Travel tripod head-to-head - thoughts?

[utterdrong]

Hey all, I'm in the market for a travel tripod that packs small but is reasonably stable, and is (relatively) inexpensive. It'll be holding up to a Nikon 180-600mm lens, but I can accept some stability compromises at the size constraints I'm after. I've got my eye on two models at the moment:

Sirui AM-284
vs
Leofoto LS-365C

I like both of these for the lack of centre column in particular, but I'm back and forth on which set of specs I prefer.


The Sirui is significantly cheaper (£100+ less) and packs smaller and lighter, but it doesn't stand very tall at all (120 cm), and I assume it'll be less stable given its thinner legs. The Leofoto still packs small enough for my purposes (<50 cm) while extending much taller, and it should also be more stable, but it compromises in the other parameters - though the higher weight should help stability too, and it's still lighter than my main tripod.


But there's a limit to how much you get out of specs and numbers. I was wondering if anyone here has practical experience with either of these models, and can offer advice? Particularly on the stability front. Or if you can suggest other comparable options, I'd love to hear those too.

 

[rob-nikon]

Hey all, I'm in the market for a travel tripod that packs small but is reasonably stable, and is (relatively) inexpensive. It'll be holding up to a Nikon 180-600mm lens, but I can accept some stability compromises at the size constraints I'm after. I've got my eye on two models at the moment:

Sirui AM-284
vs
Leofoto LS-365C

I like both of these for the lack of centre column in particular, but I'm back and forth on which set of specs I prefer.


The Sirui is significantly cheaper (£100+ less) and packs smaller and lighter, but it doesn't stand very tall at all (120 cm), and I assume it'll be less stable given its thinner legs. The Leofoto still packs small enough for my purposes (<50 cm) while extending much taller, and it should also be more stable, but it compromises in the other parameters - though the higher weight should help stability too, and it's still lighter than my main tripod.


But there's a limit to how much you get out of specs and numbers. I was wondering if anyone here has practical experience with either of these models, and can offer advice? Particularly on the stability front. Or if you can suggest other comparable options, I'd love to hear those too.

Are you thinking of going to the Photography Show at the NEC next month? Its a great place to look at different tripods. Travel tripods are definitely something I feel need to be seen in person to make up your mind on suitability as one persons stable enough could be quite different to someone else stable enough.

A few years ago I was in the market for a travel tripod. After trying a cheapish bento model and finding it very flimsy I had a look around at all the different manufacturers at The Photography Show. After looking at them all I decided I was happy to spend a bit more on a Gitzo travel tripod because it was head and shoulders above the competition at that time (its still rated highly on tripod comparison reviews). I didn't pay full price for one as they are crazy at new prices but I did pick up a 100 year anniversary travel tripod model for I seem to remember £350 when they were selling them off cheaper to clear the unsold stock. Im still glad I did go this route as its quite solid for a travel tripod and its become my most used tripod due to its small size and lightweight.

If youre happy to consider used there can be a few good Gitzo tripods around at good prices. This Gitzo GT2531 tripod is £249 used at cameraworld.

Used Gitzo GT2531 Carbon Fibre Tripod

We photograph every hardware item individually. The one pictured above is the oneyou will receive, so you can buy with confidence that what you see is what you get.We aim for you to have 100% satisfaction with your purchase and all our used cameras and lenses are supplied with the essential...

www.cameraworld.co.uk

Full info spec on the CVP website:

https://cvp.com/product/manfrotto_gt2531

 

[utterdrong]

Are you thinking of going to the Photography Show at the NEC next month?

Would you believe I didn't know that was a thing until now? Definitely gonna look into that, so thanks for the heads up. Looks like both the manufacturers above will be there.

This Gitzo GT2531 tripod is £249 used at cameraworld.

That particular one apparently only collapses down to 65 cm, a bit long for my needs, but thanks for looking out anyway. I have looked at the Gitzo travel lines, but yeah, it'd have to be a used one. And they don't seem to do any travel sizes without centre columns.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Would you believe I didn't know that was a thing until now? Definitely gonna look into that, so thanks for the heads up. Looks like both the manufacturers above will be there.



That particular one apparently only collapses down to 65 cm, a bit long for my needs, but thanks for looking out anyway. I have looked at the Gitzo travel lines, but yeah, it'd have to be a used one. And they don't seem to do any travel sizes without centre columns.

