The fifth article about tripods! We are almost there! : ) In this article I will talk about tripod’s adaptability.

Oh, and if you have missed my last article about tripods, when I have talked about everything you need to know about the height of a tripod, you can read it here!

Good feature: Tripods need to be easy to adjust.

If you are shooting outdoors or at events, you want the tripod to be set up (&closed) and adjusted as quickly as possible to not waste time and/or miss any good opportunities for the shot.

What makes tripod easy to adjust:

• Type of leg locks.
• Leg spread.
• Leg bracing.
• Attachment plate: is a camera quickly removable from a tripod head or not (I am talking about this in a tripod head’s article – coming soon).

Specification: Type of leg locks / locking mechanism

With leg locks you secure the length of tripod sections (legs).

Tripod leg locks are one of the most important parts of any tripod, therefore you should consider that:

• They are the weakest part of a tripod: if leg locks are weak, tripod cannot be sturdy.
• Fewer leg locks tripod has, more sturdy it is. This corresponds well with what I have discussed in one of my previous articles: less leg sections a tripod has, more sturdy it is.
• Fewer leg locks means less work (therefore quicker) to adjust the legs.

There are two basic types of tripod locking mechanisms: twist locks and clamp (flip) locks. There are also wing locks, but rarely used.

Before describing the types of locks I want to point out couple of things:

1. Quality of locks depends on the manufacturers and not the type of locks itself. If the tripod is cheap, locks will be cheap (=prone to failure). You will use them a lot so make sure they can survive constant use. If you buy tripod from good manufacturers, locks should be good.
2. Both are simple to use. It only comes down to what YOU find easier to operate.
3. So TRY them OUT before buying a tripod. I hope I don’t need to stress too much again to try the locks of specific brand of tripods you are looking at the moment – and not at the type of lock of just any brand (they can really differ in quality significantly).
4. Why is it important that you like them? Simply, whenever you will want to extend or collapse the tripod legs, you will need to use them (and that will happen a lot).  It should be easy and they should feel comfortable to you. Imagine to open (and close) 9 locks each time you want to extend (and close) the tripod (if having a 3-section tripod; 4-section tripod have even 12 locks) while hating it!
5. The descriptions of the locks (pros and cons) are general and may not be relevant to all manufacturers.

Twist-lock mechanism

They come in variety of other names: twist system, internal twist lock, rotating locks , collar lock..

Advantages	Disadvantages
nice when carrying: they won’t stick to other objects	generally take longer time to open/close; EXCEPTION: Gitzo’s twist G-locks can be operated just as quickly as clamp locks because they need only a quarter turn to open/close
durable, provide very good stability	easier to get dirty with sand and muck (usually it is possible to clean them)
no need for adjustment, don’t get loose	more expensive

How they work: rotate the lock to unlock the legs, pull out the legs to desired length and lock the legs by rotating the lock to the opposite direction.

Tips for faster operation:

• To open, grip all locks on one leg at once (with your palm) and twist to release the locks. Now pull the leg in desired length and tighten each lock separately.
• It is the easiest to start releasing the locks from bottom-up (if you are doing one lock at the time). But this is contradicting with the best stability rule (so keep it in mind), which only apply if you are not extending all the legs all the way: for the best stability of a tripod, first extend the widest top sections and in the end the the lowest section of the leg (if necessary).
• When you are tightening the locks, it is easier to do it from up-down.
• Some Gitzo tripods have an ALR (Anti Leg Rotation System) that allows to open even a 5-section tripod in less than 15 seconds. To do that, loosen all the twist locks (on all legs), pull the legs down and tighten the locks.
• Some Gitzo tripods have a G-lock. This locking mechanism is incredibly rigid, strong, safe and fast to operate: to lock or unlock it requires only a quarter twist.

Clamp locks

They have many other names, for instance: snap locks, locking knobs, lock collar, thumb lock, quick levers, flip pressure lock, flip lock, click lock, flip lever, clamp lever, clamp lock, speed release…

Advantages	Disadvantages
faster to adjust than twist locks	in cheaper tripods of bad quality (one of the first parts that will break); especially avoid plastic ones
easy to use in any weather (including with gloves)	may require some strength to open and close (watch your fingers!)
	may require adjusting of lock tension (come with a tool)
	when carrying a tripod, they can catch/stick at things
	less stable than twist locks
	easy to get dirty with sand and muck

How to use: To unlock, unsnap the locking lever, pull out the leg to the desired length and lock the leg by pressing back the lever.

