Although macro photography is not one of the more popular niches in the photography space, it does still have a large community of photographers who work in the macro space with many of them making a living out of it. In addition to this, with the rise of social media platforms such as Instagram, we have noticed more and more people looking to get involved in macro photography from the beginner photographer community.
As you could probably expect, this has lead to a large number of people reaching out each month and asking questions similar to “What equipment is needed for macro photography?” but more specifically “Do you need a tripod for macro photography?“. Due to seeing more and more people specifically reaching out with questions based around tripods for macro photography, we have decided to make this the main subject of our article today to try and help as many of our readers as possible.
So Do You Need A Tripod For Macro Photography
Well, just like the majority of things when it comes to your photography sessions, the necessity of using a tripod for your work is going to depend on exactly what you are going to be doing on your macro photography sessions. Although some very specific tasks can usually do well without having to use a tripod, in our opinion, for the vast majority of the tasks, adding a decent tripod to your collection of camera accessories will definitely help to improve your image quality.
When you are working with the macro photography zoom/detail levels, even the slightest movement from a vibration can have a surprising effect on your image quality and potentially spoil your photograph. Even the tiny movements that we naturally make with out hands or when we draw breath can end up detracting from the quality of your photograph.
On top of this, depending on the sub-niche of macro photography that you are working in, you may also ned to have your camera in some awkward positions for an extended period of time that can result in your having aches, pains, and cramps. This is where a tripod comes in as it allows you to essentially set your camera up in the position that you require and leave it.
The image stabilization offered by the tripod will also ensure that you don’t have any issues with vibration or movement of your camera too allowing you to capture some crystal clear macro photographs. This will keep your clients happy or produce the best quality work for your portfolio to share on your social profiles and potentially help you get more clients in the future.
We know that a large number of our readers are new to photography or maybe on a tight budget when it comes to what they are able to spend on their camera accessories. Although something like the Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 will be an excellent tripod to add to your collection of camera accessories for the long term, it does have a high price tag attached to it.
The Best Budget Tripod For Macro Photography
Thankfully though, there are more budget-friendly tripods on the market that are suitable for macro photography. Although there are a number of great tripods with a lower price tag on the market these days, we feel that the Zomei z699c is one of the better options and are confident that it will serve you well if you are looking to keep your costs low for your camera accessories while still get some excellent performance out of your gear.
Not only does the Zomei z699c offer excellent levels of image stabilization but it also has one of the best build qualities that we have ever seen for this price point in the market. This is due to the production costs of tripods drastically reducing over the last three to five years. This means that you can now get some excellent cheap tripods with features that would previously only be found on tripods two or even three times their cost a few years back.
One of the main advantages of the Zomei z699c when it comes to macro photography is that it has a fully invertable center column that is rare at these lower price brackets. This allows you to invert the center column with your camera mounted to it to get those low, close up camera shots that are common in macro photography and get excellent levels of image stabilization while doing so too.
The counter weight hook on the Zomei z699c also allows you to arrange your tripod in any number of strange positions to get close ups of flowers, bugs or any other macro subject without putting your camera and lens at risk. Additionally, the counter weight hook at the base of the central column on the tripod allows you to use the tripod in high winds for your photography sessions too.
Alternatives To Tripods For Macro Photography
If you do not have a budget available to add a tripod to your macro photography camera accessories then there is still hope. As we mentioned above, in some specific macro photography niches, you can still get some decent photographs holding your camera in your hands, especially if you have a good macro lens.
One thing that we have seen people do is to set their camera up on a wall or other object that is close enough to their subject to get a decent photograph while still offering some image stablization. That said though, this is not ideal as the chances of you having a wall near your subject is low for most macro niches.
We have also seen people try to make make shift platforms out of their backpacks or other items to try and keep their camera body as stable as possible. Although this can work, it can be a pain to set up and take a surprising amount of time to get your back set up the way that you want it.
Due to this, if you are looking to do any client work in the macro photography niche, we would always recommend that you try to add a decent tripod to your camera accessories as soon as possible. As we have mentioned above, the tripod does not have to break the bank, something like the Zomei z699c can definitely be enough to get you started while offering a vast improvement to the level of image quality you can capture.
