$60 Carbon Fiber Tripod + head

The proof is in the use of the tripod. I have had some tripods that seemed pretty good, then I put a camera and lens on it, then found out it shaked, or would eventually give way on one of the pressure locks. You need some time and usage to see how it works out. I hope they hold up though.

OK, so for the price, and since I could do it through amazon with no questions asked return, I bit.

I've got a tiny travel tripod, then there's a big jump up to some large and then giant ones. I once tried to buy a good induro "midsize" tripod to keep in the truck at all times, but they were out of stock and gave my another one that was much bigger,.. sigh

Anyway, please don;t take this as an experienced endorsement, as I've only had it for a day, but I have to admit that it has made a very good first impression on me. The "Spider" is indeed all metal. All the parts seem to be similar to most modern Chinese CF tripods in style and function. The attention to detail is NOT as good as Induro/Benro/Sirui/ or Feisol, but these all cost a LOT more.
The twist locks function just fine on day one, but are not even remotely as smooth as Gitzo or Induro.

The center column lock is the worst, it twists around many rotations seemingly doing nothing and then does not actually lock the column down solidly until you put much more torque on it than you would with the leg locks, but it other than feel it functions fine.
The 4 section legs result in VERY tiny little spindly leg sections at the bottom,. this results in a tripod that is larger and heavier than my TINY Indoru CT013, and yet has more flex in it at full leg height than the lighter Induro. ( Part of that is due to the Induro's 3 section design and lower overall height. )

All I have to compare it to though are tripods that would cost several hundred more at normal prices, so.. for $60.00?

The head is easily removed, might be of use to some, but with something like a SIRUI K20x, one could do a lot worse for a small/mid size tripod. for $60.00 it really seems a good buy in fact.

So thanks to the OP for posting!

Thanks for the post!

How short does this fold up? I just bought a Benro C-157 but as a 3-sections, it fold up pretty long. I'm thinking of resell it to get a small one for travel light.

Thanks for the post and reviews.

Jake, et al:
any updates to your experience so far? I'm thinking of picking up one.
thanks.

sonnyc wrote in post #17883517
How short does this fold up? I just bought a Benro C-157 but as a 3-sections, it fold up pretty long. I'm thinking of resell it to get a small one for travel light.

It's nearly 25" folded with no head, which is not very short. I have a 3 series Gitzo with 3 leg sections that is 23.5" with no head. Go figure.

On the Brunton, the center column is adding 2" and oddly the weird feet are adding 2"

Silver-Halide wrote in post #17897021
Jake, et al:
any updates to your experience so far? I'm thinking of picking up one.
thanks.

I noticed for the first time that the center column is not CF, it is aluminum. Adds weight and 2" height when collapsed. I don't see a way to use it without the center column, at least not without some work involved.

Even when removed, the "shoulder" onto which the center column twist locks screws is 1.75" above the spider, so saws and permanent mutilation woudl be required to cut down that 2".

To reduce weight, a series 2 CF short center column MIGHT fit, (Series 3 I have and is too large) but even one from Induro (vs. Gitzo) would cost nearly as much as the tripod did.

The aluminum center column got me thinking about the weight of this rig, compared to other CF it is quite heavy. So I did a little more tear down.

Those weird feet I mentioned? Part of the problem. they have a unique "sleeve" that screws onto the CF leg column sideways. This sleeve or more "cup" shape is what the threaded rod that makes of the spiked part of the foot is semi permanently threaded into.

So you have plastic booties, that screw onto metal spikes, that are inserted into cast metal (aluminum?) cups. The whole assembly would be easily 3 to 4 times the weight of what is normally threaded into the bottom of a tripod leg. (mere threaded rod with a rubber foot, or threaded spikes) I'm actually impressed with the amount of work, parts and engineering that went into these feet, but they do seem unnecessary, and certainly unnecessarily heavy.

Next, I took part a leg, section by section. I found more reasons for the weight.
The CF legs are in fact Carbon fiber as expected, and certainly light weight as expected, but each of the leg locks employs a big rubber grip (taller than a Gitzo leg lock, thicker, and yes, heavier!) which is wrapped around threaded bit of aluminum tube, that in turn screws onto a fairly substantial bit of threaded ALUMINUM tubing that is fused to the end of each leg section.
The Aluminum tubing used for the leg locks, both leg side and lock side, is again, much heavier than that used on the Gitzo and Induro, again adding to that weight.


So it seems we have in our bargain priced tripod MORE material and heavier material than the higher priced models. What remains to be seen is if the beefier bits will translate into sturdiness, or if these heavy items are simply indicative of sloppier design and thus will in no way add to the durability of the tripod.

Another sad nitpick I haven't seen in a while that really irks me.

It's been a long time since I've come across this, the bag that is included with the tripod ends up being useless once you swap out the included head with a ball head. the bag won't fit the tripod with taller head installed.

You will have to be very careful about head size if you want to upgrade, and want to use the included bag.