Seeking tripod recommdns -- amateur, digital camera

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve got a Canon PowerShot S70, a step up from a 126-cartridge Instamatic and my first taste of things like f-stops and aperature settings, and I’ve been having a blast with it for a year now.

My girlfriend is asking me to give her gift suggestions and I thought of the times when I’ve wanted to shoot in dim light and had nothing stable to set the camera on, and I said “tripod”. The S70 does have one of those threaded sockets in its base.

She wants specifics and of course I know nothing. Well, I know in a loose sense what I’d like: something that telescopes down to extreme portability (i.e., fits inside my computer bag in one of the pockets?). Extra-small collapsed size would be more important than expanding to something as tall as I am (it wouldn’t have to, something that expanded to a couple feet tall would still let me make the camera stable). Lots of free pivoting until I get it into the position I want and then lock it down, I presume with a set-screw? That would be standard, yes?

Anyone who knows more than me (you’d be hard-pressed to know less than me), please give any advice you think would be relevant, and thanks!

2

Get a “ball head” tripod. The head (where the camera attaches) is a ball-in-socket, kind of like your shoulder. The other type (a “pan/tilt head”) is better suited to video. With a ball head, you can move the camera very precisely and it’s very simple to adjust.

Also, go to a store and touch a few. You want to find the mix between weight and size that’s right for you. You want something heavy enough that it won’t move (sometimes even the vibration of the shutter can rattle a light tripod), but light enough that you will actually take it with you when you go out.