Tripod required for travelling!

Phate

Phate

Phate

Caporegime
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
35,691
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Hey all,

OK so for backpacking I'm considering a tripod, key absolute must haves are:

  • Ultra Portable
  • Light weight
  • Sturdy/Robust

These are the essentials. What do people recommend?

TIA
Jake
 
XCSOURCE Q666C (Google it).

It's what I've just used on my trip to Australia.

It's essentially a Chinese knockoff of a very well known and reputable brand but it's less than £100 rather than over £250.

Obviously depends on the weight of the camera and lens your using but this happily dealt with a D810 and 16-35mm (not light).
 
Phate said:
What mixed reviews have you found? I've found good ones.
Click to expand...
The place where's it's £60 delivered saving £22 on the UK price.

http://www.amazon.de/Cullmann-53550...134&sr=8-1&keywords=Cullmann+Magic+CompactPod

It's predecessor (same concept) got some mixed reviews as well

http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/tripods/tripods/cullmann/magic-ii-tripod/prd_84507_3114crx.aspx

The issue i see for practical use is the angle of the legs can not, they are either straight or a fix angle. That's very restrictive for a tripod that will probably spend it's life on uneven surfaces. At least with the other you can splay the legs out to a degree.
 
I am in the same boat. I am off to Ethiopia and will be trekking in the Simien mountains. I thought about a compact but traditional style tripod, but in the end I thought its something I may only use a couple times on the trip, and the less bulk the better so went for a table top tripod which can also strap to objects (for height). So a Pedco ultrapod is on the way. Its so small its pocketable, and going by reviews on youtube its ideal for my needs and can hold a fair bit of weight considering its size.

I guess its all about how much you intend to use it. In my case I can envisage only a few instances where I will need it, but you may be different.
 
Last edited:
http://www.mefoto.com/uk/products/roadtrip.aspx

I bought the Roadtrip in March and it's been on several trips so far. I spent ages looking for a small, sturdy, light travel pod and eventually settled on this after being able to try it in the shop. I got the Carbon version as it's a fair bit lighter. My "old" travel 'pod, the 190CX is now my mid weight tripod.

I used it in Gabon shooting using a D7000 and 17-55 and it was rock steady, it did wobble a bit when I was using the 120-300 f/2.8 on it though (a lot more than the 190), but that's to be expected! :p It still held it ok for some basic video work and shooting at higher shutter speeds.

As a general travel pod, with normal cameras and lenses its brilliant, if a little more than most may be willing to pay.

They have the Backpacker if you want something even smaller as well.

EDIT: Biggest wobble came from the lowermost section, not extending the bottom made it a lot sturdier for the big lens, there wasn't a a need with the normal lens on.
 
Last edited:
Phate said:
Olympus E-M5ii - a micro 4/3rds
Click to expand...

Velbon UT series?

http://www.velbon.co.uk/ut_series.html

I have a UT 43D II that works a treat with my GM5 and my G7. Not the most video friendly ball head, but it's fine for still photography.

Deploys in seconds and is very compact when folded. The only real downside is proprietary non-ACRA plate design if you want compatibility with other tripods.
 
Irish_Tom said:
The carbon RoadTrip is essentially the Q666C but more than twice the price…
Click to expand...

Essentially... Not the same. :)

I looked into the cheaper pods but had no way of actually testing many of them out without buying. just because they look similar doesn't mean they are the same, as I found out in my testing. I was originally looking for something much cheaper as well but found this to be far superior to the cheaper, similar ones I tried.

Edit: and some more expensive ones.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom