Travel Tripod Suggestions?

mjordanphoto

Hey all!

I'm taking a trip out to Southern California in a few weeks, and I just realized that the tripod that I currently own is a bit too large to fit into my luggage for the trip. I'm hoping someone here has a suggestion of a decent tripod that's good for travel. Nothing too fancy (read: expensive), as I don't do too much traveling in general, and photography isn't going to be the thrust of the trip anyway.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Overfocused

The Benro Travel Angel series tripods are pretty good. I just bought an A2692 for $240 from China (its a Chinese manufacturer anyway) and it came in 4 days from order.

It has a removable leg that converts to a monopod so you can take it off to fit it all in a bag even easier.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BENRO-A2692TB1-Tripod-Monopod-Trekking-Pole-3in1-Kit-FAST-SHIPMENT-/310407310956?pt=US_Tripods&hash=item4845b7ae6c

That seller has amazing service, although the price has already dropped $35 since I bought it, lol. The 2692 isn't even in america yet and was a week-old release when I bought it. I guess 5 weeks leveled out the price with competition.

byoshi

I'll vouch for the benro TA series as well. Had mine for about a year. Light and compact. Didn't spend the extra for the carbon fiber since it was light enough already for my personal preference.

paddler4

It's been a year or two since I bought mine, so I don't recall all the details, but there are LOTS of decent carbon fiber tripods in the $200-300 range. Carbon fiber is very nice--light and not as prone to vibration as the lightweight aluminum tripod I had before. If you want something that fits in small luggage, you would presumably want one with 4-section rather than 3-section legs. I bought a 3-section (handier in the field), so I don't have specific models in mind, but I ended up looking at Benro, Oben (the B&H store brand, which I bought), and Velbon, among others.

You can get a quick overview from the B&H website by selecting material and brands from the left hand side of the page. From that, I took down relevant features (twist vs. snap lock, split vs. reversing column, etc.) to narrow it down.

photogreen

What camera are you shooting with? How heavy? Are you going to use the tripod to mount the camera or flash?

I find myself using Nasty Clamps more and more often. They are not good for cameras in general, but for lighter camera they are OK. The most fun I have when mounting flashes with them. Compared to a tripod, they are super portable. I often rely on them when traveling.

mjordanphoto

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll definitely look into those, but they're a bit more than I was hoping to spend, given that I never need a travel-sized tripod, and I'm just looking to take a few fun longer exposures on this trip. We'll see - maybe it's worth it, or I'll save the money and spend it doing something fun on the trip!

photogreen wrote: »

What camera are you shooting with? How heavy? Are you going to use the tripod to mount the camera or flash?

I find myself using Nasty Clamps more and more often. They are not good for cameras in general, but for lighter camera they are OK. The most fun I have when mounting flashes with them. Compared to a tripod, they are super portable. I often rely on them when traveling.

I'm shooting with a 5D3 and either a 35L or 8-15L --- and given the location (mostly beach-y areas), I don't think the Nasty Clamps will work - but thanks for the suggestion! I've been thinking about picking up some for some OCF work, glad to hear they work so well for you!