Best 5 travel tripods of 2024
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- Today's video is a comparison of my favourite 5 travel tripods of 2024.
The five tripods in no particular order:
Peak Design Travel Tripod
uk.peakdesign.com/pages/trave...
K&F Concept
www.kentfaith.co.uk/tripods/K...
Freewell The Real Travel Tripod
www.freewellgear.com/en/tripo...
iFootage Gazelle Travel Tripod TC3B
eu.ifootagegear.com/products/...
Sirui Traveller X
store.sirui.com/collections/f...
Check out Photo Joseph's review of the Freewell vs Peak Design here:
• the NEW king of travel...
My tripod reviews:
• Lightest travel tripod...
• FASTEST TRIPOD EVER!!!...
If you would like to see more of my work then check out my website:
Www.benharveyphotography.co.uk
The gear I use to make my content (although this is always changing!)
Sony A7iv + 20mm 1.8G - My main CZcams camera for shooting out on location.
Canon EOS R8 + 16mm F2.8 + Zhuyin Crane M3 - I use this for a combination of stills and video B-roll
DJI Pocket 3 - Used for videos where I cover a lot of ground
Sony A7iii - this is my primary stills camera that works with native Sony lenses and all my Canon EF lenses on the Sigma MC-11 adaptor
Canon 5D3 - I use this camera when I use my EF glass and there is no benefit in adapting
DJI Mavic Pro 2 - My first drone, and I can’t see me replacing it. It’s amazing for both stills and video
Go Pro Hero 8 - for adverse weather conditions that my other cameras might not survive!
Insta360 - X3 & One inch edition - for 360 degree video and BTS content
Microphones - DJI Wireless Mic, Rode Wireless Go, Rode Lav Go, Rode Video Pro+, Rode Video Micro
Photo Tripods - Sirui ST-124 with Sirui ballhead, Peak Design travel tripod
Video Tripods - Benro + spikes, Switchpod, K&F travel tripod + Gorillapod
Monopod - Sirui P-325FL
Camera bags - Manfrotto, Lowepro, Peak Design, K&F and Crumpler
Photo Filters - Nisi V7 + Nisi filters, H&Y magnetic filter system
Video filters - Freewell magnetic NDs, H&Y Revoring, Hoya Variable ND
All of my cameras have Arca Swiss plates to connect with the Peak Design Capture Clip and compatible tripods.
Video editing software - Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro
Video editing on the iPad Pro - LumaFusion
Photo editing - Adobe Lightroom, photoshop, Artisan Pro X, Silver Efex, Color Efex
Music: Epidemic Sound
Music: www.davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic
Video content:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - The tripods
01:30 - Size comparison
02:11 - Arca Swiss 'Compatible'
03:02 - Tripod weight
03:30 - Weight capacity
04:48 - New vs Old Design
06:50 - Maximum height
08:16 - Centre columns
08:50 - Comparisons
09:34 - Price
11:11 - Design flaws
13:12 - Compact Design
14:14 - Design features
17:25 - Freewell Travel Tripod
19:17 - Quick Release
20:44 - Summary
Three legged thing Leo! Faultless Travel tripod, now there's an improved Leo 2. Mine's the oroginal, with air head, i love it!
Hmmmm think I’m going to opt for the ifootage on the basis of height and lack of centre column. It’s so much lighter than my current ‘travel’ tripod too. A really informative and helpful review Ben. Thank you 🙏
I think you will be very happy with it. I know that you wanted the ball head to go with it - I will see if I can find the link for the carbon fibre version with the ballhead combo.
Really well done, concise, and informative. Will recommend the video.
Thank you, much appreciated!
The iFootage looks like a quality product with a more classic (and better imho) mini fluid head.
Recently purchased the Ifootage travel tripod. Its very good and am very happy with it. I take predominately stills so also purchased the companion ball head the ifootage MP30. Combination is very nice. Predominately use a Nikon Z50 with an older school 300mm zoom lense for birds. No issues at all. I sometimes use my cell phone camera for the odd quick social media shot so also supplemented with an Ulanzi Iron Man IV phone holder and that works really on the tripod also. I was initially worried that with no centre column the height would be an issue but no issues for me. Still have my heavy duty Benro tripod but that will now be used only when I dont have to carry it far and even then the Ifootage is probably going to be my preffered.
Hi Gary, glad to hear that you are happy with your purchase. We’re you able to purchase the legs and the ballhead separately? I couldn’t see the option on their website? I use an L-bracket for stills and its not possible to use the video head in portrait mode, so I prefer a ballhead for photos. Thanks!
