Mini review of a mini tripod

[Sirrith]

I needed a small tripod I could carry around in my camera bag for days when I'm not planning to shoot anything specific, but just in case the opportunity for a photo comes by where I need a tripod. So after spending a few days sniffing around here and the internet, I came across the Velbon Ultra Maxi Mini, which seemed to suit my needs. It's a tiny tripod that has extendable legs, giving it a max height of just under 50cm, and a folded height of 20cm. It uses twist lock legs, and comes with a ball head rated 1.5kg. The quick release plate, ball head, and the rest of the tripod are all made of aluminium from what I can tell, not a lot of plastic, thats a good sign It supports my 450D + 10-22 no problem, which is what I want it to do. Just for s**ts and giggles I threw a 100-400L on there (mounted by tripod collar on lens), and the ball head held up fine, though it vibrated noticably.

Here it is folded up


Legs opened up to first position


legs opened up to second position


legs opened flat, need to remove centre column to do this


removable column extended


legs fully extended, its still tiny!


legs fully extended and open


hiding in my Crumpler 6MDH, still space for 450D with 10-22 + reversed hood, 300TL flash or 55-250 + reversed hood, and 18-55 IS or gloves (my hands get cold shooting in winter in the UK).


Overall, well worth the 53 pounds I paid for it from Morrisphoto, great little tripod, don't regret buying it one bit.

[Sirrith]

Here's a photo taken with my 450D + 10-22 mounted on it (6 sec exposure, ball head can take camera mounted in portrait orientation, but has tendency to topple over easily in the first position unless you place the legs in the right position relative to the body of the camera):

[Woodsmoke]

Well Sirrith, you had me sold on it, but unfortunately they're only sold in China, the U.K. and Australia. I couldn't find any here in the states.

[Sirrith]

Ahh, I didn't realise that!
But if you're willing to use ebay I see a few sellers who are willing to ship to the states

[lannes]

The Slik Mini Pro III or Pro V, is another cheaper table top option if you can't find the Velbon.

http://www.amazon.com/Slik-MINIPROII.../ref=pd_cp_p_2

[Larry Weinman]

I'm wondering if a ballhead on a manfrotto super clamp wouldn't accomplish the same thing and give more stability.

[Sirrith]

How so larry? Im guessing you need something to clamp onto with the clamp, and that would render it unusable on a road or path, or come to think of it, any surface without an edge to clamp onto, would it not?

[Woodsmoke]

Well, I went on the Velbon Co. website to find a seller closer to the U.S.. They listed contacts in alot of different countries and even the US, but when I called them I was told that they don't carry the Velbon Ultra Maxi Mini here. I was advised to contact Adorama or B&H to see which models they may carry that are similar. I emailed Helen Oster the Adorama company rep that is a member here and she contacted their purchasing dept to see if they could carry them. I have to check back in 3 weeks to find out if they can.

Keeping my fingers crossed. This little tripod seems to be one of the best I've seen.

[Sirrith]

Good to know Helen's working on that
It definitely is a great little 'pod, though I can't compare it to others since I've only got this one!
If they can't get them in stock, I mentioned above that some sellers on ebay are willing to ship to the US though, so its not completely unobtainable.

[Savas K]

What is the folded length and the maximum height legs extended length? (without extending the center column). How much does it weigh?

[Woodsmoke]

Hope this helps you Savas K.

http://www.velbon.co.uk/newvelbon/pa...amaximini.html

[Sirrith]

Sorry for reviving this thread, but I've had this tripod for half a year now and wanted to update it.

So far, this tripod has not let me down, and IMO its been worth every penny I paid for it. It's been with me down to the Dorset coast, and its been across the Atlantic to New York City. You'd think a tripod like this would be rather useless for long exposure due to instability, after all, if something this size and price can provide stability, then why bother with the $800 setups? However, while it obviously cannot support very heavy setups, it does exceedingly well with a rebel + pretty much any EF-s lens you throw on it.
To illustrate, here are a couple of shots:
This is a 21-shot stitched 360 degree (linear) panorama from the top of the empire state building. I've included this to make a point, because if you've tried to visit the Empire State recently with a tripod (I'm not sure if the rule is recent or if its always been this way) you'll most likely have been asked to leave the tripod downstairs. The guard when I passed through the checkpoint asked me to take my tripod out, had a look at it, then told me it was OK to take up (I can't guarantee this will happen to you though, it depends entirely on the guard). Without it I don't think I'd have been able to make this panoramic shot.
http://thomasrey.zenfolio.com/img/v24/p960322001-5.jpg

Here is another shot, 30 second exposure:


That last shot was taken on a day trip and I can't stress enough how glad I am I didn't bring a full size tripod along with me, because that would have been so much harder and heavier to carry around than this velbon, which I just popped into my 6 MDH along with the rest of my gear. I was already exhausted by the end of the day as it was.

So this tripod has been through quite a bit already, and its showing absolutely no issues with durability as yet, and I doubt it'll show any soon

If you're looking for a small, portable, extremely useful tripod, this one got, and still gets my full recommendation for whatever its worth.

Oversized image changed to link. POTN Max is 1024 pixels in any dimension.

Jon

[Andrew_WOT]

There is also a beefed up version of this puppy available
http://www.linkdelight.com/K6G-Velbo...cro-Photo.html
You might want to turn to ebay as this store have them out of stock for ages, just search for 'Velbon Ultra Luxi Mini'. I got mine from ebay China seller.

[elogical]

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT

There is also a beefed up version of this puppy available
http://www.linkdelight.com/K6G-Velbo...cro-Photo.html
You might want to turn to ebay as this store have them out of stock for ages, just search for 'Velbon Ultra Luxi Mini'. I got mine from ebay China seller.

I had that one too, it was a great little tripod, insanely small! I ended up selling it to help pay for a better main tripod since I didn't see myself using it too often but someday I'd like to own one again. I'd be willing to take that a lot of places that I wouldn't bother bringing a real tripod to

[Sirrith]

Originally Posted by Andrew_WOT

There is also a beefed up version of this puppy available
http://www.linkdelight.com/K6G-Velbo...cro-Photo.html

I think thats just the cheaper version without the QR system, the head and legs are the same