When should you use a tripod?

[ifoundnemo]

Hello all! I'm fairly new to photography, but am having tons of fun learning! I got a tripod yesterday for Christmas. I was just wondering when you choose to use a tripod, and when you go handheld.

 

[Light Guru]

When your shutter speed to to long to hand hold the camera.

 

[JoeW]

Hello all! I'm fairly new to photography, but am having tons of fun learning! I got a tripod yesterday for Christmas. I was just wondering when you choose to use a tripod, and when you go handheld.

Welcome, Merry Christmas.

Okay, there are good tripods and there are cheap tripods. There are lots of factors to consider with tripods but the single most important thing (otherwise it's just an expense walking stick) is whether or not it will keep your camera rock-solid stable.

To answer your question: anytime you're taking a long exposure (say...anytime the shutter speed is 1/20th or slower), or if it's a heavy camera/lens that you have trouble keeping stable, if orientation (such as keeping it horizontal for interiors shooting) is critical, or if you're shooting wireless release. Also, sometimes I'll use a tripod to hold a light or reflector.

Here's a suggestion for you: set up your tripod, go to the kitchen sink, get the faucet running and then expose for a 2 second exposure on the tripod. See what the water looks like. That is a quick and easy way to see how to play with a tripod.

 

[D-B-J]

Two words. LONG. EXPOSURES.

Going Down Smoothly by f_one_eight, on Flickr

105 seconds, in a location that I couldn't "rest" the camera on anything and get the framing I wanted.

Jake

 

[Rick58]

I know there are people steadier then me, but my personal limit is 1/60th. Slower then that I go for a Tripod if possible. Even then the length of the lens plays a factor.
Or you're using one of these...

 

[ifoundnemo]

Two words. LONG. EXPOSURES.

Going Down Smoothly by f_one_eight, on Flickr

105 seconds, in a location that I couldn't "rest" the camera on anything and get the framing I wanted.

Jake

That's beautiful! Why do you need a long exposure time for photos like these? Does it make it more colorful, or is it to keep the ISO and noise lower?

 

[pgriz]

I use the tripod:

• whenever I need to get the focus, composition and angle just right
• when I will be using a slow shutter speed,
• when I'd doing macro or something with a very thin depth of field,
• and... whenever I want to impress the bystanders (because nothing screams "serious" as well as a tripod).

Three of the four above are true.

 

[jsecordphoto]

I use one 100% of the time when shooting landscapes.

 

[KenC]

I use the tripod:

• whenever I need to get the focus, composition and angle just right
• when I will be using a slow shutter speed,
• when I'd doing macro or something with a very thin depth of field,
• and... whenever I want to impress the bystanders (because nothing screams "serious" as well as a tripod).

Three of the four above are true.

So, it's one of the first three that isn't true?

 

[Rick58]

4 is a given, except for maybe a View Camera, Dark Cloth AND tripod

 

[pgriz]

4 is a given, except for maybe a View Camera, Dark Cloth AND tripod

Don't forget the beret and the scarf.

 

[KenC]

The really hard-core can emulate Josef Sudek by having an arm removed and then walking around toting a very large view camera and a tripod.

 

[pgriz]

More reasons:

• To get the sequence for HDR,
• To support a long lens,
• To allow you to shoot tethered (usually still life or portraiture).

 

[snowbear116 47]

I also find them handy when making multi-frame panoramas.

 

[Designer]

Here we go with another rule of thumb:

For hand-held shots, USUALLY (depending on the shooter, etc.) one would not want to go longer than the reciprocal of the focal length.

So for a 50mm lens, you would not go longer than 1/50 of a second.

For a 200mm lens, you would not go longer than 1/200 of a second.

And so on.

Some people can hold a camera with less "jiggle and shake" than others, and some people will have to brace the camera on something nearly all the time.

For animated subjects, (people, pets, etc.) use shorter shutter times.

For still life you can put the camera on a tripod or brace it and go with a longer shutter opening.

So it all kind of depends.

edit; I realized that I wrote shorter but now have changed it to longer. Sorry.