Travel tripods: Comparing 5 aluminum kits

I just bought a Dolica LX650B502D/S which is pretty much the same as the Dolica presented in this article. Difference being mine has a black finish not the brushed. Every thing else is the same. Got this from Costco with the included P200 pan head for $150.00. I bought this brand of tripod because I already have their ZX600B103 carbon fiber tripod. While I haven't conducted such an exhaustive test as performed here, I have owned the carbon fiber tripod for a few years. I bought that one as well from Costco for $100.00. Both tripods represent a great value to me. They are well made, solid tripods and offered for a price point that gives far greater value than the big names like Gitzo and Manfrotto, I have never liked using them. If there was one thing I wish it had and that is a short column accessory. I have not seen the machining issues the reviewer has made mention of. I'm very happy with the tripod and the included pan head is a real bonus for shooting video with my 5D II.

I would very much like to buy just the Benro hiking pole knob itself to use on my monopods. Besides being useful it is a good way to "sneak" a monopod into various places where even a monopod is frowned upon.

An excellent review far more detailed and professional than the usual DPreview job.

I had purchased a heavy duty aluminum Gitzo tripod and the concentric leg locks took more time and effort to set than the lever locks that I kept seeing.

I envied the Manfrotto lever leg locks, until the plastic leg locks on a cheaper Manfrotto tripod broke and the tripod became totally useless and pretty much un-repairable. It got very little use and I'm guessing age was the primary cause. I had another cheap no name tripod fail the same way, although it lasted a much much longer than the Manfrotto. Now I understand why the concentric locking mechanism (almost always metal) is far superior even though, without fast screwing feature, it takes longer to tighten and loosen.

I would personally always stay away from any lever locking tripods and I now fully appreciate the Gitzo concentric metal leg locking mechanism.

Thanks for the great overview. As a result of this article I will be getting the Sirui T-1005x, which costs half the price as the reviewed model, but will do the job fine. Without this article I would have been clueless on where to look, or what.

I guess they mean Aluminium...

Thank you for bringing objective measurement to the difficult question of tripod evaluation. There's nothing more satisfying than the ka-snick of a camera firing when it's solidly attached to a vibration-free tripod so thanks for helping us find out which ones deliver.

You're a genius for figuring out that vibration measuring system! I hope you patented it.

You can get perfect CARBON SLIK tripod for this money, which would be much better then all of this Aluminum.

You are missing the Velbon Ultrek UT-53Q (and its siblings), which is by far the best travel tripod on the market, far better than the models you present in this review... I guess you only focus on the models heavily distributed in the US.

I've been using the BeFree for six months now and overall I like it but its not perfect but it is pretty travel friendly and as always, the best tripod is the one you can be bothered to take with you. I've not really had any problems with the levers or angle adjustment knobs in the field but do concur with your vibration findings - When fully extended in windy conditions its just not as stable as I would like. I put this down to the very thin final legs sections.
I use it mainly for wide angle / landscape work with assorted mirrorless cameras so never get anywhere the max load. Combine the befree with a mid size lightweight shoulder bag and a couple of mirrorless camera lenses and you have a very flexible complete set up (for my style of photography) that still comes in well under 3Kg. I can walk around all day with this set whilst still looking discrete and not breaking my back with gear.

What an incredibly professional review. A couple steps above usual DPR standards. I hope you'll hire Mark Banas to do more work for you.

For this kind of tripod I already have a carbon fiber one.

I'm looking for Mini tripods to pack in my backpack or something similar.
For those looking for Minis, The Varavon have the Baby Tripod T1, very sturdy and can take a large head if necessary. Will not be the lightest, but certainly the toughest, in the class of Mini tripod thats I know.

I am still using my ancient Bogen/Manfrotto mid-sized tripod with plastic- handled bolts for adjustment.. I notice that none of these tripods have positive leg locks. The ones you turn tend to get fouled in mud and dust and on the others I am never sure the snappers are holding for sure. As to carbon fiber it is not only the expense that deters me but they seem more resonant than Manfrotto's aluminum. If I tap my tripod it just goes "thonk" and sits there, carbon fiber seems to "ring".

Thanks DPR for the round-up.

After experimenting with a few of these reverse folding tripods for travel I've learned a few things. One is that they all rely on the centre column to achieve height - too much so in my view. The other is that five leg sections drive you mad. They might stow away nice and small but they take an age to erect and take down. I've gone back to a more standard design. They're taller without the centre column up and they have fewer leg sections. They don't weigh any more but I have to acknowledge that they don't pack down as small. Tripods are all about compromises.......

Good comparison review!

Please can you do some vibration tests with a camera bag hung from the hook under the legs? Just one tripod would be interesting. I thought it would make things more steady, but I usually find that if there's more than a tiny draft, the bag starts swinging around - which I think might actually add extra vibration to the mix. So I'd be curious to see whether it does actually add vibration or not?

Also I'd find it helpful if you added a quick graphic to show how low the legs can go with the tripod flat down - a companion to the very useful maximum height graphic you already have!

Tripods, like camping gear, all look great new. Scientific tests are fine, but there is nothing like real use--stuff designers never dreamed of.

Let's see what these guys look like after a few trips and lots of lousy weather.

why didnt't you include benro mefoto tripods they are prety good and cheap?

Most look like the variations on the same base, generic Chinese tripod and head. If you go on Alibaba, you can buy these things and if you buy 100 of them, they silk-screen your company name on it.

No Slik Mini Pro :o

Anyone ever seen the Monoprice tripod. They are not huge into camera gear but they seem like they are going that direction. http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=117&cp_id=11701&cs_id=1170101&p_id=10263&seq=1&format=2

Nice selection of tripods. If you dont need as much capacity, then also look at the MeFOTO BackPacker.

On the Benro, I much prefer the B-series heads over the V-series head that the reviewer likes so well. For me, it comes down to the simplicity of the B-series' single-action lever and the ease of use of the B-series' QR. I always find Arca-style QR finicky to engage. My A1690T came with a BH0 head, and I'm very happy with the whole package. Even bought a BH1 for use on my larger tripod. The same QR plates also work with Oben's screw-on QR base, which I use to mount my camera on a flash bracket.

Those 5 tripods look very similar - almost as though they were made by the same company.

Love the vibration diagrams and WTD easter egg!

What about the Giotto YTL series?? The compact way this folds up makes it look like a good travel tripod. I have a a beautiful Manfrotto tripod, but it suffers the same fate as you mention here - too big and bulky to carry around on most days, so it sits at home gathering dust. Have been thinking about some more compact/lightweight options for a while now, but would like to see direct comparison of the Giotto with the above list..

I chose my travel tripod 4 years ago based on 2 parameters:
- folded length 30cm
- unfolded: more that 150cm

The result was a Velbon Ultrek 43D. It's a great piece of equipment (sturdy, light, versatile) and I recommend it to anyone, it's lot cheaper than the models above.

I also use a carbon one, the Sirui T-025x. Is great, but I will always prefer the Velbon.

A very helpful and interesting review!

Still i would have liked to see a table comparing all products with their main features (price, size packed, height, weight) (some measurements perhaps even indicated by bars, not just numbers).

I also think the balance between the product pages and the conclusion page isn't right. I feel that some of the construction details mentioned in the conclusion page should have been on the relevant product pages (perhaps creating combined product pages for two rather similar tripods together). After that, it could have been possible to present an overall-conclusion that looks less fractured and difficult-to-grasp than it does here.