How important is a tripod?

[peanut170]

Say it's during the day and even the slowest shutter speed is generally fast enough to stop motion? As far as making sure everything is lined up?

 

[Bynx]

How important are your pics to you? If you are shooting anything less than 1/250 of a second Id use a tripod. And thats just to get maximum sharpness. If you want to line things up use a tripod EVERY TIME. The more stable your camera the more stable your final image. Sometimes you wont even notice the difference until you make blowups.

 

[ceejtank]

It depends on the shot really. With digital pics you - if you shoot in RAW, you can move the brightness up and down to get the +2, -2, from your first shot on the PC, so a tripod wouldn't be necessary given your requirements above. That being said i'd use a tripod to keep the camera as still as possible while taking any shot that I can.. obviously that's not always the case, but if you shoot in raw you only need 1 picture, then you can adjust with PC programs.

 

[12sndsgood]

I wouldn't worry to much about when conditions are perfect for hand-holding, I would worry about when conditions are to bad to handhold.

 

[Overread]

It really depends what you're shooting, how your shooting it, what you want as an end result, the situation surrounding the shoot, the kind of tripod(s) and tripod head(s) you own and can use etc...

It's difficult to give an overall single answer because there are so many variables and each situation can differ quite a lot as to if a tripod is essential or not or even if its a hindrance.

In the end the tripod is like the flash or the lens or any other bit of major photography gear in that the better the quality and the more practice you have the better it will work for you. In addition it might not be needed for every shot, but is something that will (in most cases) see enough use to warrant a decent investment in.

 

[Compaq]

I would never leave for HDR scenic shots, indoor shots, sunny shots or any type of shots without my tripod. I'm addicted to it. It wouldn't feel right to shoot without it, actually. Somehow I feel that if I use a tripod, then my pictures will be better - even if I'm only doing one exposure shots That's not positive, though

 

[kundalini]

I'd put a (good) tripod no less than in the top 5 ancillary purchases.

 

[unpopular]

Motion blur is relative to the rate which the image travels across the film plane over the duration of exposure. Because movement is alwyas inevitable, even with a tripod, a "sharp" image is one where the image travels a distance shorter than the resolving power of the imaging system. Thus, magnification is an important aspect to determining if you need additional support or image stabilization. While 1/250 might be a good minimum for 100mm, you could easily get away with 1/100 with 50mm, and even 1/50 with a very wide lens, provided that the subject is not moving very quickly, or you are positioned very close. Likewise 1/250 would not be suitable for 500mm, even focused to infinity. I think the question you should be asking yourself is if your images are not as sharp as they could be, if the answer is no, then you'll need to be thinking about how to better stabilize the image, either with a tripod, image stabilization or faster shutter speeds.

 

[DiskoJoe]

If you want to do hdr then a tripod is a requirement. A tripod was the first accessory I got for my camera and it served me well. it doesnt even have to be an expensive one. Just a heavy one that wont shake.

 

[vipgraphx]

Tri pods are very important with all photography. HDR because you are merging images it is more important to use a tripod as often as you can! however there are times when you are out and you don't have it then cool take the handheld brackets and use a program that has auto align so when you merge they will line up. The one exposure method and adjusting in the computer is not true HDR although it does give great results on some images others it does not because you really are not capturing the true dynamic range.

With that said you do not want a cheap tripod that can not hold your camera and weight of your lens. You want something sturdy and heavy duty. You want something that can get real low when needed and not to short.

Another thing about shooting with out a tripod is the faster your camera is the more you can get away with it in right lighting. My camera can shoot 8fps so If do 3-5 exposures that is usually under a second in day time....I have even shot night hdr and it being ok....HOWEVER I will say I have never blown those up really big to see if all in all it was a true success or a fail. For the web use it is fine...

But to back Bynx up he hit on the nail. how important are your photos to you? If I am going on a shoot and think I will want to print any pictures I will ALWAYS have a tripod!

This was 5 exposures no tripod at night

snokones by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

3 exposure night no tripod

corndogs by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

3 exposures no tri pod

stands by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

3 exposures no tri pod

skivalleymtlemmon by VIPGraphX, on Flickr

So you can do it but not one of these pictures I would consider to mount and hang on the wall so it was not important to me.....

 

[Bynx]

The examples by VIP are all 3 shots done with camera auto feature so its just one click of the button for the 3 shots. If you need more than 3 like say, 5 or 7 or 9 then you might have to manually move the shutter speed then click the shutter for each shot. The camera is not going to line up perfectly after that many shots. Its really pretty silly to discuss this....buy a good sturdy tripod. Dont go cheap because if its a sturdy one from a reputable name like Vanguard, Manfrotto or Giotti then it will last you a long time. Money well spent. There is nothing worse than going to a good location, taking great shots and then getting home and on the computer finding out they are all slightly blurry because of camera shake.

 

[peanut170]

Wasnt really asking of I should buy a tripod, was curious if photomatix was good enough to line up a handheld 3 bracketed shot in the middle of the day. I go on many bike rides with my 4 yr old daughter who is in a seat strapped to the bike, so it was either, is it acceptable to just stop and handheld my camera getting a decent 3 frames or would I have to pull her off the seat everytime to set up the tripod. Obviously I would like them to be lined up nicely and sharp, but then again I'm just having fun and not trying to make 24x36 inch prints either. I have a tripod and I do carry it, mainly was concerned with the capabilities of photomatix.

 

[vipgraphx]

Its going to determine more on you and your camera than photomatix. I showed you hand held hdr shots from 3-5 exposures. If you have a steady hand and a fast camera you should be able to do some descent HDR. IF you do not have a steady hand and a slow camera than probably not going to work out. Photomatix is not going to create miracles if your photos are all over the place.

 

[Bynx]

Aaahhh, your original question sounded like a newbie question about the benefits of a tripod for photography. Photomatix will do an amazing job if the photos are slightly off. But dending on what lens you are using sometimes just a slight movement will make things impossible to lineup because of the lens distortion. Other lenses are very forgiving and you can take hand held shots knowing Photomatix will fix the lineup problem.

 

[peanut170]

I love The football shot vip, how do the people still look hdr if they are not sitting completly still? If they move a little doesny the program just pick just 1 of the exposures for that? And bynx thanks for the help.