For maximum strength and stability, most photographic tripods are braced around a center post, with collapsible telescoping legs and a telescoping section at the top that can be raised or lowered.
Historically, The Royal Photographic Society recommended the thread standard for attaching older cameras to tripods was 3/16-24 BSW (3/16 inch nominal diameter, 24 threads per inch), or 1/4-20 BSW[REF] for smaller cameras and 3/8-16 BSW[REF] for larger cameras and pan/tilt heads.