Owners of the carbon version can rest safe in the knowledge that they bought the best of the best (at least from Peak Design), whereas aluminum owners can sleep safely knowing they probably got the better deal and spent their money very wisely. Compared to all other Tripods on the market, however, the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod performed great. To me, this shows that there was a high demand for a proper travel tripod among photographers. Gitzo Tripod Legs (28) GNARBOX (9) GNARBOX Backup Devices (5) GNARBOX Hard Drives & Storage Devices (5) GNARBOX Memory Card Readers (3) Goal Zero (21) GODOX (355 . Used with my long lenses (300 f/2.8, 200-600, etc) with no issues. Several times I've noticed my camera (a Fuji XT-2 with the 18-55 lens) slowly slipping down. Peak Design's latest offering is one of the more expensive travel tripods I've seen, but it's well-built, compact, and as cleverly designed as you'd expect. That being said, there are a lot of great tripods that are cheap(er than the PD) and really stiff, like the Leofoto LS-224C, the CTC Centennial 2 Aluminum, and the new FLM tripods. If you need an extremely light, tabletop tripod for a particular shoot, an unusual feature of this tripod is the ability to remove the extendable leg sections entirely, and replace them with a set of tripod feet. When fully collapsed, there are barely any gaps between the legs, leg locks and column. The springs can easily pop out during disassembly and it becomes a challenge to first find the springs and then how to put it back together. So, although Im reviewing the carbon fiber version today, much of what I say about the Peak Design Travel Tripod applies to both variations. No items to compare. However, if you have sand in the head which interfere with its use, what are you supposed to do? Fwiw, among the ones you've listed, I'd be inclined to eliminate the Gitzo 1555 -- it has similar stiffness to the PD CF, but it's more expensive and doesn't get as compact -- and the Benro, given it's folded length. In this review, we will discuss all the features and performance of the Travel Tripod, as well as comparing the carbon version with the aluminium version, and examining all the available accessories. After some time, most of them have been collecting dust in a dark corner although I have been able to sell some of them. The capacity of both versions of the tripod is the same, and as far as I can tell from my own testing, there is really no measurable difference in the stability that is provided by both options. Another benefit is that the tripods built-in head than acts as a leveling head, enabling you to quickly set up a perfectly flat base for the second head for panoramic photography or filmmaking. Is there a way to compensate for the progressive wear of the locks? I guess thats a little bit of a spoiler as to my feelings about the tripod, but theres still much to learn aside from my overall opinion. For the photo below, at 35mm, I shot a 240-second long exposure in a moderate breeze, and I didnt get any observable blur. The jaws around the ball slot neatly into the area between the leg joints. Das neue kleine und leichte Stativ von Peak Design ist leicht und kompakt. I was lucky enough to have a pre-production model in my hands for some time during the Kickstarter launch, and I took it on an epic 5000km road trip to the Arctic Ocean. This means you can shoot straight up into the night sky, straight down for macro work, or simply fold it downwards to make your tripod more compact for travel. Excellently, Id say. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. There is only ONE tripod that collapses to truly "tiny", weighs less than 3 lbs (1.3kg), and yet is still decently tall when fully extended. Caveat: I mostly use it for landscape, nightscapes and cityscapes with relatively light mirrorless cameras and bodies. Again, an absolutely astounding value. My previous Cullmann tripod with the same kind of smart legs ended up in the bin because the legs wouldnt lock firmly after a decade of use. I thought the small ball head would be more likely to slip but you know you have to put a ridiculous amount of weight on it for that to happen and even then, only if it's at a wonky angle. This is not a good place to simply share cool photos/videos or promote your own work and projects, but rather a place to discuss photography as an art and post things that would be of interest to other photographers. The Travel Tripod is perhaps more fairly compared to the higher-end Gitzo Traveler series, which retails for up to $1,000. Offering a sleek and retro design, the 35mm f/0.95 Lens from TTArtisan is an ultra-fast normal-length prime for APS-C-format cameras. If your budget can stretch to it, I think the carbon version is worth the extra money for the weight savings. I have both tripods. Still, the comfort zone of this tripod are wider-angle to medium telephoto lenses. The E-6H gimbal is absolutely tiny compared to every other gimbal on the market, yet it is rock solid and has by far the smoothest pan and tilt motions of any gimbal I have ever tested. Unfortunately, other than smartphones, travel is dominated by small, light, often stabilized, crop sensor cameras. Theres also a small lever that locks the jaws of the head to prevent accidental release of your camera. //