In my opinion, a tripod is one of those essential pieces of gear that you just have to accept is a pain to travel with. I've tried many compact tripods and every time, I have wished when I was on location that I had my regular one. Traveling hundreds or thousands of miles and having a less than adequate tripod is just unacceptable. Better to deal with the hassle in the airport than when standing in an awesome place with uneven ground and let a once in a lifetime shot pass because you are fiddling with a tripod that is just not sturdy enough. The things you noted as cons in the review are reminders to me why I stick with what I know works. Thanks Ted for a good honest review.
I have owned and used this tripod for about 6 months. For travel it can’t be beat, unless you opt for the more expensive alternative. On a recent trip to Kauai I used the tripod for landscapes and it worked great, the key is it can be transported in your suitcase.
I have this tripod and I restarted to use a tripod thanks to it. I agree with you about the head, but it is superb for its size and compactness. To solve the head issues I took the second center column (that was for free being an offer active) and I put there my traditional ball head. Then to travel I get the native one, when I don't travel I use the old one.
The peak design still has a leg up on these cheaper alternatives, I think. And obviously early adopters do pay for r&d as well. Since the Ulanzi here has round legs I would have liked to see twistlocks. And a droopy ballhead isn't ideal either. My favorit tripod is still my Gitzo Series 2 with Arca P0 head. Perfect compromise between size / weight and stability.
I bought the F38 version over which I have severe regrets. Not only because there's things that I really do not like about this tripod after a few months of use, but also because at purchase, I did not understand that this would only take the F38 ballhead. I wish I had bought the Zero Y version, or something entirely different.
Can you explain what you don't like about the tripod? I'm looking specifically at the Zero Y version to use with an L-bracketed camera as a compact travel option. A lot of the reviews I've watched are highly positive, but in a way that doesn't seem like they've really used the tripod extensively.
The best review i've seen so far done of this tripod. I own one too, and although it has been absolutely great to carry such a light but high quality tripod on my trips, I hate its locking mechanism so much. Making sure whether the metal screws at the bottom of the base plate have slid into the tiny shallow dents on the head takes time, everytime. And then the screw to tighten it. I think I would've loved using this tripod so much more if it had a reliable quick release system instead. What do you think?
My main tripod is the Benro TMA48XL aka Big Bertha. I am 6’4 so I wanted a tall one. LOVE it, built like a tank but that’s the issue. With ball head it’s a 7lb rig and walking around it gets old. So I grabbed a Benro Tortoise with GX35 head. Total package is 3.1lbs. In 98% of the shooting, the height is perfect for me. So BB is now my studio tripod and the Tortoise is my travel one. You can really get a strong and small tripod now, save the huge ones for the massive lenses!
A mini version of Manfrotto 055x prob. This one is also brilliantly designed. But when you want a more to the ground shot the centre column resists. There should be a flexible design of the centre column. Nice review. Subscribed.
I shoot medium format film in 6x6, 6x7, and 6x17 format and use a sturdy RRS tripod to handle those cameras. For many years, I've been using my old Gitzo 2540 Mountaineer and RRS BH-40 ballhead for my digital landscape photography. Been looking for a 'travel' tripod but haven't found anything yet that catches my interest. The Peak Design doesn't thrill me, and the Ulanzi looks promising but the non-removable ballhead is a deal killer unless you shell out for a second center column. The search continues.
thanks for this! I have this tripod for a year now and can say its not great - maybe for the price and size? as others mentioned, the locking mechanism is annoying, depending where you rotated the plate, it gets in the way. The Screws and Spike heads are not stainless steel.. so after the first seascape adventure, they are super rusty already. The center column is not stable, nor is the ballhead with my 70-300 it keeps popping down a few inches and it really hard to get the composition you want. If you want to use a different head, you need to buy a different center column. As this had to be put in the checking luggage anyway, maybe proper more sturdy tripod is the way to go.
Wow, I had no idea Ulanzi was making multi-hundred dollar tripods now... I own a Ulanzi but it's not comparable to the nice one you're reviewing here. For a great compact at a good price, I bought a Gitzo GT2545T traveler on sale for $400 a couple of years ago that is a very similar size to the one you're reviewing and is very high quality compared to others I've used. Wait for a sale (or buy used to get it closer to the price of the Ulanzi). It's a great tripod for travel; It's also about 17" so fits in a carry-on, weighs 3 lbs. Extends high enough for me (65") It replaced my big tripod (old Bogen that weighed too many lbs.) and some smaller, flexier Chinese ones. Speaking of... Leofoto is the best Chinese tripod I've used. They didn't make the exact combo I wanted (17" folded w/ center column) when I bought the Gitzo, or that's what I'd own/use. They have a lot to offer in the 250-300 range, and I'd rather have a Leofoto than an Ulanzi personally. I would say the quality is at least as good as Benro. Anyway, just some thoughts from a guy who has been on a fairly long tripod quest. I have a dozen of them. I use 2 tripods now for everything. 1 (w/ disposable legs) for deep, sandy beaches w/ a Leofoto head and the Gitzo for everything else. That's it. I use Leofoto plates on all my gear. It's nice to downsize into a system that works interchangeably.