Nice work Ben. You put a lot of time into this comparison. I like some features of the iFootage tripod best and tend to like the portability of the Peak Design. That seems to always be the case when I’m trying to make a decision with several different products having things I like best. I think if I had to pick I’d go with the iFootage instead of the Peak Design. I wouldn’t want to get sand or grit in the Peak Design head and not be able to clean it. The grinding of grit would be most annoying.
Hi Clark, the sound of gritting sand has got less and less over the years since that happened, but it is still in there! Lots of people favouring the ifootage in the comments. I thought that the telescopic faster leg mechanism would win it for everyone - but luckily we have many options to choose from now!
Thanks for this review Ben, really interesting to see the comparison between the brands. I'm team iFootage, having had the TC7 for a couple of years now. The quality Vs price is fantastic, and good customer service too. Big fan of their SeaStar product as well, which lets you quickly swap heads between different tripods, insanely over engineered and secure. Worth a look.
Thanks Stuart, glad you found the video helpful. This is the first ifootage product that I have used and review, and I am very impressed and they seem to have a loyal following.
Quality review Ben, I have the peak Design, I really rate it, but that iFootage tripod looks nice, I have always liked their "bowl" design, thanks for the effort in putting this review out.
Thank you! The review wouldn’t be complete without including the Peak Design offering. It is innovative, but because I have alternatives I often choose a lighter alternative that has more features. The ifootage travel tripod is a solid offering, which I have been using a lot over the past few months, especially because i can shoot very low without the faff of removing a centre column.
Another great & very informative video Ben. I'm glad I'm not currently in the market for a new travel tripod. My brain might explode! 😉If I were though, apart from Peak Design (carbon version), I doubt that any of those brands or models would even have been on my have-a-look list, never mind shortlist. I guess I'm a bit of a tripod snob. Having said that, I do own 2 or 3 "budget" travel tripods, though I couldn't tell you makes or models. It's the heads that get swapped around more than anything, with me. So you could very well find a Gitzo GH3382QD Series 3 ball head or Manfrotto XPRO ball head on a £100 ish tripod because I am most comfortable using them, rather than the small & fiddly ball heads that come with most travel tripods. But that's just me. Back to your video review, you didn't mention tripod stability, leg flex or leg oscillation (vibration) in windy conditions.
Thanks Chris, I also mix and match ball heads and video heads between tripods luckily they are all compatible! I still favour a well balanced tripod head and leg section, I like to carry the tripod a lot of the time and don’t really like it when the head weighs considerably more than the legs. I didn’t tackle stability, you are right. I will summarise if anyone else is considering one of them and wants to know. The Peak Design is the most sturdy, due to the shape and size of the legs, the ifootage next, I would say that the Sirui and Freewell are similar and finally the cheaper K&F is the least stable as the legs are so slim. Sometimes the tripods being so light are a problem for stability, and I rarely hang a bag to the underside of the tripod, I normally stand with the tripod and rest my hand at the top of the legs if doing. Along exposure in shallow water or heavy wind.
Thank you for the video! I use peak design capture clip when I carry the camera on my backpack. Can I combine this with sirui travel x? This tripod suits me best for backpacking
Hi Alex, the Peak design capture clip is the most compatible of plates from experience. I forget which head comes on the Sirui Traveller X, as when they sent it to me for review it camera with a video head that I really didn’t get along with so I swapped it out for a 3 legged thing ball head that I had lying around. But since then I believe that they sell it with a ball-head. If you have a head that has a tightening crank (that essentially claps the plate tight from each side, then it should be fine. It is only the Ulanzi plates that seem to be about 1mm smaller and therefore doesn’t work on all quick release and arca swiss compatible heads. I hope this answers your question.
@@benharveyphotography Hello Ben! Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I read some other materials and apparently this is suitable for me. Do I understand correctly that it is better to take the Traveler X II version since it is the newest and lightest? If we are talking about Sirui?
Hi Alex, I haven’t seen or used the traveller X mark 2 to comment. I am sure that it would be better than the first version though! I just looked at the website and the legs look the same on the mark 2, but take into account the price difference, as the mark 2 seems to be roughly £80 more than the mark 1 (although different head on it).
@@benharveyphotography Thank a lot! It’s just 600 grams weight. One more reason to buy it
I believe you were showing us the Ulanzi F38 plate. Ulanzi does not advertise that plate as arca Swiss compatible. I have the Ulanzi Zero Y travel tripod. Fantastic! Solid, fully arca Swiss compatible, I use L brackets on my Nikons and they slide comfortably into the shoe, also, the feet fit comfortably into one of my side pockets, with a height that is equal to the PD, so I don't have to carry it. It also will let you shoot from about 6 inches off the ground.
