Tripod Height.

What tripod height do you like. I am upgrading my current legs, and am curious. I am 5'11 mainly shoot wildlife and landscapes here in SW Montana. My current legs are 59" max. Hasnt seemed to bother me too much but Im thinking a little higher might be nice.

Ideally you want the tripod + head + camera to bring the viewfinder to a little above your eye level when the legs are fully extended. That way if your shooting up you don't need to hunch over. You don't want to have to extend the center shaft.

I figure I carry enough weight no need to stress my back more by spending hours slightly hunched over.

drparker give the conventional wisdom. OTOH we all need to recognize that often the composition can be improved from a slightly different perspective vertically in the shot, as much as the composition can be helped by our horizontal location!

Simple example, head and shoulder portrait from down low vs. up at eye level, or waist up shot from down hear the waist.

Well, it's always possible to use a tripod at less than its maximum extension, however noone's yet devised a safe way of using one at more than its max. If you get a tripod that you can comfortably use even with the camera angled up, you've got a definite advantage for many situations.