily have been the culprit. So I don't sweat it and take lots and lots of images for insurance.

Prof_Fate

01/10/2006 02:13:00 AM · #16

Until recently i had a cheap tripod. I finally got a good one, but it weights 7 1/2 pounds. I didn't think i'd want to carry it anywhere, and then this past sunday we did a GTG at the national aviary. I have been there before - it's dark in there. I have used strobes in teh past and that works for some of the birds,but many are behind a screen/wire barrier that the flash illuminates. I was also taking a 70-200 for the first time and i knew that handholding at 200mm wasn't going to work.
So i mounted the camera (quick release plates are the ONLY way to go) to the tripod and carried the whole shebang (7.5 punds of tripod, 1 pound of camera and 3 pounds of lens, plus my backpack!) At first it seemed heavy, but then i just forgot about it and shot. and shot. and shot some more. I never did get out my flash, and kept my ISO to 200 or 400, may shots at 1/15 sec.
The right head makes a difference - a big difference.
i got one like this

You can move the camera any which way, let the grip go and it stays there.
You can get shots like this then - 204mm 1/30 f2.8 . Flash changes the look.

If useing flash as your main light you can usually do away with a tripod. I did several days worth of shots of dogs and kids - no tripod would have worked, but at 1/160 ISO 100 f7 there was not any sharpness issued at all.

fotomann_forever

01/10/2006 02:19:10 AM · #17

I don't work with a tripod, unless I am under low lighting conditions or at low shutter speeds or am doing macro work. Especially with well lit portraits a tripod will just slow you down.

On a few occasions I will opt for a monopod for long telephoto, especially if I can't get the shutter speeds close to the lens length.

This is all how I work and may not represent the sentiment of my peers ;-)

Mr Tee

Canon EOS-5D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

01/10/2006 02:45:51 AM · #18

I use a tripod most of the time, yes they are a pain to carry around but, as has been said, a necessary evil. I have to tell myself to leave the tripod in its case until I have scouted around with the hand held camera, looking for the ideal position. Only then should you mount the camera on the tripod, at the angle/height you have decided upon.

There is a danger of just mounting the camera on the pod then choosing a spot to take you image, then your creativity is killed because the tripod chooses the position, which may not be the best.

Landscapes, most anyway, are best taken at f22 and even on a reasonable day this can give slow shutter speeds.

As for the comment about portraits. I took portraits professionally for many years and the camera was always mounted on a stand. I found I needed to be looking and talking to the subject all the time, having a camera in front of my face destroyed the communication between us, and I could see if the blinked.

However, as someone once said to me..... "It's a style" whatever works for you is the right way.

Message edited by author 2006-01-10 02:51:13.

danderson107

Canon EOS-30D

01/10/2006 02:47:13 AM · #19

I shoot a lot of still life and use mine religiously. Outdoors is a completely different story.

Brent_Ward

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L USM

01/10/2006 02:48:51 AM · #20

I use mine 95% of the time. No matter what I'm shooting.

radionin

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/10/2006 03:05:23 AM · #21

I have the same head on my tripod as Prof Fate I personal don't enjoy the head I purchased it long ago when I frist started taking photos. I find myself quickly using the quick relase and leave the tripod where it stands for hours on end in the middle of no where. I wish I had a ball head. But working with a tripod is a skill that has to be learn't and devolped with time. On another note I tend to do most of my photography at a f1.8 and I don't find myself have sharpness issues until I hit 1/50th.

I would love to see a still guy use this head //www.cineused.com/Arri%201%20head%202.jpg

paddles

Pentax K10D

Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4 AF

01/10/2006 06:33:17 AM · #22

Like any other photographic equipment, there are times when a tripod is useful, and there are times when it isn't. It's a question of what sort of photography you're doing, and whether it would help. (Similarly, a 400mm f-2.8 lens would be a fantastic lens - but it's not going to help you do star trails.)

Personally, for small format (35mm/digital) I think the only way to go is to use a tripod that is well-enough made to be stable, and has a quick release plate. I have a quick release plate for each of my cameras, and the quick release plates are rarely removed. I used to have a cheap and nasty tripod but it was worse than useless because anything more than a light breeze would shake it too much. Now I've got a Manfrotto, it weighs a bit and it cost more than some of my cheaper lenses but was worth every cent. (Of course there are other good brands too!)

As some others have observed, sometimes a tripod can be helpful even when it isn't strictly necessary, because it forces you to slow down and think about positioning, framing and other composition factors. But it's not going to help you take candids at a 4-year-old's birthday party.

01/10/2006 07:24:40 AM · #23

My exact situation is that I'll probably be shooting with my kit lens (18-70mm), shooting in manual mode around f/8-11, 1/125-160 @200ISO. I have two strobes with bounce umbrellas, and if I have to, will use a third strobe and a hair light if necessary. The dad will be sitting, girl standing (100 pairs of these!). I'll be sitting on an identical stool at eye-level to the dad. I tend to autofocus on one pair of eyes (the girl's in this case), then move my camera between the two people and release the shutter (guess that's one reason I would find the tripod restrictive).

This is what I've had the best luck with in the past (but not with so many groups of people). Is there a better way (with or without a tripod) to make sure both people are in focus?

mandyturner