What should I look for in a tabletop tripod /support?

Question

I am looking for a tabletop support for my canon 550D. What features should I look for to give adequate support for macro and other photography? My price rang is under $150. I have looked at the joby gorillapod and some manfrotto and slik tripods.

Answer 1

Stability

The first feature of any tripod is stability.

That said, there are many great offerings, and I would have suggested exactly those you have looked at. (I have used a very nice Slik in the past for table-top work - sorry, can't remember the model).

Head

After stability, you might want to look at how easy it is to move the camera into exactly the right positon: does it have a pan/tilt or a ball head? Or will you get a separate head?

For table-top (closeup) photography, getting the lens into exactly the right position at just the right angle can be tricky but is usually crucial.