TL;DR - Use a PD plate as the best choice and a panning add-on solves most of the remaining idiosyncrasies.
I received my CF tripod a bit less than a week ago along with the spiked feet and universal head adapter. Others have done detailed reviews and unboxing videos so i won't rehash what others have said, but instead focus on some other things I've discovered.
I'll start by saying I think overall Peak Design did a fabulous job and the product delivers what they promised with a high degree of quality and refinement. I'm absolutely thrilled to have been a backer of this campaign. Any product design has compromises, and in this case what is important is to keep in mind is the product name - Travel Tripod. It doesn't solve all tripod use cases, but I think it will excel at it's intended purpose.
Over the years I've collected a bunch of Arca Swiss compatible plates and rails from several manufacturers. I tried out a bunch of them and took some side angle pictures showing exactly how the head jaws meet the plate/rails. First up are different generations of plates from Peak Design...
Various Generations of Peak Design Plates
It's not a surprise that the built-in head work well with plates from Peak Design. Now for some other plates/rails from my collection...
Various Other Plates and Rails
Many of the other plates/rails did not sit flat in the head and grabbed onto the dovetail in different places. The movable part of the clamp has a higher profile than the fixed part. Depending on the plate, the movable part may grab onto the dovetail, sit above the dovetail or hit on an overhanging section above the dovetail. The Acratech 2176 plate has a more narrow design and as positioned in the top picture didn't capture the plate at all even when fully tightened. Reversing it as shown in the bottom picture was better, but you could still move the plate with moderate force. I have another Acratech plate not pictured which seemed to work better. Other than the Acratech, the other were held firmly. I don't know if over time some of the non-PD plates will unduly stress the clamp mechanism. For my own use, I'm using one of the PD plates whenever possible.
The built-in head pointing down
Built-in head pointing down
Other reviewers have mentioned the lack of panning and the learned technique of positioning the head in one of the three cut-out sections depending on how you need to tilt the camera for a portrait orientation shot. What I didn't expect was the inability to securely point the camera directly up or down. This is also true if you reverse the head for copy type shooting. Adding your own panning adapter as I have in the PD PROplate picture above solves both of these limitations. Technically it is possible to position the camera straight up or down if you're using a square plate where you insert the camera so the clamping action is in-line along the width of the camera. This would mean that any slippage would send the camera to the ground.
Portrait Orientation Positionable Angles
The above diagram is a side view showing the angles through which you can position the head in one of the three notches when shooting in portrait orientation (shown in green) and angles which aren't possible (shown in red). The numbers are approximate within a degree or so. My intent was to show there are angles which aren't possible given the head design. A panning add-on solves this problem.
Universal Head Adapter
The universal head adapter is pretty straight forward and includes a feature where three set screws can be tightened against the bottom of the tripod head to help secure it in position. You access these set screws from the bottom as shown above. A minor point, but the included tool has it split ring positioned making it a tiny bit awkward and if the length of the tool was just a bit longer it wouldn't hit the pole section.
Lastly the spiked feet are nice by themselves, and were clearly brought to market based on feedback from the community. Unlike designs from some other manufacturers, they are a bit of a PITA to switch out especially if your shooting moves you between surface types. I wish they designed secure rubber covers for the spiked feet that you could quickly remove when you need the spiked feet.
I received my CF tripod a bit less than a week ago along with the spiked feet and universal head adapter. Others have done detailed reviews and unboxing videos so i won't rehash what others have said, but instead focus on some other things I've discovered.
I'll start by saying I think overall Peak Design did a fabulous job and the product delivers what they promised with a high degree of quality and refinement. I'm absolutely thrilled to have been a backer of this campaign. Any product design has compromises, and in this case what is important is to keep in mind is the product name - Travel Tripod. It doesn't solve all tripod use cases, but I think it will excel at it's intended purpose.
Over the years I've collected a bunch of Arca Swiss compatible plates and rails from several manufacturers. I tried out a bunch of them and took some side angle pictures showing exactly how the head jaws meet the plate/rails. First up are different generations of plates from Peak Design...
Various Generations of Peak Design Plates
It's not a surprise that the built-in head work well with plates from Peak Design. Now for some other plates/rails from my collection...
Various Other Plates and Rails
Many of the other plates/rails did not sit flat in the head and grabbed onto the dovetail in different places. The movable part of the clamp has a higher profile than the fixed part. Depending on the plate, the movable part may grab onto the dovetail, sit above the dovetail or hit on an overhanging section above the dovetail. The Acratech 2176 plate has a more narrow design and as positioned in the top picture didn't capture the plate at all even when fully tightened. Reversing it as shown in the bottom picture was better, but you could still move the plate with moderate force. I have another Acratech plate not pictured which seemed to work better. Other than the Acratech, the other were held firmly. I don't know if over time some of the non-PD plates will unduly stress the clamp mechanism. For my own use, I'm using one of the PD plates whenever possible.
The built-in head pointing down
Built-in head pointing down
Other reviewers have mentioned the lack of panning and the learned technique of positioning the head in one of the three cut-out sections depending on how you need to tilt the camera for a portrait orientation shot. What I didn't expect was the inability to securely point the camera directly up or down. This is also true if you reverse the head for copy type shooting. Adding your own panning adapter as I have in the PD PROplate picture above solves both of these limitations. Technically it is possible to position the camera straight up or down if you're using a square plate where you insert the camera so the clamping action is in-line along the width of the camera. This would mean that any slippage would send the camera to the ground.
Portrait Orientation Positionable Angles
The above diagram is a side view showing the angles through which you can position the head in one of the three notches when shooting in portrait orientation (shown in green) and angles which aren't possible (shown in red). The numbers are approximate within a degree or so. My intent was to show there are angles which aren't possible given the head design. A panning add-on solves this problem.
Universal Head Adapter
The universal head adapter is pretty straight forward and includes a feature where three set screws can be tightened against the bottom of the tripod head to help secure it in position. You access these set screws from the bottom as shown above. A minor point, but the included tool has it split ring positioned making it a tiny bit awkward and if the length of the tool was just a bit longer it wouldn't hit the pole section.
Lastly the spiked feet are nice by themselves, and were clearly brought to market based on feedback from the community. Unlike designs from some other manufacturers, they are a bit of a PITA to switch out especially if your shooting moves you between surface types. I wish they designed secure rubber covers for the spiked feet that you could quickly remove when you need the spiked feet.
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