Aluminium travel tripod with lever clamp

Craikeybaby

Craikeybaby

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I’m off on holiday next weekend and will likely be doing a fair bit of landscape photography. Last time I did any my body aches for days from carrying my old heavy tripod - I think it must have been on one side of something.
I’m any case, my tripod is the only area of kit I have not slimmed down - I have gone from a large rucksack with a 5D and L glass to a smaller rucksack with a Fuji mirrorless kit.

I’m am looking for a lightweight(ish) tripod with a compact(ish) folded size, ideally less than 1.5kg and 50cm respectively. I have seen that most of these “travel” tripods come with an included head, which I guess is because they have to fit inside the folded legs.

I have narrowed my choices down to two options and I am keen to hear feedback on these or suggestions of alternatives, but budget is £150, so unfortunately no Gitzo Traveller.

My first choice is the Manfrotto Befree Advanced - I like that it has a lever clamp, but concerned it may be a bit too short (I’m not a tall guy at 1m75 though).

The alternative is the Three Legged Thing Travis, which is taller, but also heavier. And although I like the idea of L brackets on my camera, I do not like the screw clamps, as you cannot tell at a glance if they are locked fully.
 
I've never been too impressed with my Manfrotto products build quality wise.... and everything I've had from three legged thing has been awesome....

Out of those two, I'd go for the Three Legged Thing Travis and if the screw head is an issue, you can easily change this. I wouldn't change it for the 3 legged thing lever clamp as it's really expensive but looks really nice! You can find these on amazon for not a huge amount.
 
I have a Travis and have no complaints about it really. Not as much lighter as I wanted than my previous Redsnapper but it also doesn't feel as 'dense'. I bought it because it was £110 at the time.
 
I've got the smaller Punks Corey, weighs 1.5kg and folds down to 35cm
Stays in the back of the car in case I want a tripod when out and about also easily fits in a backpack
 
toohuge said:
I've never been too impressed with my Manfrotto products build quality wise.... and everything I've had from three legged thing has been awesome....

Out of those two, I'd go for the Three Legged Thing Travis and if the screw head is an issue, you can easily change this. I wouldn't change it for the 3 legged thing lever clamp as it's really expensive but looks really nice! You can find these on amazon for not a huge amount.
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Thanks, that is something to bear in mind. I’ll have to see if for now I can remove the clamp from my existing Manfrotto head.
LeeRatters said:
I have a Travis and have no complaints about it really. Not as much lighter as I wanted than my previous Redsnapper but it also doesn't feel as 'dense'. I bought it because it was £110 at the time.
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Thanks - it is a Redsnapper that I am hoping to replace. I probably should weigh it to see how much weight I will be shedding.
tijuana taxi said:
I've got the smaller Punks Corey, weighs 1.5kg and folds down to 35cm
Stays in the back of the car in case I want a tripod when out and about also easily fits in a backpack
Click to expand...
What put me off the smaller Three Legged Things tripods was that they use an extending centre column to get the height.
 
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Craikeybaby said:
Thanks, that is something to bear in mind. I’ll have to see if for now I can remove the clamp from my existing Manfrotto head.

Thanks - it is a Redsnapper that I am hoping to replace. I probably should weigh it to see how much weight I will be shedding.

What out me off the smaller Three Legged Things tripods was that they use an extending centre column to get the height.
Click to expand...

Fair point, its a trade off between overall closed length and portability.
I accept the shorter overall length, in fact even my old carbon Gitzo Traveler only stood at 114cm without the centre column
Not going to get anything at eye level, more a case of having something to provide a steadier support than my hands.
Along the same lines that I accept my m4/3 gear isn't as good as the latest Mirrorless FF, but its a lot lighter and smaller to carry
 
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I’ve just measured my Redsnapper - 133cm to the plate/145cm with head. And 2.4kg. That is with the short centre column down, how I generally use it.
Also seen the Travis is at £99 now.
 
Craikeybaby said:
I’ve just measured my Redsnapper - 133cm to the plate/145cm with head. And 2.4kg. That is with the short centre column down, how I generally use it.
Also seen the Travis is at £99 now.
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Yeah, mine is (Redsnapper) around 2.5kg It's a 4 section, ball head, around 10 years old now! There wasn't a noticeable difference in height really. I also didn't want the double center column of the smaller 3LT tripods either.
 
Can anybody recommend a decent Arca compatible lever clamp if I go for the 3LT tripod?
 
It has just occurred to me that I could buy the 3LT and the Manfrotto head for the price of the Manfrotto tripod - no brainer!
 
I had one similar. It wasn’t particularly stable, and I trapped my fingers in the leg clamps, so got rid of it.
 
Gone for the 3LT hopefully it arrive before I go on holiday next week!
 
Travis arrived this morning!

It seems so small and light compared to my old tripod - in a good way! The head also seems more secure than I expected. I just need to get used to it, as with the knobs in the best pace to fold the tripod they don't seem intuitive to use. Maybe I just need to reset the pan setting each time I fold the legs up...
 
Craikeybaby said:
Travis arrived this morning!

It seems so small and light compared to my old tripod - in a good way! The head also seems more secure than I expected. I just need to get used to it, as with the knobs in the best pace to fold the tripod they don't seem intuitive to use. Maybe I just need to reset the pan setting each time I fold the legs up...
Click to expand...

I never fold the legs up but yeah they have to be in the right orientation with the head to do so properly.
 
LeeRatters said:
I never fold the legs up but yeah they have to be in the right orientation with the head to do so properly.
Click to expand...

I rarely bother with my Brian either. It does make things smaller but it's much more of a faff to set up and put it away again. I save that for when I really need to fit it in a tight space.
 
gad-westy said:
I rarely bother with my Brian either. It does make things smaller but it's much more of a faff to set up and put it away again. I save that for when I really need to fit it in a tight space.
Click to expand...

Mine is usually on the side of my backpack so the height isn't really an issue.
 
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