Stabilising a cheap tripod
Tripods are cheap as chips nowadays, but the cheaper ones have a few flaws. Most importantly, they are too light, and too unstable. So what do you do when you are working on macro stuff, and your tripod won’t stop vibrating, or the high winds are trying to disturb your photographic peace?
Quite simply, most of the time, your tripod will be unstable because of shoddy construction, which can’t really be helped. A lot of it can be counteracted by simply adding more inertia to the setup, however: Make the whole thing heavier, and while it’ll still move, it will move less drastically!
So basically, attach something heavy to the bottom of the tripod, hanging from the bottom rod (the piece that has the tripod head attached to the other end). Some tripods come with hooks attached especially for this purpose, but you can easily make your own with a piece of string, a hook, or something similar.
Alternatively, take a triangular length of fabric, and tie each corner to a leg of the tripod. You now have a hammock in the middle, underneath your camera. Fill it with heavy things (stones, camera lenses, whatever), and your tripod will be firmly pulled to mother earth – and your photography will be nice, stable and a lot better!
Give it a shot. if you come up with a good solution that has good photos, why not blog it and tip us off? Or if you don’t have a blog, why not email us the photos (post@photocritic.org), and we’ll post them on Photocritic?
(hat-tip goes to Wim’s “small FAQ”)
My day job, if it can be called that, is being a writer. I've got one book out there so far and it's awesome, so go ahead and buy a copy! It's available from 
In front of you, five hyperactive men with guitars, drums, and microphones. Behind you, five thousand fans. In your hands, a camera... You're going to need more than just a little bit of good luck to pull this one off. That's where this book comes in.
Take a Canon EOS 450D. Attach a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens. Hit the streets of London. See what happens.
Insights, suggestions and comments
My first tripod was a cheap flimsy thing. I had to raise the center post to make it eye level. Well, of course, now it was even more shakey.
Oh sure, it was light, but very spindly.
Finally, over time it showed its age because a couple of the clasps had broken. After 12 years it had served me well, but it was time to let it go.
Finally it was time for a new one, but I wasn’t going to go cheap again.
So I invested in a Manfrotto pro series: 055 legs, with a ball head. Now, there’s a solid tripod!
Cory Johnson
Max Photography
http://www.coryjohnson.net
Share your wisdom