Types Of Camera Tripods Every Photographer Must Know About

Posted by joemartin01 on August 16th, 2019

Every professional or enthusiastic photographer understands the importance of tripods when it comes to capturing the perfect shots. These tripods are necessary to add mobility to the camera and photographer for shooting during continuous motion. In the market, you will find number of tripods with a different type that makes it confusing which one is perfect for you. Here, with the help of this article, we will be sharing the most common type of tripods among all. After completing this article, you will be able to choose the best tripod, whether it is gimbal head or fluid heads. 

1. Ball Heads

These are among the most popular tripod heads used by almost every photographer have with them. The rotating ball of the tripod is there enabled you to position the camera in any possible direction you can imagine. Besides, the locking screw lets you lock the ball in that particular position. Arca Swiss Ball heads offer the most flexibility while operating the camera; however, it can be difficult to make any minor adjustments in position.

2. Fluid Heads

Specifically geared for video shooting work, the fluid heads come with a pan & tilt head. This tripod allows you to lock or unlock the pan and tilt. Besides, you can also use the ability of the tripod to “drag” that allow you to control the amount of friction you need while panning and tilting. The entire dragging feature of fluid heads makes it much easier to get the best shots while recording. 

3. Pistol Grip Heads

These tripods are very much similar to ball heads in many terms. The major difference is that Instead of using a knob to loosen the ball, you’ll need to deal with the pistol grip. Most of the photographers prefer pistol grip heads as they like a quick and easy way of repositioning the camera without struggling with the tripod head.

4. Gimbal Heads

All the above tripod heads we’ve gone through aren’t strong enough to handle a big and long lens such as 400mm f/2.8. Gimbal heads are mostly used for wildlife photography, and these tripods hold the lens firmly while giving you the flexibility to move it with an hand-holding experience. Most of the wildlife photographers prefer this type of tripod head for getting the perfect shot without putting much effort.  

Author's Bio - Author is an online blogger. The content is about the gimbal heads.