Best and worst tripod features for landscape photography

[@warricksmith5178]

Hey Brent. Useful review. I have the same Sirui as you reviewed, and I have been very happy with it. Two additional thoughts on it: - It is true that you cannot do away with the center column completely. But Sirui also sells a much shorter (2”) center column for this model, which you can use interchangeably with the standard, longer (9.5”) column if preferred. - This Sirui (and some of their other models) is designated as waterproof, based on the seals etc in the leg joints. I’ve found they really do work in limiting water and sand access to the inside of the legs, even when the legs are deeply immersed in sand, mud, salt water, etc. Cheers

[@BrentHall]

Oh wow, I didn't know they had a separate center column! I'll have to check that out. And yeah, I totally forgot to mention the waterproof part. It does seem like it's been holding up really well for me in that regard.

[@7inrain]

Loved that review. I have a Sirui W-2204, basically the same as yours but with waterresistant legs. And it has a feature which I find very helpful: Markings on the lowest leg sections. Sometimes I want the tripod to be of a certain height and not fully extended and these markings help me to quickly come back to that height. One point which I find frustrating is with the Arcaswiss mountings. If you have your AS plate under a bigger camera and you put the camera on the tripod the knob to tighten the AS plate on the tripod head is always too close to the camera body. Usually you have to turn this knob several rotations until the camera is securely fixed but you can't grip it properly due to the lack of space. A real PITA. With my old Manfrotto tripod I had plates that were operated with a lever which was much easier and quicker.

[@marksuchomelsr6698]

Brent, I have the same Velbon tripod. It was the first carbon fiber tripod I ever bought many years ago. While the legs are a bit spongy it is a great everyday tripod. Now days, it is dedicated to my Star tracker. During its hay day, it went everywhere with me. I changed because I wanted knob style leg adjustments.

[@markkempton4579]

Thanks for comparing a wide assortment of tripods. I have a set of full-size sticks and gimbal for my 400 and (hopefully) future 600, but I'm looking for something more compact for landscapes in the 15-200mm range. I've been leaning toward the Ulanzi. Your comment at the end made me a little nervous. I generally shoot with an R5 but also still carry a 1DX. Would the Ulanzi struggle with a 70-200 or even a 100-500 if I found the money for that in the future? Thanks again!

[@hawgbreath]

Nice review of these tripods with lots of information regarding their pros and cons. I won an iFootage cobra 2 monopod with the Komodo k5 video head. I recently purchased the Sirui ST-124 with the K-10x head. I was surprised to find that while both iFootage and the Sirui claimed to be Arca-type compatible, the dimensions of the adapter plates and the receivers are completely different, meaning the plates from one brand won’t fit the other. This is very frustrating. Would you create a video or include in one your experience with these Arca-type adapter plates and receivers? I think this is something greatly overlooked by many of us. It sure would be appreciated! Thanks for all your excellent content! 👍

[@cloudpandarism2627]

OMG! i literally just installed some CNC frame gear stuff on my R7 and thought hey now would be a good time for a new video brent. refreshed my youtube page...you cant make this up haha! there it is. 2 min ago new video. and i was modding my cheap 2 tripods but not happy about them. now i can see what to do! nice. #start watching

[@bernym4047]

I use the heipi 3 in 1 and often shoot waterfalls in very uneven landscapes. I also often combine that with panoramas and I have a levelling base which admittedly adds a bit of weight but makes levelling much faster and easier than using the legs. I like the light weight and compact size and portability (I'm 73 and fitness is not great) but the design of the spiked feet could be better.

[@stevetqp9152]

Thanks for the great comparison of these tripods! I might add that as a landscape, product and wildlife photographer, I find that an Arca-Swiss compatible L-bracket (Kirk, for example) is a MUCH better option because you can then keep the ballhead of that Ulanzi tripod in its lowest (most stable) position at the spider apex! The L-bracket allows for quick and easy change between horizontal and vertical imaging while avoiding having the camera/lens hanging to one side of the tripod. IMHO, every landscape photographer should use an L-bracket.

[@ilpoheikkila4773]

Great points. I bought Sirui Traveler maybe about 1,5 years ago and it’s the best tripod I’ve ever used. I used to use really cheap ones before (Velbon something etc). Those were way too weak for my DSLR and lens.

[@Tipton_Wildlife]

I've really come to prefer fluid video heads for shooting wildlife so I can still get fluid smoother panning when I switch to video. The downside is that it lacks a wide range of motion making it a bad choice for birds. Works great for mammals though. For birds, I have a gimbal head on my backup tripod. Both setups are not light but being disabled, I don't hike with them so they work for me. After seeing this video, I'm going to investigate a pan/tilt head for my time lapses! Thanks for another great video!

