How tall does your tripod need to be, how short ca it be ??

[igmolinav]

How tall does your tripod need to be, how short can it be ??

Hi,

Suppose a picture of a person standing in front of you
has to be taken. This person is six feet, or about two meters
high. The camera stands on a tripod with a zoom with focal
lengths that go from 24 mm. - 85 mm. The tripod and also
the camera have a bubble that helps them to keep the
lens parallel to the floor and perpendicular to the subject.
(I have not used yet a bubble level myself). I would like to
ask a few questions because I may buy a new tripod.

A decisive point for me in the purchase is the folding size
and the weight. I am willing to sacrifice on the maximum
height. So, if for example you take a look at the following
two tripods, they are more or less the same tripod. The
major difference is their maximum height, and the price.

Tripod 1:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/569082-REG/Gitzo_GT0531_GT0531_Mountaineer_6X_Carbon.html

Tripod 2:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/759477-REG/Gitzo_GT1542T_Series_1_Traveler_6x.html

How much "height" would one need in order to photograph
the six feet person I mentioned, or people with a height
between five and six feet ?? Sometimes I may photograph
the full body, and sometimes from the waist up. I may
keep the focal length of the zoom at 50-60 mm. and then
just move back and forth the tripod a bit. Besides this
kind of portraits, some small products would also be shot
with the tripod.

Thank you in advance, kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

P.S. The Induro tripods cost 1/4th or 1/5th of what the
Gitzo cost. Mmmmhh .........

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

To eliminate any distortion, you want your camera to be the height of the center of your subject's composition. So for a full body, this means the camera is about 3' high. For a headshot, the camera would be nearly the same height as your subject. If you want to add perspective distortion (for added psychology in the image), then obviously a top down image would required a tall tripod to tilt back down on your subject, while an bottom up image would require a very low camera position.

 

[igmolinav]

Hi,

Thank you : ) !!! Cool, so if the shot is from the
waist up. I could easily set the shot up at 3' and
then crop. It may be unlikely for me to do a
full headshot, (just head and throat). I may
get more of the person in the shot.

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

 

[snberk103]

I have a slightly different perspective (no pun intended!). I would put the camera up at the subjects face height. My sense is that we pay much more attention to a person's face than the rest of their body, so I would rather minimize the distortion in the subject's face. Since we mostly look at a person's face from their eye level (more or less) that's where I would put the camera.

Have your subject sit down, to bring their face down to a more manageable height. Or... simply clamp your camera to something like a ladder that gives you the height if your subject needs to remain standing. There is nothing magical about a tripod... it is simply something to hold your camera steady. The tripod socket on the bottom of the camera is a standard thread (imperial, not metric though). I've known people to weld a thread to a clamp. Anything they can attach the clamp to firmly becomes a "tripod" of sorts.

Or... just get the tripod head (the bit that moves around on the top of the legs). Usually a different thread size, but still standard. Now you can clamp that anything - and still be able to make minor adjustments to the placement of the camera.

Luck.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

I have a slightly different perspective (no pun intended!). I would put the camera up at the subjects face height. My sense is that we pay much more attention to a person's face than the rest of their body, so I would rather minimize the distortion in the subject's face. Since we mostly look at a person's face from their eye level (more or less) that's where I would put the camera.

Your reasoning is backwards to how it actually works. By bringing the camera up to your subjects face and then tilting back down, you are not minimizing distortion in the subject's face. You are increasing it (enlarging the head, shrinking the body).