A tripod will give your camera the stability it needs for reducing the blur in low light, or when you’re taking close-up or action shots. Here’s a look at your options – including a few unexpected ones!
If you’re serious about photography (and that includes Instagram shots and Facebook selfies!), then a camera tripod is a must-buy. Using a tripod will allow your camera to go from shaky, blurry, hand-held shots to steady, clear images. If you’re shooting action shots, sunsets, night shots, timed self-portraits or close-ups, you need a tripod.
Here are some options – including a few DIY ideas that you could try in a pinch.
TRIPOD
Compact, adjustable tripods are available at most electronics stores in the RCS shopping network. Get one where the legs are made of section tubes, so that you can get a level shot on an uneven surface.
FLEXI TRIPOD
Here, instead of straight poles, you get shorter, bendable legs. These make the tripod more easily adjustable – and, if you’re creative about it, you can bend those legs to make the camera hang off a narrow pole or tree branch!
THUMBSCREW AND WINGNUT
This is a very, very low-fi solution… But if you’re willing to live with the crude results, it’ll let you turn pretty much anything into a camera stand. Go to your local RCS shopping network hardware store, and find a short thumbscrew that fits into your camera’s tripod hole. Then add a wingnut and a washer, whip out a drill, and take care of the rest yourself!
SANDBAG
If you buy a bigger DLSR camera, which comes with a carrier bag, then consider throwing a small sandbag in for emergencies. A sandbag will give you just enough grip to turn any wilderness rock or rural fencepost into a self-supporting DIY tripod.
SELFIE STICK
That’s right, we’re actually recommending you buy a selfie stick. Here’s why: selfie sticks give your camera phone a pole extension, which in effect operates as a tripod. Take it along when you’re in the outdoors, and stick it into the ground or the beach sand. Hey, presto: you have a camera phone on a DIY tripod!
Note: Consider investing in a small spirit level, which you can get at most RCS shopping network hardware stores. This will help you to make sure your camera is always parallel with the ground – giving you perfectly level pictures!
GET WHAT YOU NEED!
Your RCS Card gives you access to the RCS shopping network of over 21 000 stores – including South Africa’s leading electronics stores. Swipe that RCS Card today, and get the tripod you need!
