Both photographers and videographers usually tend to search keywords how tall should be your tripod when they are gathering their first gear. This article explains this question.
No matter whether you plan to buy high-end or budget gear for your videography or photography journey, the height will play an important role in getting the best results. Nobody wants to buy multiple tripods as they take up quite some space and are hard to carry as well. Also, buying an expensive tripod on the high end of the spectrum is also not desirable as it will be overkill for some. Thus, the online search “how tall should be your tripod” continues to trend on search engines.
Before we get into height, make sure that you also consider the max weight of your new tripod, especially when your camera body and the attached. Some people also attach extra accessories like a power supply instead of a battery, camera cage, monitor screens, and more. All this can challenge the maximum weight limit of your tripod.
To get better stability and safety for your equipment, look for tripods that can support 7 to 9 kg weights and weights above camera systems. Thicker legs, somewhere around 28mm or more, are great. Also, you will find many carbon fiber tripods, which are lightweight against aluminum ones, which are heavier but provide more stability. Also, a tripod, which comes with a ball head, avoids sagging with smooth movements of heavy cameras.
One such tripod is SIRUI AM-284 with its K-20X Ball Head, designed to bear extreme weights of 15 kgs! You get a lightweight body with carbon fiber material with a total height of 169 cm, and it is great for professionals with heavy camera systems or lenses like a telephoto zoom lens. You also get a detachable center column, the SIRUI SL-200 center column. This can be connected to the tripod itself and can provide extra height.
Now, let’s break down what you need to consider when determining how tall should be your tripod through this generalized formula:
Tripod Height = Height at Eye Level – Height of Camera Viewfinder – Height of Tripod Head
Here, eye level is your measurement and is the distance from the ground to your eyes when standing upright. For example, if your height minus neck/head portion is 160 cm, distance from the camera base to the viewfinder is 10cm and tripod head height is 8 cm. in this case, the deal Tripod Height will be 160 cm - 10 cm - 8 cm = 142cm.
So, 142cm will be the ideal height of a tripod without raising the center column for someone who has an eye level of 160cm. The AM-284 we mentioned above has a maximum height of 169 cm, which makes it a suitable choice since you can adjust it to 142 cm without overextending the legs for better stability, especially when you have heavy gear. If you have a heavier setup, then opt for the Sirui w-2204 waterproof carbon fiber tripod with its spectacular waterproof design and weight wearing capacity of 18 kg!
For those who are not into calculating the proper height for a tripod, here is a quick way to determine which height is proper: If you're about as tall as 183 cm, then get a tripod that can go up to around your nose when it's fully opened up. This will make sure that you won't have to bend down to see through the camera’s viewfinder. Also, consider roughly 20 cm more to take in to account the camera body above the tripod.
Height Matters:
Since you now know how tall should be your tripod and how to calculate the height, it should be mentioned here that height will significantly impact your photography. For macro shots, you will need a lower tripod, and for scenarios where you want to see over bushes or fences, you will need a longer tripod. If you are on a hillside or in a rocky area, the stable tripod with adjustable height is a must-have.