If you want to capture beautiful landscapes this fall with peace of mind, you should check out these study tripods.
Can you believe that Fall is less than a month away? I know, it’s crazy. Soon the leaves will turn into magical reds, oranges, golds, and yellows. The air will become bright and crisp, and those long hikes to your favorite destinations will be even more enjoyable. When it comes to landscape photography, you need great compositions to be able to tell the story. You also need to capture as much detail as possible. This, my friends, is where tripods come into play. In this round-up, we will take a quick look at five tripods that will help you capture your best landscape images yet.
When it comes to tripods, we often short-change ourselves. For whatever reason, a lot of photographers don’t spend much money on a stable, sturdy, quality tripod. They would rather opt for a ‘big box retailer special.’ This is not a good idea for several reasons. Why would you put your camera and lenses, that have a combined value of thousands of dollars, on a tripod that cost $60?
I cringe when I see a gorgeous camera and lens setup on a tripod that looks like it would crumble if a twig hit it. I’m some elitist snob, I just know the heartache that photographer will feel when their tripod breaks (and it will break). What if I told you that you can get fantastic tripods that start at around $200, and in some cases, even less? Would you believe me? You should. Here we will take a look at five tripods that range in price from “wow, that’s really affordable” to “oh man, I had no idea they could cost that much.” At the end of the day, you owe it to yourself to protect your gear when you’re and about. Having reliable tripods is one of the best ways to not only protect your investment but also ensure you capture the images you want to get. In no particular order, check out five of our favorite tripods below.
Vanguard VEO2 235CB
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Solid build quality
- The rubber sections for the legs feel really good
- If you’re on the sand, they will keep dust and dirt from getting into the legs
- Pretty much all the versatility that most photographers will need providing they adjust carefully
- Lightweight
- Fits onto the side of most backpacks
Cons
- We wish there were a hook at the bottom to weigh the tripod down
Buy now ($116.09): Adorama
MeFOTO Roadtrip Leather Edition
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Well built, but Manfrotto’s BeFREE series of tripods are sturdier
- One leg can be unscrewed to turn the unit into a monopod. That’s seriously cool!
- Sections can easily and quickly be deployed by gripping them in the right place and twisting.
- Stylish
- Fairly intuitive
Cons
- Friction control is really subtle.
- Tripod plate could use a D ring instead of needing to take a key out to unscrew it from your tripod.
Buy now ($224.95): Adorama
Pro Tip: Spending a little more on your tripod will go a long way to ensuring your gear is safe and secure while you’re out on location. However, even the best tripods can fall victim to the wind, or an unintended bump. One thing we always recommend is that you use additional weights on your tripods if you have any fear about the wind blowing your equipment over. There are cheap, effective ways to add extra weight to your tripod, and this stone bag is about as easy as it gets. Simply attach to the legs of the tripod, add counterweights, and your tripod will be sturdier than ever.
Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263CT
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Very easy to use
- The slight air pressure keeps debris off of the tripod legs when you collapse them
- Very solid build quality
- The center column can be placed on its side so you can get the exact composition you want
- Very nice ball head that’s stable and easy to use
- Becomes even sturdier with a counter-balance for the center column
Cons
- The screw on the mountain plate could be better designed
Buy now ($289.99): Adorama
SIRUI SR-3204 Tripod and SR-66C Column
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- The absolute strongest tripod we’ve ever tested
- The idea of interchangeable parts yet incredibly high quality is something that is new to me
- Shoot with a large-format camera on it with no trouble at all
- Can handle really strong winds on a waterfront
- Solid build quality
Cons
- Heavy, but not unbearable
Buy now Tripod ($549.90): Adorama
Buy now Center Column ($139.90): Adorama
Pro Tip: Landscape photography during the fall months is seriously hard to beat. The crisp air, the gorgeous colors, the sounds of nature: it’s bliss. However, if this is your first time experiencing the fall months as a photographer, you may be wondering how to get the most of your gear, and what it takes to get excellent landscape photos. Fortunately, some excellent guides will impart all you need to know about this rewarding genre of photography. This one is incredibly affordable and will have you taking gorgeous shots in no time.
Fotopro EGL-65 Carbon Eagle Series and E-6H Gimbal Head
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- It’s made from 1K carbon fiber which is ridiculously strong and durable
- There’s an incredible amount of controls that allow the user to dial in the perfect camera position
- The head glides around with ease! It’s as smooth as butter
- Easy to get perfectly level thanks to the quick-adjust head and the large bubble level
- There are three positions the legs can be placed which help with composing
- The spikes on the end of the legs mean business
Cons
- The handle which you use to pan with feels cheap (plastic handle) compared to the rest of the components
- It took a while to figure out what all the controls do, and the instruction pamphlet is really no help
- The twist locks on the legs feel a little cheap due to the quality of the rubber grips, and they feel gritty when locking and unlocking
- It’s a little weighty at 4.58lbs, but then again this is a lot of tripod
Buy now Tripod ($1,099): Adorama