As one of the examples, one of the main features is that the setup is small enough that it can live with the camera full-time, and carried around by the user. The legs fold into a very compact size that fit within the footprint of the camera, used for any type camera, e.g. compact point-and-shoot camera, camera phone, or SLR camera. The tripod can then live unnoticed on the bottom of the camera, until a shot requiring a tripod is needed. Then, the legs can be deployed to act as a firm stand. Another one of the main features of this tripod is that all the legs do not share a common end-point or pivot-point. This allows the legs to form a very wide stable platform, even when they are short. In general, for N legs, some legs may have common end-points or pivot-points, but not for all N legs. (N is a positive integer, greater or equal to 3.) This invention can be applied to any camera (e.g. compact camera) and any measurement equipment that uses a conventional tripod or similar setup, such as the ones used by civil engineers or surveyors for the survey of the land and construction measurements or calibrations, or the ones used in optical measurements or laser experiments (e.g. for general level measurements and adjustments). Other variations are also discussed.