Buying a tripod?

 Re a question I was asked the other day. If your buying a tripod here's a few things to think about.

 Weight. Do you go heavy or light?  Well both have advantages, light means your more likely to actually carry it around with you, heavy means it's probably a lot more solid. Light ones can and do blow over, even in surprisingly low winds.
 Carbon fibre?  Apart from price the material it's made from makes little difference, yes it's lighter but see above.
 Tripod head,   Yes the head. Not all tripods come with the bit you screw the camera on as standard. There's a huge range of heads. There's also video heads which are very different (often having a pin by the camera screw) these often don't tilt in the portrait mode (not needed for video) they also usually have a damped turning movement to make panning smoother (turning the camera to follow action) While you can use them for still photography they can be a bit of a faff about, especially if your doesn't do portrait mode, you can work around it by turning the camera sideways usually.
 Before buying one extend it all the way up, centre column as well and tap the top gently, if it wobbles like a belly dancer on acid walk away or find a stronger one.
 Hook. no, not the crap peter pan film, some tripods have a hook on the bottom of the centre column. This is to hang a weight to help stabilize a light tripod, a light nylon or mesh bag with a stone or something will do but dont go mental here, you have a light tripod, dont try hanging a bolder off it, also keep in mind if the wind starts the weight swinging it can make things worse.
 Lastly, if you do manage to hang a 40lb rock off the bottom of your light tripod remember to take the rock home with you in your bag for next time. It'll also help remind you you should have bought a heavier tripod in the first place.....