Looking to buy a lightweight, portable tripod that I can take on my travels for long exposure and general work. Needs to support a Canon 6D with something like the 24-105mm lens. Although not particularly heavy, a lot of conflicting views on what travel tripods give adequate stability. Tempted by Sirui T-005X or T-025X with a preference for the lower price of the former if up to the task. Any advice or comments on these or alternatives?
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Any suggestions for a travel tripod?
- Thread starter anotherscotsman
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Thanks MCAsan - they certainly have a good reputation but I should have said I'm looking for something in the 12"-15" folded size range and preferably less than $200...yes I know I'm cheap.Fiesol CT-3342. It replaced my Gitzo that weighed twice as much.
I have a wee MeFoto daytrip. I used it fine on a Canon 70d with 100-400L previously. Folds up teeny tiny. Not *very* sturdy but should be good enough...
The main issue is tipping. The legs have to be set wide so it doesnt become too top heavy. Also best feature is worse feature - compact and light...
The main issue is tipping. The legs have to be set wide so it doesnt become too top heavy. Also best feature is worse feature - compact and light...
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For under $200, I'd suggest the Benro Travel Angel FTF18AIN0, it claims to have a 6Kg head load, if you are wanting to do long exposures, this should be ample and more than still enough. It's folded length is 22" though.
I used to have a Travel Angel as my first tripod and never had any issues with it, I now have a much heavier duty Benro as my everyday tripod.
I used to have a Travel Angel as my first tripod and never had any issues with it, I now have a much heavier duty Benro as my everyday tripod.
I use a MeFoto Roadtrip tripod. It's lightweight, sturdy (holds up 17.6lbs) and easily converts to a mono pod.
Thanks everyone, at least I've got a decent shortlist to go at. I'll let you know what I get when I stump-up the cash.
I always used to recommend the Hama Compact Traveller Pro. They are small, light yet sturdy enough for a hefty camera. They were once so cheap that I have several in different places for whenever I need one. These days the price has doubled but still looks appealing considering their height (I hate little tripods) and that a solid little ball head is included. The nice thing about a cheap tripod is that you don't ever worry about it. You can stick them in rivers, the sea, or a lava field without worry of the consequences.
After trawling through reviews again and focussing on the suggestions from you guys, I decided to go with the Sirui t-025X. Should arrive sometime next week - I'll let you know what I think when I get it but the deciding factor was the small size (rather than weight) and the relatively high stability reported online. Time will tell.
Thanks everyone.
Thanks everyone.
Congrats on coming to a decision! I hope your choice works out well for you.
I don't see any reference to the tripod on this forum, however, so I'm wondering what the characteristics of this tripod were that helped form your decision?
Had to be as small as possible (for air hand luggage) and stable enough for DSLR. The sirui gets good reviews from a stability perspective (all relative of course) and folds down to only 12" or so. Although there wasn't much between many of the suggested options, the size clinched it for me. We'll see...
Tripod arrived. Looks and feels pretty well made. Very brief test at full extension (indoors at least) shows that the wobble induced by pressing the shutter button manually is adequately damped using mirror lockup and a 2-second shutter delay as assessed by pixel-peeping at a range of exposure times from 1sec to 30 sec. Far more rigid than I expected so overall, pretty pleased so far. Folds to less than 12" with the head taken off.
Doesn't convert to a monopod (other than simply putting the legs together in an extended state). I've had a monopod for a few years and never actually used it - for some reason I just can't seem to get the hang of them but then I don't use long focal length lenses...
The trick to a monopod is to extend the sections in the reverse order to a tripod, so drop the last (smallest dioameter), section fully, the second section fully, then I use the final section adjustment to get the eye-height right, that is then easy as the clamp can be reached while holding the camera to the required height.
Normally you would extend the larger diameter sections of a tripod first to keep maximum regidity down the legs, as they carry load at an angle, this doesn't apply on a monopod.
A lot depends on what lenses you're bringing with you. I've traveled with a 300mm f/2.8 so the term "travel" tripod is not really applicable. Assuming you're not carrying anything super heavy, one option I've looked at is the MePhoto (you can see banner ads on NRF from time to time). I'm a little wary of tripod that have five leg sections, in that I worry about their stability when the legs are fully extended.
Absolutely - horses for courses. The small, lightweight 5-section tripods certainly have their limitations but also a valuable role to play especially when photography is not the raison d'être for the trip. I used one of the larger gorilla pods for a while but found it too limiting and for my circumstances (lenses) the small, 5-section tripods seem to fit the bill. Like most things in life, it's about finding the most appropriate compromise for your needs. As for stability, playing a bit so far and with a weight attached below the tripod spider, stability actually doesn't seem to be a great issue - as long as the centre of gravity isn't too far away from the axis of the tripod column.
We all don't think you are CHEAP! Good luck with right travel Tripod!