Fifteen Legs Week - Part One - The Happy Medium

This week you sell yourself a tripod. I'll help out here in the column, but you have to do the ( three ) leg work yourself. First thing you'll need to do is find your camera and see how big it is. if it's a moderately-sized DLR or mirror-less camera, read on today. This is your day. Your camera is not all that heavy, though it can gain some grammes when you put a long lens or zoom on it. You'll likely be thinking of astral photography, as well as landscape shoots. You want a tripod that is easy enough to carry out into the boondocks but still has enough stiffness to stay steady in a wind. If the operating field is muddy or wet, you'll want something that can c0pe with this. Waterproof tripods are not new to the market, and now that newer materails are avaiable for their construction, they can be within the reach of most people. There are still oddities like the ones that are built with their legs upside down, but these are rare. Sirui. Strange name, but good tripod. This one is sold without a ball or panning head, but is fitted with the standard 3/8" or 1/4" stud to take your head of choice. The legs are screw-tightening. This means that they can be run up in spite of the incursion of a little water or dirt. They are a little slower to operate than the clip type, but less likely to snap open on you if you catch them with a sleeve. Well machined, as the close-ups show, and with a simple angle lock for the legs. Everything out in the open so that you can clean and adjust things - indeed they give you more allen keys than the repairs desk at IKEA. No meatballs, though... Like many, but not all, modern designs, this tripod can be refolded in upon itself for more compact stowage. They give you a sturdy bag to tote it. Consider this a middle-of-the-range support for modern equipment, but excellently built.