Gitzo GT1545T

Closed length 42.5cm

But I have never seen any compact tripod go smaller than my Redreg, which is under 30cm.

 

[rob-nikon]

Would you believe I didn't know that was a thing until now? Definitely gonna look into that, so thanks for the heads up. Looks like both the manufacturers above will be there.



That particular one apparently only collapses down to 65 cm, a bit long for my needs, but thanks for looking out anyway. I have looked at the Gitzo travel lines, but yeah, it'd have to be a used one. And they don't seem to do any travel sizes without centre columns.

It’s definitely worth going just to compare all the different tripods under one roof.

That one I linked to was likely not a travel tripod like the gitzo GT1545T-82TQD Tripod my one is based upon. It was partly to show there are low cost gitzo options if you’re willing to buy used and look around.

This 0 series traveller folds down to 36cm and weighs 895g without a head.

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/gitzo-gt0545t-series-0-traveler-carbon-fibre-tripod/sku-2377935?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UK%7CGoogle%7CBuy%7CPmax%7CNew%7CPmax%7CAll%7CAll%7CUK&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAloavBhBOEiwAbtAJO0oskc_iNDdE6E22B_EZ-zZA8rJ6ljOoi6w1NLQQ_NbSOjbjV-PW8hoCkGUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

You can get a removable short centre column to swap with the long centre column if you don’t want a long centre column.

 

[Craikeybaby]

As people are already ignoring the "(relatively) inexpensive" requirement and suggesting Gitzo, I'll throw the Peak Design aluminium tripod into the mix - it fold up really small and is still fairly stable. To the point that I rarely use my "big" tripod these days.

When I got the Peak Design tripod, I also had a 3LT Travis, which seemed decent enough, but nowhere nears as compact as the Peak Design tripod.

 

[ilikebowens]

I use an FLM CP-26 which is very good. With this and most of the travel tripods the centre coloum can be removed and left at home. FLM aren't cheap of course but last year I saw a Benro travel tripod which they called a hybrid design, part CF part Alu. I rather liked that one and I think it was lighter and certianly cheaper than the Peak Design CF one (althought I do also like that one as well). The Manfrotto elements also caught my eye as I was looking for a tripod to use with my phonr for the odd video clip.

 

[sk66]

I do not have a travel tripod... but the primary weakness in a tripod is the leg joints, and having more of them is a problem for stiffness. So the Leofoto is likely to be less stable *IF* all of the tubes are fully extended. But when you don't need full height that can be easily mitigated (video below).

You cannot go by leg tube diameter alone with carbon fiber (less true of aluminum), because the way the CF layers are oriented makes a big difference in the stiffness and vibration damping characteristics of the resulting tubes. Gitzo, RRS, and ProMediaGear use tubes different from most of the other makers and they are generally notably better; but you do pay a lot for it. Most of the others all source tubes from the same manufacturer (the same "highest quality Japanese 10x CF"); and they tend to perform a little worse. There are exceptions to this; i.e. Feisol uses proprietary tubes notably different from all the others I know of, but I don't know if they are particularly better/worse. Other design criteria also have a significant effect.

That said, I used to be a Gitzo and then an RRS user; I now use Leofoto tripods... I have two and they are polar opposites; neither is suitable for your needs. But the quality is extremely good for the price. I also own several Sirui products (heads/monopods/etc) and I would put them in the same bracket. You do not always get what you pay for...

This table has rankings based on empirical testing. The default ranking is simply stiffness x height/weight and may not be the best for your needs; the columns can be sorted individually. Also note that the tables do not factor in damping rate; still, you won't find better information available elsewhere...

Travel Tripod Rankings

This rankings page only includes tripods that considered to be travel tripods. These are characterized by some combination of small folded size (shown as Volume below), light weight, and the manuf…

thecentercolumn.com

And this table is weighted by compactness for travel if that is a bigger priority.

Volume Weighted Travel Tripod Ranking

Users of travel tripods are particularly sensitive to the packed volume of the tripod in addition to its weight. Here, I have created an alternative ranking for travel tripods that incorporates th…

thecentercolumn.com

But if you can try in person, that is always good...

View: https://youtu.be/FP6ni1Z1kzg?si=3MlRjb-AGnEiwLY2