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Tripod features
Stability - First and foremost, a tripod should be stable: light enough to carry, yet strong enough to support your camera. If you use add-on lenses factor in the weight of your heaviest lens. Extra lens weight at the front of the camera can topple the tripod.Quality construction - Avoid tripods that have a lot of plastic parts, particularly mounting screws. Quality tripods are made of metals such as aluminum, carbon fiber and titanium alloy.
Quick Release - A tripod has a mounting screw to enable attachment of a camera by screwing it into a hole found at the bottom of your camera. A tripod with a quick release mounting platform comes with a plate to attach to the bottom of your camera. This lets you quickly attach or detach the camera.
Camera positioned horizontally and vertically - The tripod should be able to hold its position when the orientation of the camera is changed.
Height - High enough for comfortable viewing so you don't have to bend over. Most tripods have a center, extension pole, which can be raised for extra height. There are three heights to consider: maximum, minimum and folded height.
Tripod heads - Most consumer tripods have permanent three-way pan tilt heads. Ball heads are smaller, lighter and more expensive than pan-tilt heads but are faster and easier to use.
Clamps levers or flip-locks - Used to adjust the legs of a tripod when on uneven ground.
Bubble level - Built-in level helps keep photos straight when shooting scenes with horizons and other horizontal or vertical lines (eg. landscapes, skylines).
