Hello again! I am already on the part four in the series about tripods! Lot’s to talk about!

To remind you: in my last article article I was talking about portability of a tripod: what makes a tripod portable and how you can carry it around. If you have missed it, you can read it here.

And today? All about height of the tripod!

Question: How tall should a tripod be?

How tall a tripod should be is a very important feature but is completely subjective as well. If you don’t mind bending, you don’t mind bending. It’s up to you.

You are concerned about three things:

• How tall is the tripod when standing (with the center column down).
• How tall is the tripod when standing with the central column fully up.
• How small can the tripod be when standing.

Let’s look at each separately:

Specification: Maximum / total height of a tripod with center column down

First, you are concerned about the maximum height of the tripod when standing with the center column down.

There are different heights ranging from the smallest around 17cm (6.7in), to the tallest at more than 2.5m (8.2′).

The sizes of tripods can be categorized into different levels:

• The compact level tripods are very light, but might be uncomfortable to use: you will need to stoop to use them. They are appropriate in particularly for macro work or low-level photography.
• The standard level sized tripods are popular because they are light and relatively small when folded. But they are only about 1.3m (4’’3’) tall.
• The eye level tripods are probably the best tripods to own. The height of them is about 1.5m (5”). They are the most comfortable to use.
• The over-head level is when a tripod is taller than you. Such tripods are mostly used in studios and at various events.

The general rule is that the taller the tripod, the more it weights and the more expensive it is. My condolences to all the tall people out there! ; )

When you think about the height of a tripod, you have to also consider:

• How tall the tripod really is depends not only on the tripod height, but also the height of a tripod head and a camera body. Add those two up in order to get a better picture of the height. For example: a tripod’s maximum height (with center column down) is 140cm (4.6′), height of a tripod head is 9cm (3.5in) and the height of your camera is (up to where the viewfinder is) 7cm (2.7in). Therefore the total height of a tripod is 156cm (5.1′). If you are about that height, you won’t have to bend in order to compose a shot. To conclude: whenever you are determining the maximum height of a tripod, always subtract the height of tripod head and your camera (which is usually about 15-25cm/6-10in).
• When thinking how tall you are and how tall the tripod should be, don’t forget that your eyes are not exactly on the top of the head, therefore deduct the forehead from your calculations.
• Especially DSLR cameras have a LCD screen at the top of the camera as well – if you are using it while shooting, you would want to see it when the camera is mounted on the tripod.
• You can increase the height of the tripod with the use of center column, but that is not recommended to consider when you are buying a tripod for reasons discussed in the second part of this article, when talking about the center column. Whatever height you choose, it needs to be comfortable for you to use, without extending the center column at all!

The above calculation assumes you are standing on the level ground. If you are shooting in nature the ground is rarely completely levelled and you will probably stand on a higher level than a tripod itself (at that times you would wish you had a higher tripod, even higher than you!).

When you are shooting on uneven terrain (i.e. mountains), it comes very helpful if the angle of the legs of a tripod can be adjusted separately (I talk about this in greater detail in my next article).

Another exception would be when you are shooting upwards (trees, air planes, birds, roofs). In this case you will also want a tripod to be as tall as possible for less bending.

The most comfortable height with no doubt is the eye level. Compared to standard level tripods are a bit bigger and heavier, which makes standard level tripods a nice compromise between comfort and price. However, if you are going to use tripod a lot, especially hiking where the ground is not equal, I recommend the eye level height. It is generally easier to bend a little bit than to be too short for the composition you want to take. You will never regret having one.

A quick advice here: It is true that when shooting from eye level you don’t have to bend. That is surely very comfortable! However, that will also make your photography boring (everything taken from the same level), so do change the angle of view as much as you can and sometimes get as low as possible!

Another suggestion: If you are shooting from the same place (especially for longer times), i.e. events, birds, don’t stand up all the time! Grab a chair!

In the end of the day, what tripod level is best for you will depend on what kind of photography you do! I have talked about how important it is to determine what features you really need in my first article about tripods.

Specification: Maximum height of the tripod with extended center column

Secondly, you are concerned about the maximum height of the tripod when standing with the center column extended.

Note that not all tripods actually have a center column.

Specification: Minimum height of the tripod

Thirdly, you are concerned how small the tripod can get when standing.

It varies drastically from tripods that can go down to only few centimetres, to the ones with the minimum height of up to 50cm.

This specification is important for anyone doing macro photography.

Other features that can get you closer to the ground:

• leg spread,
• removable or rotatable center column.

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