What's your biggest challenge specific to macro photography?

[rpcrowe]

The cheap ones come as a unit, the better ones let you select the legs and head separately. In most cases, you can have a tripod where the legs come from one company and the head from another. As an example, I have Feisol legs and my main ball head comes from Really Right Stuff (RRS). I also have a smaller Benro ball head that I use on occasion and a Benro geared head that I use for still life and closeup work.

With my Feisol legs, I have the choice of either using a centre column or a fixed plate if I want a super stable platform.

If you are looking at a tripod, I would suggest getting one that has an Arca-Swiss compatible mount as this is as close to a universal mount as you can get with tripods. This lets you mix and match components to mount on it. For example, I use hardware from RRS, Benro, LeoFoto, Sunwayfoto, LeoFoto and Kirk with my RRS and Benro heads.

I totally agree with Manfred regarding the efficiency and ease of use of an Arca Compatible plate on ANY tripod head. Looking at my three tripods, two of the lighter units have legs and heads by different manufacturers while my larger tripod has both legs and head made by Giottos. However, I purchased the heavier tripod lags and head separately.



As far as parameters of a tripod and head for macro work, stability is IMO the most important. Weight "can" be important if you use the tripod in the field but, is less of a factor when you are shooting in your home or your yard.

It is very handy in macro work to have a tripod which can articulate so you can place the camera in virtually any position. I think that this manufacturers image pretty well explains tripod articulation...



Another factor which IMO is very handy is the ability to position your camera at a very low angle. Many tripods utilize a reversed center column with the camera placed upside down under the apex of the tripod to achieve the low angle but, IMO, having a tripod which can achieve a low angle without reversing the center column can be quite handy...



Another accessory which can be quite handy is a folding diffuser/reflector which can modify harsh sunlight...

Since many macro shots are done from a low angle, a folding stool or a cane stool like this can really benefit an old man's back...