Tripods: Good or Evil?

Tripods are a wonderful thing. Say, for example, you set your camera to the largest aperture, but it's still too dark. You could use a longer shutter speed, but then everything will come out blurry. This is where a tripod comes in play. Tripods are extremely useful for taking nighttime shots. Without a tripod, you will get a blurry picture as well as unwanted light trails.


As mentioned in a previous blog post, it is suggested that you use a tripod when using a speed slower than 1/30 s, to avoid camera shake.

Tripods are also useful when you, the photographer, is also going to be photographed. All you need to do is mount the camera onto the tripod, then set a timer and you're good to go.

Be careful when picking out a tripod!! Of course you may go for the $13 tripod instead of the $30 one. It's understandable to want to save money when you can. I learned that the hard way. My $13 tripod wasn't tall and the thickness of the legs were on the thin side. But it served my purposes. It was faithful to me since day one. But recently, I've gone through a tragedy.

While working on my final project for my photography class, one of the legs gave out. The whole thing fell over, camera and all. The end result was not pleasant. Oh, the body of the camera was fine except for a minor damage to the shell, for that, I am thankful. But the lens, oh, the lens. It sustained the most damage.

To put it briefly, tripods are a must. Just be sure to go for the $30, more sturdy tripod!! Lenses aren't cheap!! I'm lucky that the body of the camera was fine and I didn't have to go spend another $700+. But still, that's $100 I'll never get back.