Travel Tripod... Again

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GeordieStew

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Evening folks.

Looking for a tripod to chuck in my bag for landscape/coastal. Under 450mm when collapsed. Not really bothered about weight. But just watched some videos about aluminium vs cf and the cf seems more stable. I'd prefer not to have twist locks.

I'd like to keep it under £300 if possible.

To hold Sony a7R IV and longest lens ever will probably be the 100-400 eventually.

Thanks in advance.
 
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You could do a lot worse than a Manfrotto 99 with a good B&S head and QR platform.
 
GeordieStew said:
I think my shortlist includes

Peak Design CF (and sell a body part)
One of the 3LT tripods. Undecided
Manfrotto BeFree (there seems to be about a bajillion models and no easy way to compare them)
MeFoto GlobeTrotter S
Leofoto LS-254C
Click to expand...

Manfrotto Befree GT Carbon is the most heavy duty in the range, pleased with mine.
 
GeordieStew said:
I think my shortlist includes

Peak Design CF (and sell a body part)
One of the 3LT tripods. Undecided
Manfrotto BeFree (there seems to be about a bajillion models and no easy way to compare them)
MeFoto GlobeTrotter S
Leofoto LS-254C
Click to expand...
I had a similar shortlist in the summer and narrowed it down to the Manfrotto BeFee (Advanced GT I think) and the 3LT Travis, which I bought. Since then I won a Peak Design aluminium tripod, so I am in the process of deciding which one to keep. The Peak Design folds up much smaller, but the head is not as good.
 
I use a Rollei Compact Traveler No 1 Carbon with my A7 camera when hiking and it's been brilliant, it's tiny at 330mm folded and 980g including ball head. It is however twist lock.
 
This review was posted by another member on a thread I started to highlight the gitzo traveller 1545 tripod were on sale over Christmas. Sadly they have gone back up to normal price. The review may be useful to you.

Travel Tripod Review | On Landscape

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been testing out a range of travel tripods. As with most of the testing we’ve done, it all starts with a personal question
www.onlandscape.co.uk www.onlandscape.co.uk
 
I've had several tripods over the years.
Been really unlucky with Manfrotto tripods with several faults occurring.
My current tripods are by Vanguard and the quality, value and spec are excellent IMHO
Well worth a look ;)
 
For good stability you should consider:
- lesser the number of tripod sections the better. Lesser sections means less weak points and better stability (for my personal use and experience I find anything over 4 sections to be not worth my time, also due to second point below)
- somewhat related to above point is the diameter of the leg sections especially the smallest one which is also the last ones. More the lens sections the smaller the diameter is off the last leg section and less stable the tripod.
- centre column or lack thereof. Centre columns add to instability, they can be useful if used sparingly but avoid it if you can.
- damping of the tripod and joints. This is the hardest one of to figure out and/or measure before trying out a bunch of tripods. Gitzo for example are really good in this area in my experience.
- weight - heavier tripods are more stable... You can add weight to your travel tripod to by adding a weight (like your bag for example) to the hook. But you need make sure your weight doesn't swing around and actually cause the instability! So if the tripod is inherently heavy it'll help with stability obviously won't help with the traveling.

Think I already suggested this in another thread but the best one or the best compromise I have found is the feisol tournament tripods (CT-3342 or CT-3442, 3 section and 4 sections models respectively). I actually i currently own both the models.
It's hard to source but if you are patient you can find one a used one under your budget.
Weigh about 1.1 kg, decent height (150-ish cm) without center column, really stable, large leg section and damped well enough.
So far haven't found a tripod that is as light but as tall or stable (no matter the cost). After going through a bunch of tripods from various manufacturers, these really are the best travel tripods I have found with the right combination of weight, stability and height.
Though the folded length of CT3442 is 49cm... Not a huge lot more than 45cm but that's of course up to you to decide.
 
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Craikeybaby said:
I had a similar shortlist in the summer and narrowed it down to the Manfrotto BeFee (Advanced GT I think) and the 3LT Travis, which I bought. Since then I won a Peak Design aluminium tripod, so I am in the process of deciding which one to keep. The Peak Design folds up much smaller, but the head is not as good.
Click to expand...

Winning the peak design tripod has got to be a lot less painful on the wallet.....keep looking at these and wondered if you could explain the following in the spec......

Arca-type L-brackets can be attached by removing the safety pin inside the clamp

is it a fiddle? Is there a risk of losing the part? Could the L bracket just slide out with no safety stop?

Much appreciated if you can help.........?
 
I'll try to remember to have a check next time I get it out. I didn't get a plate with mine, and L bracket just went straight in.
 
Craikeybaby said:
I'll try to remember to have a check next time I get it out. I didn't get a plate with mine, and L bracket just went straight in.
Click to expand...
Cheers that would be great.....can you remember if the L bracket locked on anything for safety.....

BTW in the promo video I’m sure it comes with a peak design plate.....just in case you missed it in the packaging.....?
 
My tripod has the 2 prongs, so my (unbranded generic) L bracket doesn't slip off either way. Looking at my 3LT set up, that has the pins on the plate, rather than the head, so my L bracket could drop out of 3LT head - thank you, you have probably helped me make the decision there!

I think my PD tripod had been used for review photos etc for the carbon vs aluminium section, so that's probably why the plate is missing, I'm not too fussed as use the L bracket anyway and rarely use included plates.
 
Craikeybaby said:
My tripod has the 2 prongs, so my (unbranded generic) L bracket doesn't slip off either way. Looking at my 3LT set up, that has the pins on the plate, rather than the head, so my L bracket could drop out of 3LT head - thank you, you have probably helped me make the decision there!

I think my PD tripod had been used for review photos etc for the carbon vs aluminium section, so that's probably why the plate is missing, I'm not too fussed as use the L bracket anyway and rarely use included plates.
Click to expand...

thanks for the heads up and the info on the pins............the peak design looks nice and compact which would suit as I’m changing over to mirror less and hopefully lighter and more compact kit........
just need to find one at the right price now....
 
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