How important is a tripod?

Falcon · 18th January 2002

Photography is my one month old hobby. Would like to know the importance of having tripod. Should I get one at this point of time? or SHould wait until I am more skillful, like mastering other aspects of photography first..

Thanks.

Kei · 18th January 2002

That's the most important thing you need

Klause · 18th January 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Falcon
Photography is my one month old hobby. Would like to know the importance of having tripod. Should I get one at this point of time? or SHould wait until I am more skillful, like mastering other aspects of photography first..

Thanks.

If you want to take night shot... you need tripod 100% of the time if you want good results

Jason Ho · 18th January 2002

Its very important to me as I have a pair of shaky hands (not legs though)

GoclPa · 18th January 2002

from my experience using a manual camera I would go for a tripod anytime

18th January 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Klause

If you want to take night shot... you need tripod 100% of the time if you want good results

Yup, I agree.

rueyloon · 18th January 2002

all depends on what you shoot.

to a streetphotographer - ZERO importance
to a night shoot photographer - ULTIMATE importance

Falcon · 18th January 2002

Oh i see. What about taking nature shots? That's what I am doing now.

Darren · 18th January 2002

yup - equally important for nature photography, especially when you are using long lenses.

As a rule of thumb, the minimum shutter speed that you should use should be no slower than 1/focal-length, therefore, if you have a 80-200 (or 70-210) zoom lenses and you are shooting at 200/210mm setting, your shutter speed should be at 1/200s or faster.

Granted, if you have ultra-steady hands, you can get away with 1/125s or even 1/60s, but you WILL notice a vast difference if you were to compare a shot taken handheld at 1/60s vs a tripod-mounted shot at the same speed.

ckiang · 19th January 2002

If you want maximum depth of field in your nature/landscape photos, and/or want to use slow film (like Velvia) or low ISO in your digicam (e.g. G1/2 ISO50), you will need a tripod as the shutter speed will tend to be lowish. Using a tripod will ensure sharp pictures providing your subject doesn't move (a lot).

Regards
CK

18th January 2002	#1
Falcon Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,870	How important is a tripod? Photography is my one month old hobby. Would like to know the importance of having tripod. Should I get one at this point of time? or SHould wait until I am more skillful, like mastering other aspects of photography first.. Thanks.

18th January 2002	#2
Kei Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,090	That's the most important thing you need

18th January 2002	#4
Jason Ho Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,312	Its very important to me as I have a pair of shaky hands (not legs though)

18th January 2002	#5
GoclPa Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Pasir Ris, Singapore Posts: 280	from my experience using a manual camera I would go for a tripod anytime

18th January 2002	#7
rueyloon Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,539	all depends on what you shoot. to a streetphotographer - ZERO importance to a night shoot photographer - ULTIMATE importance

18th January 2002	#9
Darren ClubSNAP Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: ClubSNAP HQ Posts: 7,473	yup - equally important for nature photography, especially when you are using long lenses. As a rule of thumb, the minimum shutter speed that you should use should be no slower than 1/focal-length, therefore, if you have a 80-200 (or 70-210) zoom lenses and you are shooting at 200/210mm setting, your shutter speed should be at 1/200s or faster. Granted, if you have ultra-steady hands, you can get away with 1/125s or even 1/60s, but you WILL notice a vast difference if you were to compare a shot taken handheld at 1/60s vs a tripod-mounted shot at the same speed.

19th January 2002	#10
ckiang Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 6,597	If you want maximum depth of field in your nature/landscape photos, and/or want to use slow film (like Velvia) or low ISO in your digicam (e.g. G1/2 ISO50), you will need a tripod as the shutter speed will tend to be lowish. Using a tripod will ensure sharp pictures providing your subject doesn't move (a lot). Regards CK