3LT Adrian Travel Tripod..... Anything else?

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Chris
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I'm close to pulling the trigger on a 3 Legged Thing Adrian Travel Tripod with the airhead 1 tripod head which is about £230... I've seen a few people seem to rate them but before I fork out I wondered if there was anything else that was good for the money?

I'm looking for something that will be fairly light and small when folded. I was tempted by the Carbon Fibre Brian Tripod but there seems very little difference in weight for an extra £100+!
 
How much have you looked into the Manfrotto range? You're in the range (200-300) for a really decent set up from Manfrotto, so I'd say have a look in that range?
 
I have one and it has been well used in the last couple of months. I couldn't justify the extra for the Brian and to be honest when I held both of them there was very little weight difference.
It packs down well and is quick to set up, the head holds up well under the weight of a d800 and 24-70 2.8. I do find that I don't use the smallest leg extension as things get a little unstable and that it is best to hang a bag from the hook to get it really stable.
To be honest I am happy with it, but would have been happier if it had been a bit cheaper, it was an impulse buy.
I would have a look at the offerings from Triopo and Sirui as some of them look very similar and they are cheaper. However you may not get the same level of after sales support as 3LT are apparently very good when it comes to this.
 
Giottos Vitruvian does the job for me.
 
I have a Dave2, small enough for me and whilst light enough is a bit sturdier than the carbon version I tried.
 
Adrian might be small & compact...but only until you stick it in it's bag. You'll find it takes up quite a lot of space in your suitcase. There doesn't seem to be any suitable replacement tripod bag on the market for it either. eg the smallest Manfrotto bag would probably hold two Adrians :)

Not sure why you'd pay £230 for it though, mine cost £180, did you swap heads or something?
 
I dont tend to use the bag as it is rather bulky, I either strap it to my rucksack or most of the time I have room inside for it.
 
Just bought a feisol tripod with sunwayphoto head. Really loving them. Very, very light, and also tall even without the centre column.
 
I'm very pleased with my Brian. There are a lot of similar tripods like these but the devil really is in the detail. I found when comparing like for like the 3LT models, go lower down, extend higher up, fold up smaller, are lighter, and carry more weight. Sure in each individual category there may be something better and if that works you may be quids in, but across all criteria I haven't found it better elsewhere.
 
I have the 3LT Keith with Airhed 0... It folds down to a similar size as a 70-200mm f/2.8

It's not particularly tall (about 3ft) but for most landscape stuff, it's outstanding! :)
 
Velbon ultra rexi l folds to 36cm, extends to 153cm (plus head) and recommended max load is 4kg.

I've got one with a Manfrotto 498 ball head. Holds my gripped D800E & 70-200 (about 2.5kg) without issue.

If you search hard you can find the legs for under £100 and for that money they're impressive - particularly if you'll ONLY use it for holidays/travel and have a sturdier main tripod.

Defo worth a look.
 
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I did wonder about the Velbon Ultra Rexi L for travel it seems like it might be a good shout actually.
I was ideally wanting to spend more to get a "do it all" tripod as I'm giving my older Redsnapper to my mum but I might be better with something like the Velbon and then a new "home" tripod....
 
Manfrotto just released a travel tripod. looks quite good, I really like the new leg joint design, looks quite compact.

http://www.manfrotto.co.uk/befree

It does look nice indeed, although I've had those manfrotto clips on the legs before and after on frosty night in the car half of them just snapped.

Also when comparing the detail against the 3LT models (not all points are important to all, so purely for your information);
. The thickest leg section of the manfrotto is equal to the thinnest on the Brian ;)
. Doesn't extend anywhere near as high, and with the centre column down is much lower again.
. Carry load is half that
. No monopod that comes off I think
. Leg angles have just two settings, Brian has a third for 80degrees
. However folded it is two centimetre shorter which could be the difference of getting it in a bag or not :)
 
Well I purchased a BeFree tonight, much cheaper than the 3LT and so far seems like it will be perfect for what I need it for.

And that is the important part :)
 
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