[@colintraveller]

I use a fluidhead To say it lacks the ability to cover a varied angle of attack ..I do beg to differ . I use a manfrotto MVH500AH with a Benro Mach 3 the only downside is the weight ....

[@Tipton_Wildlife]

@@colintraveller I'm using the MVH502AH. Virtually the same head.

[@colintraveller]

@@Tipton_Wildlife You aren't related to Glenn Tipton , JP Guitarist ? When am following a target i never fully tighten it . I leave it slightly loose but not too slack . Works for me .

[@HansMartinØvre]

Hey Brent. Interesting video. My first tripod was a alumium Slik Grandmaster Sport, strong but heavy. Its still working, but I only use it indoors with a newer, old style head. The old Slik head stands on a carbon tripod from Benro, as it is the tripod head i like the most. Ballheads I have a mixed feelings about, but I own one as well. I also have a gimbal head. For outdoor work I have 3 tripods, each with different heads. All are modifided, by replacing the center column with a very short one, or totally removed. And they all have spiks only, as noone are used indoors. All my tripods are also models with twist-locks, as I feel I can rely more in those than flip-locks. But that is my opinion. Have you tried monopods sometimes? Thats where I struggle most, but there are some really interesting video/photo monopods with small legs at the bottom. looks interesting, but....

[@asaperez-bercoff1873]

The HEIPI also have built-in screws in the feet. Good video, thanks!

[@scherge]

Just ordered the Heipi since I don't mind the clamps at all, but actually prefer those over the twisty thingys, and I think it offers the most versatility and the best weight to stability ratio in the 400 € price range. Thank you for sharing your experiences with all of those tripods. Very relaxing video 😊

[@BrentHall]

Oh nice! Yeah, this thing is definitely versatile and super stable! Not sure if I mentioned it has a sneaky hidden phone holder built into the head too, which saved me on a couple of occasions so far. It's the little things, you know.😄

[@MrCoffee0996]

Wow thank you so much for the video. I really need this comparison. I'm just a hobbyist with an APS-C mirrorless camera, but do love to travel with it. So I was looking around for affordable lightweight tripods that I can carry whenever I'm going somewhere that might be nice to have a tripod. Stumbled upon K&F, Ulanzi, and Heipi, and I think they're all interesting. I like K&F because their carbon fiber tripods are cheap and should be able to do whatever I need a tripod to do. But Ulanzi and Heipi are kinda nice to have I guess? They're more expensive, but I imagine the price also has something to do with the quality and features. But in the end, I might just get either K&F or Ulanzi, since no one sells Heipi on my country yet, and importing one by myself will cost a fortune.

[@pauls5981]

nice i got the same phone as you got and love to find a good tripod not cheap but not expensive what would you recommend im in the uk but would love to improve my photos i take

[@BrentHall]

Oh nice! For the phone stuff, I tend to want to use smaller/lighter tripods. The bigger ones are a bit overkill for me. The Heipi is cool because it's small, has the extra little tripod built in for even smaller stuff, but most importantly, it has a built-in phone nount right in the ball head. The Ulanzi and Freewell are also nice for phone stuff because they're so small and light, I just don't like that freewell head very much, though it's easier to use with a phone than a bigger camera, so that's actually nice.

[@pauls5981]

@BrentHall thanks Brent I look for this as that night video you used for the ultra24 was fantastic thank you yet again

[@KarenBrown-x7f]

Thanks Brent and Camera Lady for another interesting video. The search for the "perfect" tripod and head continues. Does such a thing exist? Always some pluses and some nits. Photographers seem to end up with numerous setups as you have and different types work in different situations. Have been quite happy with our 3 Legged Thing although the head isn't quite as stable as we'd like it to be. Still a tiny bit of sag. Also have a PD aluminum. I know you aren't a fan of the PD tripods. We have actually found it great for light weight carry but again the head leaves something to be desired. As you pointed out, having a removable head is a big plus. The head from the 3LT can be put on the PD and works acceptably well. We also have a Sirui Gimbal that works on both tripods. I believe it is considered too large/heavy for the PD but it works fine. It (Sirui gimbal) isn't overly expensive and for our purposes it works well. Reasonably smooth function. It is a little bulky. We do want to get a Flex Shooter Mini which I think will be great. Anyway, enjoyed the video and more good food for thought. Cheers

[@basilbcf]

