Tripod selection guide: which tripod should you buy?

There are hundreds of tripods on our website. All differ in material, load capacity, height and designations. So you have tripods, monopods, gorillapods, table stands and many more. Which tripod is the best choice for you? What should you look for when buying a tripod? We understand that these are tough questions and we will be happy to help you with this selection guide to ensure your camera is always stable!

Tripod types

Tripods come in different shapes and sizes, each with its own application. To help you choose, we have created a handy overview of the benefits and applications of each tripod. In this way, you will buy the tripod that suits you best.

Aluminium or carbon fibre?

You've probably noticed while looking at our tripods that some are made of aluminium, and some are made of carbon fibre. What you've surely noticed then is that the prices of carbon tripods are a lot higher. What is the difference between these two materials, and what about the price?

Aluminium

An aluminium tripod is very sturdy and by far most tripods are made of this material. Aluminium is a relatively light type of metal and because of this, the tripods are not incredibly heavy, while still providing adequate stability. A disadvantage of this metal is that it takes on the temperature of the environment. So in winter, the legs can feel very cold. Fortunately, there are also leg warmers for tripods.

Carbon

A carbon tripod consists of multiple layers of carbon fibres. This is a very durable and sturdy material, which is also extremely lightweight. As a result, carbon tripods are often much lighter than aluminium tripods. So carbon tripods are perfect for travel! This does come with a price tag, as carbon fibre is an expensive material.

Recommended equipment

To make your choice a little easier, we've listed a selection of our favourite tripods below. We've divided them by load capacity, so you can easily pick the right tripod for your equipment.

Various tripod heads

Now that you have chosen a tripod, you will need to find a suitable tripod head to go with it. You attach your camera to this tripod head and the head then determines how you can move your camera. There are various tripod heads. We have created a handy overview for you with the most common tripod heads.

Tripod accessories

In addition to a tripod and a tripod head, there are plenty of accessories you can use. The three common, and often essential, accessories for tripods are the spirit level, leg warmer and counterweight.

Many tripods already have a built-in spirit level. If not, you can purchase one that you can attach to your camera. With a spirit level, you can always be sure your photo is straight. This will save you a lot of time in post-processing. Especially if you have to go and straighten hundreds of holiday photos, for example.

The leg warmer has already been briefly explained under aluminium tripods. Even with this accessory, many tripods already have it as standard. If you often head outside during the colder months of the year, the legs of your aluminium tripod will get very cold. If you don't wear gloves because you prefer a better grip, grabbing hold of your tripod can be quite uncomfortable. So a leg warmer is what you're after. This soft shell, unlike the metal leg, does not change temperature.

Although a tripod ensures a lot of stability, in some cases it may not be enough. This may be because of strong winds, for example. To increase your stability as well as prevent your precious camera from falling over, use a counterweight. Many tripods have a small hook at the bottom. You can hang a weight on this to make the tripod more stable. This can be a stuffed bag, a sandbag or anything else with weight. Before hanging anything on this hook, it's helpful to check the load capacity of your tripod.