Tips for faster operation:

• Unlock all the locks, shake it a bit and the legs will “fall out”. Snap them back in the position.
• As I have mentioned before at twist locks, for the best stability of a tripod, first extend the widest top sections and in the end the the lowest section of the leg.

Wing locks

They are similar to clamp locks, just that instead of flipping the lock, you rotate it.

These are the slowest and cheapest of all locking mechanisms available, therefore seen mostly on studio tripods, when quick setup is not that important.

How do you know how far you need to pull out the other two legs?

You extend one leg and lock it into position. How do you know how far you should extend the other two? There are few techniques you can use:

1. The easiest technique is to extend the legs to the desired height while they are still folded (before spreading them). This will allow you faster operation (with both twist and clamp locks) as well as to quickly assess how far you should extend the other two legs.
2. Use fingers for measuring: lock one leg to the desired length and then with your palm measure the distance between the locks and apply it to other two legs.
3. Draw a scale on tripod legs.

This is the third time I’m going to repeat it (but it is very important, so again): for the best stability of a tripod, first extend the widest top sections and in the end the the lowest section of the leg (if not extending tripod legs all their length). To remind you why I stress this out so much, read this article.

Specification: leg bracing / cross-bracing

Tripod can either have leg braces or not.

There are two types of leg bracings:

• The ones, where the bracing is attached to the tripod legs and the bottom of the center column.
• The ones, where the bracing is attached to the tripod legs and to the ring around the center column, with a brace lock, allowing legs to be locked at the chosen even spread. Note that this does not allow legs to be positioned at any angle individually, but influences all legs together.

More often than not, this applies:

• They are found on cheaper tripods to prevent tripod from spreading its legs wide open. Therefore, more often than not, bracing is a synonym for “cheaper” and “of lower quality”.
• Usually they do improve stability, although not that notably on cheaper lightweight tripods.
• Better tripods, especially professional models don’t have them (and don’t need them).
• Studio tripods, however, usually do have bracing. Because such tripods are usually higher and require bigger load capacity, bracing provide them that.
• Stability of the tripod should not be judged on whether it has bracing or not, but rather on its design and construction materials.
• The most obvious limitation is how far out tripod can spread its legs. This is especially important when doing macro photography when you want to get as close to the ground as possible by spreading tripod legs wide open (“all the way”).
• Another limitation, which can be especially annoying on uneven terrain is that you cannot adjust angle of the legs individually.
• Because of the limitations listed above, tripos with bracing are best to use in a studio, at home or whenever you have even ground. If you want to use tripods in nature, it is best to look for ones with individually adjustable leg angles.

Specification: Leg spread / leg angle

Can tripod legs move independently?

That is, can the angle of each tripod legs be changed individually and independently to one another?

This is a very helpful and necessary feature for anyone shoting outdoors where the ground is rarely completely even. And not all tripods have it!

Individually adjustable leg angles allow you to:

• get closer to the ground by spreading the legs to 90-degree angle (for low-level and macro photography);
• setup tripod quicker and more secure on uneven terrain or indoors (i.e. stairs);
• setup tripod when you don’t have much space available.

On uneven terrain:

This is obviously not possible if tripod legs have braces.

There are generally two types of systems:

Ratchet or stop system

Ratchet or stop system allows you to position tripod legs under (usually) three steps – angles.

On different models there are various ways to change the leg angle, most often you press&hold the button or pull up the lock release.

At which angles these stops are, depends on the manufacturer.

Naturally, the bigger the angle, the lower the tripod gets. You can lock all the legs at the same angle, or set each leg’s angle independently according to the (uneven) terrain.

Any-angle system

This system allows you to lock the legs independently at any desired angle from 0- to 90-degrees. Great flexibility!

Again, on different models there are different ways to do it, usually there is a button to press or there is a clamp lock.

For the quickest operation, first position the legs at the desired angles and then lock the legs.

Make sure the tripod has a good center of gravity

When you are shooting on even ground, the centre of tripod’s gravity is usually not a problem (unless if using a really long lens or a horizontal center column).

However, when you are shooting on uneven terrain, when you need to position tripod legs individually, you have to pay attention of the tripod’s center of gravity as well when positioning the legs – otherwise you run the risk of tripod falling over!

Levelling a tripod and a camera to the ground

Whenever you are shooting sunsets, landscapes, panoramas, architecture, whenever you want the horizon to be perfectly straight, you need to make sure the camera is levelled to the ground. That is particularly true when you are shooting on uneven terrain, with independently adjustable legs, or use horizontal center column.

Hmm… I didn’t mention the importance of tripod being levelled to the ground, but yet I have included it in the title. Why?