Wanted to like it but the screw insert in the leg has come out after only 5 -6 uses and there is no way to screw in the spike or rubber feet. Looking in the carbon fiber tube does not look like they even used glue on this piece. Reached out to Ulanzi awaiting to see if I can get this replaced under warranty or get a replacement screw insert so I can fix. Also, I noticed on the one I got the panning head has a bit of play in it and I can move it a bit. Have never had a panning head have any play in it, so it appears they use a very poor quality panning head. I expected a bit more for a $400 ish tripod.
IDK maybe it is, but I always found the Ulanzi tripods to be a direct rip-off of the Peak Design ones for the most part (with minor differences). But I'm glad you made this video because while I have a heavy duty tripod (primarily for when I had heavier DSLR equipment, and I still use it to day with my mirrorless system) which is a bit overkill for my current system and I'd like to find something that's perhaps a bit more portable, but sturdy... as the "big" tripod I have (which consists of an FLM 34 CF set of tripod legs, which are about 4-5 lbs themselves) and then a 2 lb Really Right Stuff ballhead. So it's tall and a bit heavy (about 28" talls when folded and about 6-7 lbs combined weight). I guess the concerning thing though ,and some thing people should keep in mind with some of the travel tripods (and bigger ones too) is that while 5 lbs sounds like it may work, your average FF camera is about 2 lbs or so, and then some lenses are also about 2 lbs, so there you're at about 4 lbs, which is within the 5-6 lb range. But tripod "Experts" say that you shouldn't really overload the head by more than about 60 of it's rated maximum weight for maximum stability (this is where it applies to any tripod , large or small, as a best practice for maximum stability, and sort of what was hinted at in the video with the 5 lbs versus the rated 6 lbs but something people often times ignore, and they buy a tripod that only holds maybe 7 lbs and then wonder why their pictures either aren't sharp or whatever.... the tripod is "overloaded" even if you're only at say 80% of max capacity. I would say tripods are like some other things you buy -- price will probably be a good indicator of quality, and for example, I'd expect the Peak Design one to be a better quality tripod overall, over the Ulanzi, although I can't say that it's 2x as good, but just better but costs about 2x as much. And this is not to say if you buy a $2000 tripod versus a $500 tripod that the $2000 tripod is 4x as as good, etc. But you generally do get what you pay for when you get into the sub-$500 ranges in many cases (there are some exceptions). For my RRS ball head + FLM tripod legs, I knew it was going to be a $1000 setup, but I also want to buy one good tripod and be done with it (I also have a cheaper travel tripod that I paid $250 for, which it's a CF, but it is obviously a $250 tripod and doesn't quite stand up as well as the $1000 tripod, so I did get what I paid for. It was cheaper, but it's also not as stable as my big tripod).
It is basically their interpretation of that tripod. Basically they tried to do everything better. Neewer came out with a new travel tripod that's also a basic copy of both of these called the tp30.
I'm so lost in my Ninja 5 plus with my R5C. Every format I choose gives me undesirable results. The only way I could see myself using this is for ProRes raw but that leaves me with huge file sizes. I'm wondering what settings I need to use to record in the same quality i get from in camera
Yikes. Too many compromises. 5 total sections is kind of ridiculous. Lever lock is a travel tripod makes no sense. Permanent ball head may seem value oriented, but not at this price point. Hard pass. Better to go a little bigger or heavier for something actually a pleasure to use.
Bizarre comment, @Arcticfox-. Did you even watch the video? He mentioned the price indirectly and it's a tenth of your insane estimate. Currently $370 US on the Ulanzi site.
In my opinion, a tripod is one of those essential pieces of gear that you just have to accept is a pain to travel with. I've tried many compact tripods and every time, I have wished when I was on location that I had my regular one. Traveling hundreds or thousands of miles and having a less than adequate tripod is just unacceptable. Better to deal with the hassle in the airport than when standing in an awesome place with uneven ground and let a once in a lifetime shot pass because you are fiddling with a tripod that is just not sturdy enough. The things you noted as cons in the review are reminders to me why I stick with what I know works. Thanks Ted for a good honest review.
I have owned and used this tripod for about 6 months. For travel it can’t be beat, unless you opt for the more expensive alternative. On a recent trip to Kauai I used the tripod for landscapes and it worked great, the key is it can be transported in your suitcase.
Great review! Thank you so much!