Hello, yes on that camera I had the Ulanzi F38 plate. Maybe they don’t advertise it as an arca swiss compatible plate, but they clearly stole the Arca swiss design :-) it fits on most of my tripods and quick release plates, just not all of them. It also doesnt work with the Peak Design capture clip, there is about 1mm difference in their size. Ulanzi offered to send me their travel tripod about a week after I finished making this review!
Interesting video. I've been searching for the perfect travel tripod for 15 years now and (of course) it doesn't exist. I have a Sirui (older version of yours), a Gitzo - also old and a Peak Design. I've also used several heads and consider the Peak Design head the least Arca Swiss compatible, probably because the PD plates it's designed for are so thin. I still use PD plates mostly because of compatibility with the capture clip. Anyway, great that you mention potential problems with plates form different manufacturers. Problems are rare but can be costly to ignore.
To me folded length is super important and I almost didn't buy the PD tripod because of that. Of course, nothing wrong with carrying the tripod on the outside of the pack - most people do, but I want it inside maybe 80-90 % of the time and folding the legs back 180 degrees makes the packed size shorter and much easier to fit inside a pack.
Sturdiness and camera weight: I used a Canon 100-400mm on crop bodies for a long time and tried it on travel tripods. Agree it's not the right tool for the job but it works OK for stationary subjects when combined with MLU/LIve view and self timer on a dSLR or even better on a mirrorless. Even used it on Iceland where it's windy most of the time and it worked if I could find a little shelter from the wind but obviously even less ideal than a heavier and sturdier tripod.
Thanks for leaving this thorough response and we share some of the same thoughts on compatibility and wishes from a travel tripod. I recently showed all of these travel tripods to a photography friend and I assumed that she was adding a travel tripod to her arsenal and therefore would be looking for small and light. However she dismissed the lightest ones as she was concerned about camera shake. Most of the tripod companies are trying to make the tripods carbon fibre and as light as possible, as well as small as possible, but well-versed landscape photographers would prefer a compact tripod that actually weights a bit more to provide stability. There are of course many more tripods that are available and I didn’t include in this video.
On the weight capacity, would you NOT use any of them for the camera/lens combination that you showed?
Hi, the heaviest setup that I own is the Canon 100-400mm, combined with the camera body is roughly 2.5KG, which is heavy enough. All of the tripods in this video CAN hold the weight of the setup, however the truth is that you really have to crank up the nobs and dials on the ball-heads and camera attachments to hold that weight still. Plus the tripods don’t actually weight that much, so it becomes a top-heavy set up. Out of the tripods shown in the video (in my own opinion - but not scientific) the Peak Design is the most sturdy, then the ifootage, then the Freewell, then the Sirui and finally the K&F. In summary it can hold the weight of 2.5kg, but I would only do so in a pinch if I were travelling and didn’t have a larger tripod with me. I tend to use the travel tripods for camera + 24-70, 24-105 sort of size/weight lenses. I hope this answers your question.
@@benharveyphotography Ben, thank you so much for the detailed and informative response! You have answered my question and provided even more detail.
Thank you, Tom Cruise, I have always loved movies with you.
😂
I just bought the Sirui X for only 85 usd, used... But originally I was eyeing Fotopro x cross
The K&F has 2 centre columns but looks like you only extended one of them? Mine goes to 158cm. Thanks for the great comparison between these tripods for their features. One thing you didnt show though, and probably the most important thing of all - how stable are they? How to they compare in real world conditions. How well do they stand up to wind, uneven ground and so on? Also - what is that really handy kit you use to clip the tripod to your belt - that looks really useful?
Hello, you are absolutely right, I missed that, The K&F (uniquely) has a double centre column, so it does go up slightly higher. The belt attachment for the tripod is a Spyder holster tripod carrier, it is the same system that can hold a camera on a belt but they made a double one that stops the tripod swinging too much. The stability question is a challenging test, i guess that I could set them all up on a windy day and attempt to shoot a long exposure and see if there is any shake in the photographs? There are quite a few variables that I would say could lead to an inaccurate test, ideally the wind would be consistent so that I could put the same camera on the tripods one after another (as I obviously don’t have 5 cameras with 5 lenses the same to test them all at the same time). Have you seen something tested like this before?
