Digital cameras forum: table top tripods

Get one like this (e-bay item number 200060509856) it has legs with clamps so you can adjust them and clamp them insted of the slide and lock friction type. It has an adjustable head with a level wich can help also. You might need a little sandbag weight that has a strap you can wrap around the back leg to balance out the stand.

You need to be careful choosing a table top tripod.
Nose heavy cameras (such as DSLR cameras) tend to tip forward onto the lens when using one of these tripods with a small base.

I suggest you go to www.porters.com and have them send you a free copy of their 120 page catalog. It has 5 to 6 pages of tripods and at least 4 small table-top tripods.

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how cameras function to fulfill those requests. You confuse 'low price' with quality and a 'good deal'.

The requestor DID NOT ask for 'one of them 3 leg things'. He/she wants something to 'use to photograph items on a surface' such as a table. Something that will hold the camera steady to avoid an 'out of focus or crooked picture'. Something like they use on CSI. Eight dollar tripods with $10 shipping charges cannot do that. They probably cost less than $1 to make, and you simply can't get quality for that price. What you get is crap that can't do the job properly. Kind of like an SVP camera.

The requestor wants a quality image of photographs and other documents, probably so that those documents can be reproduced. He or she may have travelled long distances to get the shot, and have only one chance to make it. A bad shot has a VERY HIGH cost. In order to get that shot, the camera must be firmly held high enough above something like a table to allow it to see the entire document. It must be far enough away to get that document sharply in focus. Its plane of focus must be parallel to the document surface to avoid distortion of the document's image. The camera must not vibrate or move while the shutter is pressed, and the exposure is made. If movement occurs, the image capture will be ruined by blurring and lack of focus. That may not be detected until one returns home.

A good, solid tripod is even more important for a small camera in this application than it would be for a DSLR with a heavy lense. One MIGHT have a chance of handholding a DSLR, but no one could hold a small camera steady enough. You seem to think that cheap equipment should be used with lower cost cameras. That means you don't understand the requirements which need to be met for a successful photo.

Your little three legged tabletop tripod cannot do any of these things. It cannot hold the camera high enough, or maintain a parallel plane of focus with the document. It will vibrate and move at the slightest touch. It will be a disaster, and money wasted.

A good tripod will have 'bubble' levels built into its base or head area to insure that the tripod can be accurately levelled. It will have the height and weight to hold the camera high enough to get the document inside the image area. It's center column will hold the camera in the required parallel position to avoid image distortion. It will hold the camera steady while the image is composed, and the camera is focused. It will hold the camera in a fixed position if multiple shots are needed to photograph large documents. Its rigidity and mass will insure that no blurring from vibrations and camera movement will occur. In short, it will help the photographer obtain a good exposure.

I have a $250 Nikon point & shoot camera. Like many other Nikons, it has a phenomenal macro ability. However, the macro ability is ONLY seen when the camera is firmly locked into a good quality tripod that prevents all camera movement when the shutter is pressed. The resulting photos rival those produced by more expensive cameras and lenses.

I linked to a Manfrotto tripod so that the requestor will know what I mean by a removable center column, and how that will help make the shot. You apparently did not grasp the fact that this was for illustration, and that I suggested the requester visit a local store. Will the tripod cost $132. I don't know. That wasn't, and isn't, my point. However, a good tripod with all the qualities I mentioned can easily cost that much. Sometimes you have to spend enough to get the right equipment. An $8 piece of crap with $10 shipping charges simply cannot do the job. You will pay more than this cheap thing is worth. That's what happens when you buy new equipment on eBay.

Ok, just to clarifly things a bit, I have a hand-held Olympus Stylus 300. I eventually (hopefully soon) want to upgrade. I just want something that will allow me to get straight and focused pictures. Also, as for another assumption, I am a SHE, not a he. Thanks!

Ahh yes the scanner, can you get one under the $130. tripod the other guy sugests?