I've got two of the tripods you have: the Sirui (mine is slightly different model but very similar to yours and I have the same ball head) and the Heipi. I bought the Heipi for a much reduced price during their Kickstarter campaign. I love the Heipi for it's portability and easy of carry when back packing, as well as it's flexibility (two tripods in one - three if you count the iPhone holder). I also love the very robust ball head (amazing for such a small tripod). The three- section center column/ mini tripod which, as you point out is much stronger than a traditional one section center column, is a very ingenious design. The leg locks don't bother me, but I can see where it may get frustrating in scenarios like you had at the Bisti Badlands. My only complaints are 1) I wish the spikes were screw out like on my Sirui and 2) for some reason, my ProMediaGear L-Bracket, which is supposed to be Arca Swiss, will not attach to the Heipi's base plate. It's just slightly too thick. I have to add a secondary Arca plate to it in order to attach. All my other plates attach so it's probably just a variation in tolerances with my L-Bracket (but PMG the L-bracket attaches to my other heads with no issues). I actually found out about this the hard way and at the same location you had issues - the Valley of Dreams in the Bisti. I was planning to do some Milkyway shots at night out near the Alien Throne and discovered that my L-Bracket (which was the only plate I had with me) would NOT fit in the Heipi's ball head base plate. Arggggg! My Sirui was my first serious tripod, and has served me well as my primary tripod for a number of years. However, I recently bought a much more robust tripod as I felt I needed something sturdier for shooting in windy conditions or when doing long exposures, shooting wildlife with a big lens, etc. I ended up going all in and got myself a ProMediaGear TR344LBL (Comes with a leveling base, which I love). It is a four section tripod, but it is the perfect height for me (5"10") with only having the first three sections extended. I only need to extend any of the fourth section if I need a leg to see a little long, like you experienced at the Badlands.

[@BrentHall]

I would have been very sad about that! lol. Though I've done that before and I definitely still tried to use my backpack as a makeshift tripod with moderate success, 😅

[@basilbcf]

@@BrentHall I ended up setting the camera on top of the tripod ball head and just had it balanced there with my hands ready to catch it if it fell. I was shooting wide enough angle that I was still able to get some decent shots, but didn't have as much control over the angle of the camera.

[@gprice1903]

​@@basilbcfI have the Heipi as well as the ProMediaGear L Bracket. Mine wouldn't fit either, ir so I thought. Then I read on the Heipi FB group that removing the two screws on the ball head arca plate and the two screws on the bottom part of the L bracket solved the problem. All good now!! It fits tight.

[@gprice1903]

My Promediagear L Bracket fit the Heipi after I removed the two screws on the bottom part of the "L" and the two screws on the Heipi ball head plate. I was pretty disappointed until I read how to make it fit on the Heipi FB page. All good now!

[@mogbaba]

Very good review. it tells us that you cannot have one PERFECT tripod that fits every need. In addition, the detailed information about the different characteristics of tripods is good for the viewer to think about her/his needs.

[@FieldingSmith]

What led to you moving away from L-brackets

[@BrentHall]

The weight, and I use my capture clips too much.

[@FieldingSmith]

@@BrentHall I have a PD capture clip screwed into the bottom of my L-bracket… and its kinda bulky. Not really ideal at all. Wish more companies than 3 legged things made L-brackets with an integrated PD plate, sadly they don’t make one for my camera and their universal one was too wobbly.

[@jimowens2283]

Excellent review.

[@crescentlights]

FYI: The Freewell tripod, at the Amazon link given, is listed as "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.".

[@zach_hewitt]

It's crazy I bought my last tripod maybe 20 years ago and I lug that stupid, heavy thing around all the time. Old Bogen/Manfrotto aluminium. Might be time to update that and my head.

[@Skabet88]

you dont need to pull up the ballhead on the ulanzi if you got a L-bracket on ;)

[@DanBetty]

Love the gear talk ! I was (until very recently) rocking my father's 50 year old heavy aluminum tripod with an ancient video head and getting a lot of laughs in the field but I would set it right in the ocean and big winds were no problem it was and is a battle wagon 😂 I still use in some cases However I finally went and bought a real set up I went back and forth over tabs versus twist and came down on tabs mostly because I thought the tabs were faster ???? Maybe not .... Anyway I sprung for an I Footage gazelle TC7 which has the spikes you can reveal without replacing the feet and tabs and is nice and light and also purchased a Flex-shooter $$ pricey but it comes as close as anything as a reasonable replacement for a fluid head, gimbal and ball head and the whole kit works with a big prime and is still fairly light (well compared to what I was used to)

[@BrentHall]

Oh wow, I bet that intense 😅😁 Glad you finally found something new that's working for you!

[@JohnDrummondPhoto]

So, why don't you use an L bracket anymore? I have one on each of my bodies. [Edit: I got to the point where you mentioned the Peak Design capture clips. Never mind.]