@@benharveyphotography thanks Ben, I'll keep an eye out for the Spyder system. Yes, I agree that testing them 'in the wild' isn't completely consistent but it's not so much how they fare against each other but just how they fare against the weather generally. We get lots of days where its windy enough to test them. I have 2 K&F tripods. One is carbon fibre, weighs 1kg with head and folds really small so it's great for hiking, but it's actually not very good at all in anything more than calm conditions. The other is aluminium, a bit heavier and doesn't fold as small but is more stable. I'm looking to upgrade and get something small and light but still stable in windy conditions, if that's possible lol
Great video, very helpful. I've been considering the ifootage, and it was good to see a comparison between the competition.
Thanks for a brilliant review!
Thank you John, much appreciated. I hope you find the right travel tripod for you!
👑🔥Benro Cyanbird Carb Tripod+FS20PRO head 🔥👑 THE BEST ONE !
neewer litetrip lt 32 is one of the best trivel tripod ;)
I have a few neewer accessories but I haven’t heard of their travel tripod. Thanks for leaving the comment, so that others can research more options.
I went down the travel tripod route for 2 of my 3 foreign trips last year and regretted the decision as each (2 separate brands) came up short (no pun intended) in my expectations. With a trip coming up in 2 weeks to Tenerife it will be my main tripod that will be packed and will manage the slightly extra weight accordingly. Saying that, I did like the look of the iFootage and was thinking, wouldn't it be good if you could invent a travel 3 way geared head to put on it
Hey Jim, remind me what you settled on in the end if the two travel tripods you got didn’t meet your expectations? I believe you are carrying a medium size setup, full frame camera with reasonable size lens on the front of it. This is nearing the most amount of weight that I would be comfortable putting on a travel tripod, although they all claim that they can carry significantly more, like I said in the review. You can tell if the camera is to heavy for the tripod head when you really have to crank up the knobs and dials to Herod it in place!
@@benharveyphotography my current set up is the Benro Tortoise CLV 34 which is a fantastic tripod and I use mainly the Benro 3 way geared head although I do have a Benro low profile ball head as an alternative if I don’t want to take the geared head out. The 2 travel tripods were Benro and 3LT and although the 3LT was decent height, I didn’t think it was robust enough in breezy conditions working along the East River in New York.
@scotty4418 Thans Jim. I bought my first Benro maybe 2-3 years ago, mainly for the spikes that I could attach to it, and it has been a great tripod; which I mainly use to put my video camera on when filming YT videos. Thanks for letting everyone know what you ended up with, this might help others with their choice also.
Okay Tom Cruise
hmmmm. i find it very odd there HEIPI travel tripod isn't mentioned. It literally beats the competition on every level. Also, I own the Ulanzi f38 travel tripod and it destroys most of these as well.
Hi Nate, these are the five travel tripods that I have been offered. Ulanzi did offer to send out the F38 travel tripod AFTER i had finished making this comparison, which was then too late to include it. I haven’t heard of Heipi and I am sure that there are many more brands out there that make good travel tripods.
Ulanzi F38 ???
Hi, yes that was the quick release plate that I had on my camera when demonstrating the compatibility issues.
@@benharveyphotography great! 👍🏾
I‘ve been using the Fotopro X Aircross 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod for over 6 months now. It’s been great and it is amazingly stiff. I think the Freewell is a much more expensive knock-off of the Fotopro X Aircross 3. Admittedly, the center column of the Freewell is more sophisticated. Totally recommend the Fotopro.
Thanks for leaving this recommendation. I haven’t used it myself, but someone else reading through the comments might include it in their shortlist.
I don't understand why you always extend tripods to their maximum height. I don't do that.
I hate ballheads. It's too difficult to get them accurately level, side to side, front to back. And mostly of them are useless for panoramas. For a panorama, it's essential to pan in a level plane, and f you do get it level, the level plane is at the top of the head, not at the panning feature. To get that level, there's endless fiddling with legs.
There are video heads, those require a separate levelling feature, either a base or tripod with a bowl. I have a larger Gazelle. I have some levelling bases, some are basically the ball of a ballhead, some are geared.
I don't share your aversion to centre columns. There's no law says you have to extend them to the max, they are excellent for fine tuning the height.
Speaking again of height, I regularly extend the legs one whole section at a time. Recently I have been pointing the camera across passing foot traffic, and head height is just so wrong. In the landscape, it's an element in choosing my foreground. I don't see those "modern" legs as offering any advantage.
I no longer consider buying a tripod with a head as sensible, unless the head and tripod offered together were both my first choice. I have Manfrotto 019 and 055 tripods. Both came with (the same) pan tilt heads. On the face of it, pan tilts heads should be good. These bind, so adjusting them is seriously painful. With different heads, they're good.
Useful video on tripods. S U B S C R I B E D 🎷