What is the Benefit of Using a Tripod?

Stabilizing cameras with a tripod works better than any image stabilization system.

There are no professional photographers who do not use tripods as one of the many Photo Accessories. The devices are de rigueur for anyone serious about photography. The benefits of the tripod are many and apply over a huge range of scenarios. If you plan on getting more serious about your photography, after an SLR camera, a tripod should be your next purchase.

Low-Light Situations

Tripods provide stability. Every photographer tends to think they hold their camera still. This stems from the fact that the human brain corrects for motion by the body. This is the reason your vision doesn't shake up and down when you walk. Cameras, however, detect every motion and, because shutter speeds are usually measured in fractions of a second, the slightest twitch will blur an image. Tripods provide a stable surface that can ensure there is no blur in pictures taken with longer shutter speeds. By using a remote device to trip the shutter, the hand motion used to depress the shutter, is completely eliminated.

Composition

Oftentimes, professional photographers use the same background to take pictures of different people attending an event. This allows the photographer to compose the major portions of the image and to only have to readjust for the individuals being photographed. Resting the camera on a tripod ensures that the camera's field of view does not change between shots and that every picture is consistent with the last. This saves the photographer huge amounts of time.

Telephoto lenses

Telephoto lenses are heavy and very susceptible to motion by the photographer. To eliminate both drawbacks, a tripod is used. This allows the photographer to zoom in on an area in which they're interested and wait for the right shot without straining their arms. Nature photographers often use tripods to spy on an area where animals are found for long periods of time.

Panoramic and other Special Shots

Because tripods can keep a camera's elevation consistent while allowing the field of view to be turned across 180 degrees, they're a needed tool for accurate wide-format landscape photography. Replicating one's exact elevation from shot to shot otherwise is nearly impossible.

For special photography, such as capturing lightning and astronomical events on film or digital, they allow a camera to remain still while the shutter is held open. In these cases, the photographer usually uses a remote shutter opening device and leaves the shutter open until the desired event occurs or until the object being photographed has adequate time to expose the film or image sensor. If you've ever wondered how photographers were so lucky as to catch a bolt of lightning on film, now you know. They weren't lucky, they waited, and they used a tripod to keep their camera pointed at the storm.