Some lightweight models can do more harm than good, but the Peak Design travel tripod definitely is worth carrying in my bag. Hey Everyone! Hoping to receive my Heipi in a couple weeks or so (Bought on Kickstarter.). Even some typos are fine for me. Its a heck of a jump from $350 to $600, for a tripod that performs the same and looks almost identical to boot. Love Peak Designs, their attention to detail is excellent. As a companion to a good general purpose or systematic tripod, the peak design tripod is a great addition for when size matters but not a good choice as a sole . No wildlife photography with long and heavy lenses. In fact, I think it was less than 2 days before the starting time question hit my in-box. Cleaning out the sand requires carefully disassembling the heads inner mechanism which includes tiny parts such as springs. I know some people hate on it for having 5 leg segments but I honestly don't mind. If you did this it would be a very expensive tabletop tripod. I have both tripods. He recently wrote a starter guide on how to pick up a vintage lens from the Soviet era, condensing almost a decade of hard-earned knowledge into an easily accessible resource. Both things that require that perfectly level starting point. The PD is super small when collapsed, but a bit flimsier as a trade off and the Gitzo is a lot longer collapsed, but of course will be stronger. I can't imagine it will be easy to adjust with gloved hands. Such a massive setup looks strange on the small tripod legs. I doubt that many people will buy this tripod for the sole purpose of using it with a phone, but Youtube creators will likely find it handy for behind-the-scenes shots, b-roll and time-lapses. Several reviewers agree with you that it is a much better value and is more stable. Thats a weight saving of 307g for the price increase of $250. Sample Images: This article was a great help and helped me in my purchase. The large and heavy Manfroto now stays at home for still life/product photography. The downside to the low-profile head design is that it doesnt have an independent panning base. Aluminum construction (FYI) Have only seen it online and didn't like the design. If not mistaken, I paid just over $200 for the tripod and "Demon" ball head, including an excellent case. It's a lot of money. AND the lifetime warranty is really excellent! I have been reading some reviews and so far you are the first one to mention using the tripod with a mirrorless camera. The Peak Design Travel Tripod rethinks what a go-anywhere tripod looks like, eschewing the fold-up designs of competitors to more easily fit into your pack. Peak Design also is noteworthy for their limited lifetime guarantee on the tripod, so they definitely trust it to last for many years. I tend to think of a tripod as a necessary evil. Another way to think of it is, for a 270 g savings in weight, you pay $270 extra. Portability or sturdiness? This system is a feature of all their camera straps and means that can of them can be paired easily with this tripod. As always, we appreciate it when you use the links on this page to make your purchases. By admin | 26/07/2022. I have this and it is so much work to lock/unlock separately all those hundred locks that i barely use it. Despite having bigger legs, the Peak Design Tripod has a circumference of 27cm, against 34cm for the Sirui. At $349.95 I think the aluminum version of the Travel Tripod is excellent value. If you want to keep the setup as light as possible, theres no better way to do it. A whopping 27,169 backers raised a record amount of $12,143,435. They share a maximum height of 152 cm (60 inches) when the center column is raised, and 130 cm (51 inches) when its not. The biggest load I personally put on the tripod was a Nikon Z9 with a Nikon 400mm f/2.8 G plus an Atomos Ninja recorder with mount. These are probably the most versatile choice. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about this tripod, and Ill do my best to answer! Compare Benro MeFoto GlobeTrotter Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod Kit Black vs Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod vs Gitzo GT2545T Series 2 Traveler Carbon Fiber . I was referring to travel tripods. With long exposures, telephoto lenses, and windy conditions, youll want to collapse some parts of the tripod. It rises to 60 (150 cm) which is very impressive for a tripod that packs down to just 15.4 (39 cm). For sure this is on me for not tightening up the ball head more, but it's really not the easiest thing. The price of the carbon fiber model tested is currently $650 at B&H, at the time Im publishing this review. Instead of just reducing the folded length as many travel tripods do, Peak Design has dramatically reduced the overall folded volume. I've been satisfied with every single thing I've bought of theirs. By submitting a comment this form also collects your name, email and IP address so that we can prevent spam. I travel up to 6 months each year. It is the TFC version that presents the best competition to the PD travel tripod. The spike feet are lighter than the rubber bushes by a few grams, but are incredibly tough and bite without slippage into ice and on rock: the points are quite clever, exposed when the legs are extended at an angle but not so sharp as to snag on fabric. Disclaimer: The tripod was provided at no cost for this review. It will give you sharper images, but youll have to deal with constantly bending down to use the camera. Hopefully answered those questions you had. The quick-release plate also works with Peak Design's Capture Clip carrying system. Just keep in mind that a fully extended column will harm the stability of a tripod. When averaged out, it earned a rating of 9.0 out of 10, which is much better than the 7.6 review average of Tripods in general. its one more thing to have to do when setting up the tripod, and it somewhat negates the speed benefits of the fancy fast opening leg locks. Both tripod and head are very good quality and cost less than the Peak Design. In