Digital SLR Superguide: Using a dSLR
Tripods
 A good tripod is an essential tool for dSLR photographers. It can help in a wide range of situations, from low-light conditions to needing to achieve a steady, level pan across a scene, to helping to support heavy lenses. These bits of kit will be invaluable to the dSLR photographer so it is worth spending a little time looking at what you might want out of them.
What to look for in your tripod:
Quality construction
Quick release
Height
Easy-to-use, easy-to-adjust controls
Easy to set up
Folds to a manageable size
Quality construction
Try to avoid tripods which have a lot of plastic parts, particularly mounting screws. Quality tripods are made of metals such as aluminum, lightweight carbon fiber and titanium alloy. While these are proportionately more expensive than other models it is very important to make sure that your tripod is sufficiently well-constructed. The cheaper, lighter models are fine for smaller cameras and undoubtedly do a great job supporting the lightweight compact camera. However, a dSLR will almost certainly be heavier and this can be more than doubled by adding some of the bigger lenses to the mix.
Some lightweight tripods simply do not have the strength to hold the camera level or even steady. It is better to put up with a bit of extra weight than to see your dSLR and tripod go crashing to the ground.
Quick release
This is an extremely useful feature found on most professional tripods these days. A tripod with a quick release mounting platform comes with a plate to attach to the bottom of your camera. This lets you quickly attach or detach the camera to the tripod. This not only makes shooting much easier, it is essential when you are shooting in conditions where you might need the camera steady one moment and then off the tripod and shooting from the hip the next.
Height
If you plan to use a tripod a lot, it should be tall enough for comfortable viewing. Since you will be carrying the tripod around this may be an area that you can compromise on. If you don’t mind bending over a little to look through the viewfinder then you can save some weight by buying a tripod with slightly shorter legs. Many larger tripods have an extension pole in the middle, which can give you some extra height. However, you shouldn't rely on it too much since anything that takes the camera away from the point at which the legs meet will increase the instability.
Easy-to-use, easy-to-adjust controls
Once the camera is on the tripod you will not want to spend time working the controls. Just like the legs these should be easy to use and yet once set they should not allow the camera to move at all. Again, there is a wide selection of head types so have a look at the different ones on offer to see which one suits you. The better tripods will come with the option to change heads so you can buy more than one type if you want to.
Also make sure that the controls allow you to position the camera both horizontally and vertically, as you will want to take pictures from both angles.
Easy to set up
The tripods legs should also be easy to extend and reduce, but should lock firmly into place when you are happy with the height. Each manufacturer has its own way of doing this, so have a look at the tripod in the shop to see how the legs work and see if they are suitably easy to use and stable once they are set up. Bear in mind that on uneven ground you may need to shorten one or more of the legs to keep the camera level. Some tripods come with built-in spirit levels (an extremely useful function), but adding a small spirit level (from any hardware store) to your camera bag will also solve the problem.
Folds to a manageable size
Unless your tripod is primarily for use in the studio, you will need to carry it around with you. It is therefore very important to make sure that the model you choose folds up small enough to be manageable and portable. This is another area where you might find there is a need to compromise between perfect stability and perfect size and weight. Find a happy medium between these factors if you can, but it is generally better to opt for stability over convenience--after all if the pictures don’t come out right then all your effort will have been wasted.
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Using a dSLR
