I’ve been using a basic tripod for years now. I have been using the same
SGD 20 tripod for all of my camera work, with a still camera, and even with
the XM2.

I never realised how important a tripod was until I started putting it to
test, filming an event.

I used to think that a tripod was for still shooting. (Which was true when
I used it for a still camera.) I neglected, however, the fact that I need it for
movement shots as well.

I learnt the hard way, tripods are made for different purposes.

What is your tripod for?

The three basic movements you need a tripod for are pan, tilt, and pedestal.

Pan – Panning left and right.
Tilt – Tilting up and down.
Pedestal – raising and lowering the pedestal.

How smooth do you need these movements to be? How fast? Different kinds
of heads are made for different usages, so be sure to test it out.

Stiff Head?
I had a serious problem with my old tripod. Panning and tilting wasn’t smooth,
it was jerky and made squeaking noises.

I got around it by extending only one of the three legs into one, and
transforming the tripod into a monopod. Support the camera with your arms
and shoot as you normally do.

Panning and tilting movements are made with the single leg as a pivot. Much
smoother. The downside is that although movements are smoother, you still
need to use your arms, and after half an hour, your arms will still ache, and
muscle fatigue still causes shakiness in your footage.

Heavy Weight
All the above is fine and good, but it didn’t help me. Eventually, I discovered
that I was only prolonging the problem, because the tripod was not made for
the weight of the XM2, with mic and lights. It was just too heavy for it.

The quick release catch snapped in the midst of filming!

So the last tip is to find out the maximum weight the tripod is made for. I have
to shop for a new tripod now, so this is what I have to look out for.