the past, I often wondered whether or not I should take my tripod into the field with me. This Tilta Full Camera Cage for Kinefinity MAVO Edge 6K offers enhanced protection for the Kinefinity MAVO Edge 6K/8K and expands options for mounting various camera accessories. He reached a total of 5,258 backers who put in $364,698. I have a few tripods on the shelf, but when you need something lightweight just in case this ticks the boxes nicely. If you need an extremely light, tabletop tripod for a particular shoot, an unusual feature of this tripod is the ability to remove the extendable leg sections entirely, and replace them with a set of tripod feet. Interestingly, hidden within the center column is a smartphone holder that you can pull out and clamp to the tripod head. Like many others, I have bought too many tripods. For long exposures, I recommend keeping the center column retracted. I replaced my RRS TVC-34L with the Feisol CT-3472 which tripled my options for usage. I can almost wrap my fingers around the entire tripod, and such a small packed volume makes it a breeze to pack on the side of a camera bag or often inside a camera bag because its simply that small. This means you can shoot straight up into the night sky, straight down for macro work, or simply fold it downwards to make your tripod more compact for travel. One other thing I should mention is value. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In the case of a tripod, I would be rather cautious with that statement. After some time, most of them have been collecting dust in a dark corner although I have been able to sell some of them. Very happy with it after owning it for several months now. Several times I've noticed my camera (a Fuji XT-2 with the 18-55 lens) slowly slipping down. A hidden internal pocket can be used to store the multitool shown above, and in that pocket, you will also find a small tool to help you remove the tripod legs for cleaning or addition of optional tripod feet. For people looking to take panoramic photographs, a panning base is a must-have feature. So, although Im reviewing the carbon fiber version today, much of what I say about the Peak Design Travel Tripod applies to both variations. While the price of the aluminium tripod is more palatable, if low weight is especially important, bite the bullet and go for the carbon fibre tripod which is 290g lighter. That tripod is the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod ($599). Never in history has a tripod received as much online press attention as the Peak Design Travel Tripod. Its not just Gitzo thats worth considering. There are far better alternatives out there. The jaws around the ball slot neatly into the area between the leg joints. The main benefit to it is that it's light and packs up tiny. If you go for the carbon version, youll spend extra money, but do you get any extra performance? Any ball head that you place on it, can be held in securely by a trio of set screws that come up from beneath the head. Im not a robot, there will always be some typos . Another thing I dont like is that in order to move the head, you first have to raise the center column slightly only about 1cm, so it wont really affect rigidity, but it does affect the ease of use. Putting a heavy head on a compact ultralight travel tripod would typically result in a setup that is far too top-heavy and unstable. I guess thats a little bit of a spoiler as to my feelings about the tripod, but theres still much to learn aside from my overall opinion. Is the folded height with the ball head on or off? Keeping the centre column collapsed is always a good idea in anything but the calmest wind conditions with any travel tripod. Add at least two items to compare. Comparing Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod vs Gitzo . In many situations, a panning base is not 100% necessary, but it is nice to have when you want to make small compositional adjustments in landscape shots. How does the Peak Design Travel Tripod perform in this regard? The Anchor System allows a strap to be quickly disconnected, so you can swap it from the tripod to the tripod bag in a few seconds if need be. Weve looked at the Universal Head Adapter as a way to use a 3rd party head on this tripod, but there is another option. When I really need to travel light, I use the ball head that comes with the tripod. Thanks for the kind words. Finally, if the original head does not suit you, any other head can be substituted. I'm very happy with my Leofoto LS-324C and carry it everywhere. The latching mechanism for the quick release is fine. However, the Peak Design tripod is clearly very good, extremely compact and much more likely to be within people's budgets. The tripod clearly takes design cues from the Peak Design Travel Tripod and the RRS Ascend-14 tripod, but it hits a much lower price point than either of these options. The big difference comes from the fact that you don't need to flip each leg around. With taxes in, the RRS tripod tops $1000 and that's a tough pill for a lot of people to swallow. Namely, if you want to take a panorama, for example, the tripod head cannot be moved only horizontally. Try to find a small to medium-sized ball head if you go this route. I hate having to bend over to compose and focus. I measured that it takes about 15 seconds to unfold the tripod completely. Most of them tend to use one of the smaller versions of Benro carbon fiber tripods when they're having to hike longer distances or they bite the bullet and take their big tripods with them. Thats what Im testing today. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Review: Peak Design Spike Feet For Tripod - Do They Cut It? When you've adjusted the angle of the ball head you have to spin a wheel along its horizontal surface to lock it in place. We spent 4 years redesigning the tripod from the ground up, creating a travel tripod that packs down to the diameter of a water bottlewithout compromising height, stability, or features. The PD is one of the stiffest tripods for its size.