tripod use

phurryphace

Is there really any benefit in using a tripod just to take a normal snap of something with a DSLR, especially one with a VR lens?
I see people using them where I would'nt bother and wondered if there might be some extra quality in the resulting pic.

magicbastarder

one of the main benefits of using a tripod is that it will slow you down and help you think about composition more - so, arguably, making your results more into 'photos' and less 'snaps'.

magicbastarder

plus, while you may be able to get a snap without a tripod, you may not have as much control over aperture as you'd like - e.g. when you're shooting at light levels which allow handheld at (say) f4, but not at a smaller aperture.

nager

A somewhat well-known rule in photography is that you can hold a camera by hand if the shutter speed is shorter than the inverse of the focal length used (t < 1/f).
So, if you'd use a 50mm standard lens to photograph a scene, you could handhold the camera when taking a picture if the shutter speed is about 1/50 second or shorter. If you use a too long exposure time without a tripod, the photo will appear to be blurry.

Even though in many cases you can hand-hold a camera when taking a picture, it is always better to use a tripod. Careful inspection of the sharpness of the image will often reveal that photos taken with the camera on a sturdy tripod are sharper than hand-held photos even though the shutter time was fast.

ThOnda

There is difference between taking a snap and creating a picture.
You can use Ferrari to ferry peat from Mayo to Dublin, but you could use a bit more adequate tool for the desired purpose.

Every photographer has a different style, I suppose.

I know I seen a photographer wandering around the town recently and he was using a tripod. It was very bright at the time, so I found it a bit perplexing. As I was walking by he copped i had my camera in my hand and a bit of photography small-talk ensued.

Turned out he was losing about a million stops of light through several ND filters he had on the lens. He was using the tripod as his shutter speeds were quite slow, due to the filters. He said he didn't really have any reason to use them, but that he picked them up cheap online and just wanted to get out with the camera for a few hours.


So that could be one reason.

That said, I find that tripods are cumbersome and I only use them when I'm working in low light or intentionally using slow shutter speeds (looking for traffic motion, etc). I would never take one out in the daytime. I generally use the 24-105 L F/4 IS and I've gotten some lovely sharp photos at 1/15 so I'm happy enough with that.