[gatorguy]

It's an incredibly compact tripod, small enough to fit in a water bottle holder and reportedly can be deployed in about 10 seconds. Love the way the ball head is designed too.

Travel Tripod by Peak Design by Peak Design ? Kickstarter

[ramseybuckeye]

It's an incredibly compact tripod, small enough to fit in a water bottle holder and reportedly can be deployed in about 10 seconds. Love the way the ball head is designed too.

Travel Tripod by Peak Design by Peak Design ? Kickstarter

Looks like a tremendously good piece of gear, which it should for that price, very well designed. However Ive never seen a 15.5 inch water bottle! Hopefully the prices can decrease with newer models that follow.

[gatorguy]

Looks like a tremendously good piece of gear, which it should for that price, very well designed. However Ive never seen a 15.5 inch water bottle! Hopefully the prices can decrease with newer models that follow.

LOL. Yeah I don't think they meant inside a water bottle itself, instead something like a water bottle pocket on a backpack and such

[interested_observer]

A few days ago, I was surfing the web - for what ever reason, youtube and came across this tripod. It did look nice, lots of appealing features, along with some that might have some drawbacks like 5 leg sections - well it's a travel pod, but still 5 sections is a "feature" that will introduce some vibration. Also, there are some features that they missed, that I would have expect - like a panning clamp, but I digress.

Lots of reviews - well I did a search and stopped counting after 50 and there were a lot more. Just way over saturation. Lots of waaaaay over the top proclamations of the "world's best" shouting at me..... Their marketing department is firing on all cylinders - with some very high octane aviation gas. Also, there were a very large percentage (majority?) that apparently followed a well scripted set of talking points - and presentation points, that just felt that the reviewers were being marched down a well scripted alleyway. It seemed like everyone was thrusting their fist (holding the tripod) out into your face.

Kickstarter - I guess, that's the way to go now with OPM (Other People's Money), but to be fair, that does provide a 20% discount, that brings the $600 price down $120 - to a much more reasonable level. I see that one of their competitors has a price point of over $1,000. So, I guess that their thinking is a premium product for a substantial discount - and they are scooping up both the tripod and head market all in one fell swoop.

To me, it does sound nice and a very usable unit - be it with out some features that I would expect, especially for the price. You can spin off their head and put your favorite on - but that defeats the purpose of spending that much money and not actually getting what you feel you need.

Overall, I guess I'm just an old geezer who is feeling suffocated from all of the over hyped marketing.

[sergysergy]

Looks nice but for $600 I'd rather ask somebody to carry the one $20 I have.

[StiffLegged]

Lots of clever ideas there, but the proof will be in actual use – with a heavy DSLR and 70-200 f/2.8 and I don't think I'd use that centre column extended more than half an inch.

[stevebrot]

Interesting design. The photo showing a phone on the ball head is probably the best indication of beefiness. I also noted the proprietary QR plate and unusual L-bracket. I have yet to see a compact travel tripod that I would consider owning, but if Peak Design was able overcome the traditional concerns of bowed legs, vibration, and stability in wind, this one might be a winner despite the price and heavy competition in this market segment and specification range.


Steve

(...I have yet to see a lightweight 5-section pod I would trust...)

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Last edited by stevebrot; 05-26-2019 at 03:34 PM.

[monochrome]

Nice looking gear but if I’m carrying a tripod I’m probably also carrying enough gear to need a backpack, so I can use the foldout tripod attachment and pack the 3-section aluminum legs and RRS head I already own. Otherwise I can carry the little red Chinese job that Allen found.

[Not a Number]

Looks interesting. I'm not sure I like the ball sitting on a narrow 1/4" or so shaft though. Seems rather robust up to that point.

[savoche]

Looks interesting. I'm not sure I like the ball sitting on a narrow 1/4" or so shaft though. Seems rather robust up to that point.

Yes, and it seems you have to raise the centre column at least a bit of the way to use the ballhead. As far as I'm concerned those columns are good only for introducing vibrations. I keep them down or remove them.

Apart form that, though, it looks to have a number of well thought out features. Removing protrusions is a good move.

[bdery]

Lots of reviews - well I did a search and stopped counting after 50 and there were a lot more. Just way over saturation. Lots of waaaaay over the top proclamations of the "world's best" shouting at me..... Their marketing department is firing on all cylinders - with some very high octane aviation gas. Also, there were a very large percentage (majority?) that apparently followed a well scripted set of talking points - and presentation points, that just felt that the reviewers were being marched down a well scripted alleyway. It seemed like everyone was thrusting their fist (holding the tripod) out into your face.

I've reviewed a few Peak Design products in the past. At no time did they (or their MKT firm) try to steer the review. Never.

Now, up to this moment many "reviews" of the tripod are made by people with little or no contact with the object, they are more accurately "descriptions" which indeed seem to follow the Kickstarter page.

I hope to e able to test and review it at some point.

Kickstarter - I guess, that's the way to go now with OPM (Other People's Money), but to be fair, that does provide a 20% discount

The company discusses this in one of their videos. Since they are successful, do they need KS anymore? Their answer makes sense: it works for them, gives them great contact with their customers, and lets them keep ownership of their company and preserve their orientations.

Lots of clever ideas there, but the proof will be in actual use – with a heavy DSLR and 70-200 f/2.8 and I don't think I'd use that centre column extended more than half an inch.

I hope to be able to answer this at some point!

I also noted the proprietary QR plate

Their plate is fully Arca Swiss compatible, but with a few details tuned to fit their Capture Clip. The tripod appears able to accept any Arca Swiss plate however.

For the record, their plate is among the best I've used.

[pentax360]

That looks cool, but it's a tad out of my price range.

[Genobreaker]

Think I’ll be more interested if they make a more shorter one since this one is same length as my MeFoto Road Trip

[bdery]

Think I’ll be more interested if they make a more shorter one since this one is same length as my MeFoto Road Trip

Well you're in luck, in their second hangout they've shown that they're also working on a conversion kit letting you remove all the internal legs and keep only the topmost, external leg section. It removes about 600g from the total weight, and is still in prototyping.

[Genobreaker]

Well you're in luck, in their second hangout they've shown that they're also working on a conversion kit letting you remove all the internal legs and keep only the topmost, external leg section. It removes about 600g from the total weight, and is still in prototyping.

Guess I'll keep an eye out.