It has spikes, wow!
Will go for bigger heavier (and cheaper) tripod.
Bro i can watch anything you make, learned alot from this channel and implemented the techniques in my own videos....R5 and R5c shooter here
For really big telelenses (600mm primes) heavier tripods are important, but other than that, my TC5s does all I need it to.
I have this tripod and I restarted to use a tripod thanks to it. I agree with you about the head, but it is superb for its size and compactness.
To solve the head issues I took the second center column (that was for free being an offer active) and I put there my traditional ball head. Then to travel I get the native one, when I don't travel I use the old one.
The peak design still has a leg up on these cheaper alternatives, I think. And obviously early adopters do pay for r&d as well.
Since the Ulanzi here has round legs I would have liked to see twistlocks. And a droopy ballhead isn't ideal either.
My favorit tripod is still my Gitzo Series 2 with Arca P0 head. Perfect compromise between size / weight and stability.
I bought an FLM CP-26 earlier this year to use for travel. I am 6'2" and have found it quite comfortable to use after adding my own ball head.
I bought the F38 version over which I have severe regrets. Not only because there's things that I really do not like about this tripod after a few months of use, but also because at purchase, I did not understand that this would only take the F38 ballhead. I wish I had bought the Zero Y version, or something entirely different.
Can you explain what you don't like about the tripod? I'm looking specifically at the Zero Y version to use with an L-bracketed camera as a compact travel option. A lot of the reviews I've watched are highly positive, but in a way that doesn't seem like they've really used the tripod extensively.
The best review i've seen so far done of this tripod. I own one too, and although it has been absolutely great to carry such a light but high quality tripod on my trips, I hate its locking mechanism so much. Making sure whether the metal screws at the bottom of the base plate have slid into the tiny shallow dents on the head takes time, everytime. And then the screw to tighten it. I think I would've loved using this tripod so much more if it had a reliable quick release system instead. What do you think?
My main tripod is the Benro TMA48XL aka Big Bertha. I am 6’4 so I wanted a tall one. LOVE it, built like a tank but that’s the issue. With ball head it’s a 7lb rig and walking around it gets old. So I grabbed a Benro Tortoise with GX35 head. Total package is 3.1lbs. In 98% of the shooting, the height is perfect for me. So BB is now my studio tripod and the Tortoise is my travel one. You can really get a strong and small tripod now, save the huge ones for the massive lenses!
A mini version of Manfrotto 055x prob. This one is also brilliantly designed. But when you want a more to the ground shot the centre column resists. There should be a flexible design of the centre column. Nice review. Subscribed.
I shoot medium format film in 6x6, 6x7, and 6x17 format and use a sturdy RRS tripod to handle those cameras. For many years, I've been using my old Gitzo 2540 Mountaineer and RRS BH-40 ballhead for my digital landscape photography. Been looking for a 'travel' tripod but haven't found anything yet that catches my interest. The Peak Design doesn't thrill me, and the Ulanzi looks promising but the non-removable ballhead is a deal killer unless you shell out for a second center column. The search continues.
thanks for this! I have this tripod for a year now and can say its not great - maybe for the price and size? as others mentioned, the locking mechanism is annoying, depending where you rotated the plate, it gets in the way. The Screws and Spike heads are not stainless steel.. so after the first seascape adventure, they are super rusty already. The center column is not stable, nor is the ballhead with my 70-300 it keeps popping down a few inches and it really hard to get the composition you want. If you want to use a different head, you need to buy a different center column. As this had to be put in the checking luggage anyway, maybe proper more sturdy tripod is the way to go.
Wow, I had no idea Ulanzi was making multi-hundred dollar tripods now... I own a Ulanzi but it's not comparable to the nice one you're reviewing here. For a great compact at a good price, I bought a Gitzo GT2545T traveler on sale for $400 a couple of years ago that is a very similar size to the one you're reviewing and is very high quality compared to others I've used. Wait for a sale (or buy used to get it closer to the price of the Ulanzi). It's a great tripod for travel; It's also about 17" so fits in a carry-on, weighs 3 lbs. Extends high enough for me (65") It replaced my big tripod (old Bogen that weighed too many lbs.) and some smaller, flexier Chinese ones. Speaking of... Leofoto is the best Chinese tripod I've used. They didn't make the exact combo I wanted (17" folded w/ center column) when I bought the Gitzo, or that's what I'd own/use. They have a lot to offer in the 250-300 range, and I'd rather have a Leofoto than an Ulanzi personally. I would say the quality is at least as good as Benro.
Anyway, just some thoughts from a guy who has been on a fairly long tripod quest. I have a dozen of them. I use 2 tripods now for everything. 1 (w/ disposable legs) for deep, sandy beaches w/ a Leofoto head and the Gitzo for everything else. That's it. I use Leofoto plates on all my gear. It's nice to downsize into a system that works interchangeably.
