Tripods ? A Personal History

Tripods – A Personal History

Tripods are very useful accessories and in some cases indispensable for some types of photography. Some models are more suitable than others and Ive had a few over the years.

Your working style and/or genre may mean you don't have an immediate need for one, but the same can be said of tilt and shift lenses or extreme wideangles and fisheye lenses. As your photography moves on you may well be glad to use one. Before I go on that reminds me, there was a science fiction series in the early 1980s a first for being shot entirely on video even on location. However, they were aliens and of little use to photography (unless you're visiting Area 51).




The very first tripod I had cause to use belonged to my father. We're talking of days when ISO 100 film was the norm (not to mention Kodachrome at ISO 64) and ISO 400 film with golf ball grain. Attempting flower photography, some indoor natural window light portraits and night shots meant a solid support was necessary.

The tripod was large and heavy and I'm sure I still have it tucked away. It's something I'd never get rid of. Perhaps it ought to be a retro ornament. Why do I say those things? Because my father had it made to his specification and did some of the engineering himself. It's made of aluminium tubing with a machined aluminium head. Such materials were hard to come by in those days but working in the forefront of aviation design and manufacture (I can say no more) meant it wasn't a problem.




I wanted something manageable and at least half decent. Travelling to and from university meant size and weight were important. I opted for a Velbon model which was adequate for my small Pentax at the time. This served me well for a number of years.

I h a Canon T90 which was a larger camera, though not much more than my Pentax with a winder attached, but those weren't the reasons for getting my next tripod. It's true that a heavy camera and lens combination needs a solid tripod to be effective but I wasn't using long lenses at the time. I went on a photo holiday/course and part of that involved close-up work often low down, photographing frogs and small plants. Enter the Benbo. It was the tripod for nature and wildlife photographers at that time. It was solid, had sealed lower legs that could safely be used in water and was able to be positioned in awkward pl;aces where conventional tripods would fear to tread.




The Benbo could be carried easily by the centre column, balancing well in the hand. It had one control for loosening and tightening all the legs (hence its flexibility of setting up) but that could be a problem, as not tightening it properly would see your gear go crashing to the ground (that never happened to me I have to add). Some photographers never got on with one and would liken it to grappling with bagpipes on heat (I defer to their knowledge on the subject).

The original Benbo was heavy, and a lighter version as well as some copies were produced. However, for longer treks or longer use the allure of carbon fibre models was attractive. I bought a Manfrotto model from a photographic show at the NEC, from a dealer that is sadly no longer in business like so many others. I went for a four section model, and while three sections are supposed to be more rigid, compactness was also a consideration, so I was glad of the choice. I still use that tripod today and it's perfectly at home holding heavy long lenses.




There is another tripod worthy of a mention and that's one of those with flexible legs. They aren't large but will easily fit into a rucksack so are great for travel. The legs can wrap around a support for extra stability or positioning in tricky places. They are also useful for holding a flashgun or small LED panel in place for off camera lighting effects.

There are benefits to using tripods, and one of the less tangible ones is slowing you down and making your photography more considered. That will improve your images.


All text and images © Keith Rowley 2022