Low Profile Tripod for Hide Photography

A low profile tripod has a slightly different set of requirements to the other tripods. They need to be small, light and portable. They should be compact enough that it is easy to pack them into a kit bag, or hook them onto the outside.

They also need to be light enough that carrying them around all day isn’t going to cause the user any serious strain, after all we aren’t all in our 20’s.

If you are hiking out to a remote hide you don’t want to be lugging around a full size tripod. A low profile tripod is far easier to lug around.

There is a misconception that a hide plate needs to be made from metal and be very heavy in order to be stable. Not so. With a heavy DSLR and long lens in place, my camera hide plate, or low profile tripod, shown below has to offer as much stability as a traditional full size tripod.

Benefits of a Low Profile Tripod

The camera hide plate, low profile tripod is sturdy, simple to set up, adjustable, and stable enough to support the weight of your camera kit. However, it is a just a fraction of the weight at just 330g. It is small enough to fit into a reasonable sized photography bag with ease.

This is the hide plate with 30mm depth

low profile tripod

This is the hide plate with 20mm depth

low profile tripod

low profile tripod

Ideally, you want the low profile tripod to perform as well as a full size tripod by allowing you to capture pin sharp images.

As you might expect, there are compromises to be made. This type of tripod will be able to do all of the above, but obviously not offer the same height as a more conventional tripod. 

Of course it’s a compromise. Everything is. The trick when picking the best hide tripod is to figure out which features are essential for the type of photography you are going to be using it for.

The problem with most hides is that they do not allow full size tripods or in some cases any kind of tripod, in the hide. Lack of space is a real issue in some hides.

Breaking the Mold

Camera kit is notoriously heavy so I wanted to make sure that my hide plate didn’t become another burden, and with most hides a fair trek from civilisation, its weight and portability was a very important factor.

Some of my more senior followers have asked if I could make the plate lighter and smaller without compromising its strength and stability. As result the shallower depth, (20mm instead of the usual 30mm), allows it to fit into smaller camera kit bags, without affecting the stability of the plate. In addition it saves a little bit of weight.

https://rogerchapmanphotography.co.uk/bird-hides-for-photography/