I know what you're thinking, spending more on something usually means it's higher quality. I get it. Well, when we first started out with not much of a budget, we knew that getting a tripod (even if it was for our phones) was very important to allow us to capture better quality videos and make them look smoother. We eventually got more clients and ended up getting a Sony A7ii mirrorless camera, and kept using some of the "more economic" tripods that we already had. Again, these served their purpose, but we could only deal with so many makeshift fixes and things breaking when going from site to site. We finally decided to spend some more money and get a nice, high-quality tripod.
We ended up purchasing a Neewer 72.4-Inch Aluminum Camera Tripod Monopod after looking at several different reviews on Amazon and talking with other colleagues in the industry. It was a combination of looking like it was made of more durable equipment and that it had more bells and whistles than a normal tripod would have.
After using it for a couple of different videos we shot for customers, we thought it would be good to share with all of you our top three reasons why we think you should pony up the extra money, up your marketing game and get a higher quality tripod.
Sturdiness - This one goes without saying and is something that you would expect, the more money you spend on the tripod, the more sturdy/durable it should be. We definitely had the "good enough" feel for quite a while, but after taking it to everything from construction sites to interviews in offices, we realized that it just wasn't meant for life on the open road. This new tripod definitely feels more solid, and so far has given us the confidence that it's going to last much longer than our previous one did.
Versatility - Sometimes when you think of a tripod, you just think, "I need something to set my camera on so it's steady for a single shot." Or maybe that's just what I thought of a tripod. But when looking at the features of this tripod and starting to use tripods for our videos, we've realized that we can get a ton of different types of shots. One example is being able to mount the camera close to the ground allowing for a unique angle for those shots. Another example is being able to raise up the camera and then have it point straight down for an over-the-top shot. I've seen other setups where people need a bunch of different equipment to get a straight down shot for something they're doing with their hands (the Tasty videos are what came to mind for me).
Gimbal-Like Movements - Sure, it's not the exact same as a gimbal, but this allows you to slightly loosen and make slow panning movements. You can even detach part of the tripod so you can walk around with the camera on top - old-school gimbal style.
I'm sure we'll think of some more reasons why we like this tripod better than the inexpensive options, and we'll also find some additional creative shots we can do with it. But for now, these are at the top of our list. If you have a nice tripod and have done some cool shots with it or know of some tricks that we didn't mention, make sure to let us know in the comments!