Could you, at a pinch, use your Chamonix 4x5 on it? I'm thinking how light I can make my LF setup.
Wanted to like it but the screw insert in the leg has come out after only 5 -6 uses and there is no way to screw in the spike or rubber feet. Looking in the carbon fiber tube does not look like they even used glue on this piece. Reached out to Ulanzi awaiting to see if I can get this replaced under warranty or get a replacement screw insert so I can fix. Also, I noticed on the one I got the panning head has a bit of play in it and I can move it a bit. Have never had a panning head have any play in it, so it appears they use a very poor quality panning head. I expected a bit more for a $400 ish tripod.
I have this tripod (the variant with quick release plate tho) for like 5 months and still haven't taken it in the wild 😬
IDK maybe it is, but I always found the Ulanzi tripods to be a direct rip-off of the Peak Design ones for the most part (with minor differences). But I'm glad you made this video because while I have a heavy duty tripod (primarily for when I had heavier DSLR equipment, and I still use it to day with my mirrorless system) which is a bit overkill for my current system and I'd like to find something that's perhaps a bit more portable, but sturdy... as the "big" tripod I have (which consists of an FLM 34 CF set of tripod legs, which are about 4-5 lbs themselves) and then a 2 lb Really Right Stuff ballhead. So it's tall and a bit heavy (about 28" talls when folded and about 6-7 lbs combined weight).
I guess the concerning thing though ,and some thing people should keep in mind with some of the travel tripods (and bigger ones too) is that while 5 lbs sounds like it may work, your average FF camera is about 2 lbs or so, and then some lenses are also about 2 lbs, so there you're at about 4 lbs, which is within the 5-6 lb range. But tripod "Experts" say that you shouldn't really overload the head by more than about 60 of it's rated maximum weight for maximum stability (this is where it applies to any tripod , large or small, as a best practice for maximum stability, and sort of what was hinted at in the video with the 5 lbs versus the rated 6 lbs but something people often times ignore, and they buy a tripod that only holds maybe 7 lbs and then wonder why their pictures either aren't sharp or whatever.... the tripod is "overloaded" even if you're only at say 80% of max capacity.
I would say tripods are like some other things you buy -- price will probably be a good indicator of quality, and for example, I'd expect the Peak Design one to be a better quality tripod overall, over the Ulanzi, although I can't say that it's 2x as good, but just better but costs about 2x as much. And this is not to say if you buy a $2000 tripod versus a $500 tripod that the $2000 tripod is 4x as as good, etc. But you generally do get what you pay for when you get into the sub-$500 ranges in many cases (there are some exceptions). For my RRS ball head + FLM tripod legs, I knew it was going to be a $1000 setup, but I also want to buy one good tripod and be done with it (I also have a cheaper travel tripod that I paid $250 for, which it's a CF, but it is obviously a $250 tripod and doesn't quite stand up as well as the $1000 tripod, so I did get what I paid for. It was cheaper, but it's also not as stable as my big tripod).
It is basically their interpretation of that tripod. Basically they tried to do everything better. Neewer came out with a new travel tripod that's also a basic copy of both of these called the tp30.
I'm so lost in my Ninja 5 plus with my R5C. Every format I choose gives me undesirable results. The only way I could see myself using this is for ProRes raw but that leaves me with huge file sizes. I'm wondering what settings I need to use to record in the same quality i get from in camera
Great video as always! Thanks. I'm curious on the panning, is it fluid-dampened (could you do smooth video pans)?
Hi, yes it is fluid, using the specific 360 panoramic rotation.
Swing by, I have a tool for that.
I’m 6-4. 62 inches is just over 5 feet. That’s short!
Yikes. Too many compromises. 5 total sections is kind of ridiculous. Lever lock is a travel tripod makes no sense. Permanent ball head may seem value oriented, but not at this price point. Hard pass. Better to go a little bigger or heavier for something actually a pleasure to use.
Let me guess, it costs $3500. No, thanks. I'll work on improving as a photographer first, and worry about gear later.
It's 300 eur and it's actually pretty decent price if you can go for it. I rather buy one good tripod for that price than 2-3 cheaper ones.
Bizarre comment, @Arcticfox-. Did you even watch the video? He mentioned the price indirectly and it's a tenth of your insane estimate. Currently $370 US on the Ulanzi site.
@gabedamien entire video is designed to sell you this over-priced Chinese made ridiculous tripod. Get a clue.
It is about averagely priced for being a quality chinese triood.
Try a Gitzo GT2532 Mountaineer series 2, carbon fiber. You'll love it.
Yep...I have GT2540 Mountaineer with RRS BH-40 ballhead for many years...pretty much my go-to everyday tripod.