Hi, I’m relatively new to the DSLR camera scene. Most of the pictures in my observations have been taken with my phone. While they’re not necessarily bad images, my phone is definitely incapable of achieving the same, awesome quality and “crispness” my Canon has.
I’ve been using a cheap tripod that screws onto the bottom of my camera, but having to take it off for close up ground shots, and put it back on again for a wider shot, a million times on a hike is getting really time consuming and annoying. I’ve been thinking of switching to a bean bag support!
I have a Canon Rebel EOS T6, what are some good bean bag supports you think would be suitable? Thank you.
I’d improvise something to start with to see how you get on with it, you can fill a shopping bag with nut shells or something like that. For me the drawbacks are the bulk, and living in a wet country, so anything that touches the ground and then has to go into the bag becomes total pain. The legs on a decent tripod can spread really wide to get you close to the ground, and/or the central column can be inverted to hang the camera underneath it.
I came to the realisation years ago that tripod is one thing that is not worth skimping on, if you do the sort of photography that requires one. Of course, the IBIS in modern cameras has made tripods less necessary for many uses, but if you want to use, e.g., focus stacking (which I gather top mushroom photographers do), you will want a decent support for that.
As for the hassle of messing about with a tripod, the truth is that quality photography takes time and effort, and I find that being forced to take time setting up a shot invariably leads to better photos.
(I should have said, I am primarily a landscape photographer, and analogue large format to that, so my perspective is skewed by that.)
I think any bean bag that comfortably supports your camera + lens will do.
Depending on where you are taking pictures you may want a cover on it that is easy to clean or wash.
Or you could look for a small tripod that bends, or is reversible, or otherwise is adjustable to low/ground position. There are lots of options.
If price is not a problem: If you are going to continue doing photography, get a good solid tripod and (this will solve a lot of problems for transport) a good quick-release system. Both of these items will be something you use for years even if you get new cameras.
Options: You can get tripods with legs that spread out wide. There are also tripods that allow you to flip the center post and take photos with the camera upside down. You also might want to get a remote shutter release so you are not touching the camera and possibly causing shaking.
Another little tip is to wear gardening knee pads for things like mushrooms or other subjects where you want to get a view close to the ground.
Note: I sometimes use a monopod with my camera on bright sunny days for dragonflies/damselflies to get sharper images. I have a light-weight quick-release system and it works very well. This helps take the weight of the camera out of my hands and only requires me to hold the camera horizontally still.
I saw this guy using a small flexible tripod. His work is really cool.
You can search for his user name (on the bottom of the image) on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
The only recommendations that I’ve seen for beanbag over tripod is when photographing in a place where you need to cancel vibrations (such as a pedestrian bridge), or when a standard tripod would take up too much room. I agree that those are valid points. Since I do a lot of photography at a wildlife refuge where a good portion of the land is home to free-roaming bison, I’m very accustomed to using the car as a mobile blind; thus, I’m looking at beanbags as well.
My only useful suggestion (since I’m still in the research phase) is to look for one that’s made to properly fit over a car door. I know that sounds like an edge case, but what it really means is that the beanbag will be big enough to configure into just about any shape you need.
All that being said, I tend to be a bit of a gear junkie (standard tripod with quick-release, second mounting plate for the backup camera, mini-tripod), so feel free to take my suggestions with as big a grain of salt as you like.
Do you know what you want to shoot exactly?
I have also doubts about a bean bag… as said before, they are really useful to shoot from inside a car (with a tele lens). For other use cases just try to build it yourself, many come empty anyway, maybe a cheap dry bag could do it.
This seems to be the best solution from what I have seen, but it comes at a price.
Some people really appreciate gorillapods, like shown in ken_ohio’s picture…
When shooting for identification (iNat) I’m now using almost only IS/ISIS, but if you are into macro ‘art’, it seems difficult to shoot without a good tripod, lens (and a cable/remote trigger).
Also beanbags have limitations (angle, ground surface).
I have seen incredible photos shot with smartphones here, much better depth of view! the only reason I prefer my camera for small subjects, is that I have a tele that can shoot from 1 meters away, so many insects are less scared, with a phone I need to come much closer and many fly or shy away… this is why my initial question might be important!
For what it’s worth, here’s a picture of my high-end professional bean bags in my photography accessory bag. Actually, one of them is a bag full of cherry pits, because I like cherries and was looking for a good use for their pits. They are lighter than beans and don’t add as much weight to your bag but serve the same purpose.
Pistachio shells worked for me, also very light, beans, if you can’t keep them dry, they will start sprouting in no time – I guess that would make for a captive/cultivated observation.
