The Canon Magazine 103
TRAVEL TRIPODS
TRAVEL
TRIPODS
Some of the latest travel tripods are
incredibly compact and lightweight without
compromising too much in operating height
and load rating. Here are the best buys...
ost of us like to travel light.
Any outing is likely to be more
pleasurable without a cumbersome
tripod in tow. Indeed, conventional
tripods tend to be big, heavy and
unwieldy, so we often leave them
at home, making them completely useless.
By contrast, travel tripods are made to be
compact and lightweight. However, they have a
reputation for being flimsy, relatively unstable
and too small to enable a comfortable
operating height for heavier setups.
The new breed of travel tripods aim to give
you the best of both worlds. The vast majority
have legs that swing upwards for stowage, so
that the head is encircled by the feet. This
reduces the folded height by around 8cm to
10cm. Some models also include as many as
five sections in each leg and a two-section
extending centre column, reducing the folded
height even further, while still enabling a useful
maximum operating height.
All of the tripods we’ve chosen for this super
test are sold as kits, complete with ball heads.
Again, there’s a space-saving advantage here,
without the need for multiple locking levers
that stick out from the head, or that need to be
removed to pack the tripod away. Still, they’re
not short on sophistication and many feature
panning locks and adjustable friction dampers,
in addition to the main locking knob. Let’s take
a closer look at what exactly is on offer.M