Because just because the tripod is levelled to the ground, does NOT mean the camera is levelled to the ground as well. And you are shooting with the camera, that’s why making sure the camera is levelled is more important!

O.K. How can you make levelling?

• accessory: bubble level;
• accessory: levelling base;
• accessory: panning clamp;
• "levelling" tripod that has levelling already built in (e.g. Gitzo’s levelling tripods);
• levelling center column (e.g. accessory from Manfrotto/Bogen).

Useful accessory: levelling bubble / spirit level

Bubble level helps you level the tripod, the tripod head or the camera to the ground. There are various types of bubble levels:

• bubble level of horizontal axis: this is useful for aligning horizons;
• bubble level of vertical axis: this is useful when aligning vertical objects, like buildings, trees..;
• bubble level of both horizontal and vertical axis, often called two-way or double axis bubble level;
• three axis bubble level: alongside the horizontal and vertical axis it also measures the applicate axis for even greater precision;
• bulls eye bubble level: this is a circular bubble level that allows you to level all 360° at once; most often found as part of the tripod or tripod head; be sure to try them out before buying to see whether you can level with them: some people find it easy, but some hard!

There are various positions where bubble level is typically placed:

• Mounted on a  tripod’s body: it helps to align a tripod.
• Mounted on a tripod’s head: it helps to align a tripod head.
• As an add-on accessory: attached to camera hot shoe (where you would attach a flash device; it aligns the camera) or at the bottom of the tripod’s center column (it aligns the tripod).

Most tripods have a bulls eye bubble level built in on their body, usually just above one of the legs. Here is a quick tip on how to quickly level it:

1. Extend the tripod legs and make tripod standing on the ground as visually levelled as you can.
2. Look at the bubble and rotate the tripod so the bubble points into the direction of the tripod leg that is below it.
3. Slowly lower that leg until the bubble comes in the centre.

Useful accessory: levelling base

Bubble levels can do a sufficient job, but if precision is very important to you, try a levelling base.

Levelling base is a simple add-on between the tripod and the tripod head that allow you to perfectly level your camera with the ground. It has its own bubble level to help you level it.

What is special about it (compared to the bubble level) is that it allows you to do down to degree-precise adjustments.

But now I have to warn you and point out that:

• It is true that levelling base makes everything that is above the levelling base levelled.
• You also don’t need to have tripod levelled to have levelling base levelled.
• HOWEVER, just because levelling base is levelled, does not mean the tripod head (if attached) is levelled (how do you know when the head is in neutral position?). Of course if you don’t attach a head on the levelling base but attach camera directly, you don’t have this problem.
• Additionally, don’t forget that this is an extra accessory which means an additional weight (around 0.6kg / 1.3lb) and additional cost!

Useful accessory: panning clamp

Panning clamp is an add-on device that comes between the tripod ball head and the camera.

So far I know Arca-Swiss is making them. From their description: With the clamp mounted on your (any!) ballhead, loosen the ball and adjust the clamp until its spirit level indicated the clamp is level; lock the ball into position. Now you have the camera perfectly levelled!

Recommended workflow on levelling a camera

Remember, importance of levelling is ONLY important when the shot you are making NEEDS precise levelling of the camera. Does that make sense?

Let’s look at some workflows on how to level the camera, depending on what you have at hand:

Level with a BUBBLE LEVEL:

Level with a LEVELLING BASE:

Level with a PANNING CLAMP:

Level with a LEVELLING TRIPOD or a LEVELLING CENTRE COLUMN:

Remember, just because the tripod is levelled, doesn’t mean the camera is! So always make sure you level the camera in the end as well.

A bit more about levelling..

No, I’m not finished yet! Couple of quick reminders:

• When you have managed to have your camera levelled, do be careful how you jump around the tripod: slightest movements and bumps can make tripod out of level. This is especially true when tripod is not standing on stable ground, i.e. mud (not the best place to go level tripod in the first place anyway).
• I have added this part about levelling of the camera already in the article about tripods for a very good reason: you have to think about it in advance! For example, not all models of tripods accept/have levelling bases or levelling center column, so check it out before you buy it. Of course you won’t have such problems if you are buying a bubble level.
• Last but not least: There are certain situations when having camera levelled is a must, HOWEVER the fun of photography is experimenting, so don’t take all the pictures levelled (and boring) but experiment with different angles and points of view! There is a reason why tripod heads CAN move to various directions and angles! Make full use of that!!!

If you have experience levelling the camera (tripod), let me know how you are doing it!

To be continued..

I have finally come to the end of this article. It ended to be much longer than I expected at first! Anyway, I hope you have liked it.

In my next and FINAL article about tripods I wrap it all up.

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