Travel Tripod (compact) - Need Recommendations

TRAVEL TRIPOD

As I continue to build my new Digital Photography Set-up, I would like to again thank all the Forum Members for their suggestions and advice.

The next item of purchase is a Travel Tripod...something fairly compact. Much of my photography is performed when I travel cross country to California.

I would like to purchase a Tripod / Head combination which folds to no-more than say 22" in length. Something of decent quality. Budget $300-$350.

Any suggestions of a good Travel Tripod, and more important Head...would be appreciated. With all the different Heads (styles), this is where any extra advice would be helpful.

My set-up is fairly basic: Canon 40D, with 17-55mm IS Lens. Mainly Landscape Photography.

Note: My current Bogen 3001 Tripod and Manfrotto 3030 Head is just a bit too big / heavy for frequent travel.

What compromises are you willing to make in getting to that size, weight and price?

Right off, I'd suggest a Manfrotto 488 RC2 ball head. You can save a bit on weight and price by opting for the basic 488 without a release system; it's possible to retrofit it with the release plate if you later decide you want one. Ball heads are about as compact a style as you're going to find, and the 488 has a separate pan control. If you're willing to live without this, the 486 will handle your current rig OK as well.

For tripods, without major compromises in price, height or stiffness, you'll have a hard time finding something by one of the majors to meet your needs. I use a Slik 613CF. It's just over 3' high with the center column down so it's pretty low. However it's under 18" without head and weighs about 1-1/2 lb. Expect to use it with an angle finder or on a raised surface if you spend much time on a tripod. However, I had to seriously manage my weight allowance. Their 614CF is about 8-10" higher, but the last leg segment gets to be a pretty small diameter. You might want to look at Amvona on eBay; a number of people on here have won auctions for their tripods at good prices and are happy with the quality they got.

If you are willing to carry some weight, there are more choices. If you want light, it is going to be dear.

Priorities?

J.

Check out the Manfrotto 190MF4. Works good for me in Africa. It's short, light and very solid.

"Light" is definitional. I would not consider that tripod very light, for example. With a ballhead, this will be approach 5lbs.

What I use is that if the tripod and ballhead get above 5lbs. For travel, my metric is sort of 4lbs or lower and I'm even thinking of revising that to 3.5lbs and lower.

In my experience, tripods get used exponentially less as the weight creeps up.

Because "Light" is subjective, be interesting to see how the OP prioritizes weight as important.

J.

Don't really need lightweight...I go to the gym daily. Thus, I am more interested in compact, with a fairly short folded length.

I would like to stick around 21" in total length (tripod and head)

Is the Manfrotto 488RC2 considered a compact head?

Any other heads you recommend?

oak3x wrote in post #4651361
Don't really need lightweight...I go to the gym daily. Thus, I am more interested in compact, with a fairly short folded length.

I would like to stick around 21" in total length (tripod and head)

Is the Manfrotto 488RC2 considered a compact head?

Any other heads you recommend?

If your Manfrotto 3001 is too heavy now (per your original post), then you will be looking at 3lb tripods or lighter. That puts you into the CF category - for that price point, you might want to look at Feisol (http://www.feisol.com). Most anything you look for in this price will be ok. Gitzo is sort of the gold standard, can take a huge beating and still keep going (excellent reliability) but that is a lot more than you want to spend. Since travel is pretty tough on equipment, you will need to look at treating it relatively gently or find a good way to protect it while traveling. The other choice at that price point is to accept more weight.

For ballheads, you definitely want a ballhead. the 488RC2 is a good way to start and is reasonable. If you can afford it, stepping up to something with an Arca Swiss compatible clamp is going to put you ahead of the game.

J.

I bought the Feisol CT-3441S Tripod with a CB-30 Ballhead and used it on a recent trip. Very happy with it.

It is $400 before shipping, was only $380 a couple months ago. I ordered on a Thursday from Taiwan, and had it on my doorstep here in Canada on the following Tuesday, might impressive.

This tripod is light, 17" closed, very sturdy, the ballhead worked fine with my 5D & 70-200 f/2.8 IS mounted, opens to more height than I need at 6'-0", is very well built.

I was reluctant about the ballhead, but it works quite well. I really like the round quick release plate that comes with it. It makes up for the fact there is no separate panning release, and allows the camera to rotate on the horizontal plane for pano work.

The only real negative I found is the leg segments will turn when the twist lock is loosened, so you must loosen and tighten in the proper order for fast setup. Not really a huge deal, but something I like on my Gitzo.

Somewhat off the mark here but I received a Gorilla Pod for Christmas and that silly little thing has turned out to be abundantly useful.


.

BearLeeAlive wrote in post #4652357
I bought the Feisol CT-3441S Tripod with a CB-30 Ballhead and used it on a recent trip. Very happy with it.

It is $400 before shipping, was only $380 a couple months ago. I ordered on a Thursday from Taiwan, and had it on my doorstep here in Canada on the following Tuesday, might impressive.

This tripod is light, 17" closed, very sturdy, the ballhead worked fine with my 5D & 70-200 f/2.8 IS mounted, opens to more height than I need at 6'-0", is very well built.

I was reluctant about the ballhead, but it works quite well. I really like the round quick release plate that comes with it. It makes up for the fact there is no separate panning release, and allows the camera to rotate on the horizontal plane for pano work.

The only real negative I found is the leg segments will turn when the twist lock is loosened, so you must loosen and tighten in the proper order for fast setup. Not really a huge deal, but something I like on my Gitzo.

I have just got my Feisol 3441S and I`m very pleased with it
I bought the legs only for $300 and got the manfrotto 488rc2 ballhead instead of the feisol CT-30

the 488rc2 is a bit big for the legs to fold away properly so i would maybe seek a smaller head , or get the CT-30 that feisol can supply with the legs

My travel tripod was a 3021BPRO w/488RC2 head until I discovered the Velbon Ultra Luxi SF. It folds to about 14 inches with the 486RC2 ball head attached. I've mounted it fully extended with my 30D w/grip and 24-105 and 580ex attached and it did a decent job. Here's a pic for comparison:

jbuk1975 wrote in post #4652614
I have just got my Feisol 3441S and I`m very pleased with it
I bought the legs only for $300 and got the manfrotto 488rc2 ballhead instead of the feisol CT-30

the 488rc2 is a bit big for the legs to fold away properly so i would maybe seek a smaller head , or get the CT-30 that feisol can supply with the legs

I have the 468RC2 and the 488RC2 as well. I am glad I went with the CT-30 as it is nice and compact, and really very well. I would say every bit as good as the 486RC2.