(LINKS BELOW): I’ve encountered so many tiny travel tripods that are just terrible to use. People frequently bring expensive little “travel” tripods to my workshops and I invariably find them incredibly frustrating. So I decided to create a better one. One that is rock solid, easy to use and never gets in the way of perfecting your composition. Here is the result. It weighs in at just 3.3 pounds complete, and I’m proud to carry and use it myself. In this video I’ll share all the details.
LINKED TABLE OF CONTENTS:
00:00 Intro to ATS 227
00:52 My preferred rig is still my tall, light, fluid-head system
03:05 People want tiny travel tripods so I made this better one
04:30 At 3 lbs 6 oz, it’s tall enough for me with no center column
05:35 It has a built in leveling adapter & epic lever clamp
06:50 Easy panoramas are possible despite it being a ball head
07:55 The Acratech GXP-SS is a marvel of engineering & quality
09:00 The 255CEX legs are solid & anchoring them with a stone bag
11:00 The GXP_SS even has a gimbal function for long lens action!
13:15 When do I carry this featherweight tripod?
17:26 Join our next free Office Hours
Featherweight Travel Tripod: https://bit.ly/FWTTHHP
My Custom Built Tripods & Accessories: https://bit.ly/HHPTripds
Kase Filters: https://www.hudsonhenry.com/kase
Sign up for a 2023 Workshop: www.hudsonhenry.com/workshops
Updated links to all the gear I use including tripod parts: http://bit.ly/HudsonsLinks
Using my links helps support this video series. Thank you!
I invite all of you to join Rick, Woody, David, Darren and me for our next free live Office Hours session December 13th!
Office Hour signup site: https://bit.ly/2UgDaX4
Thanks to everyone for the great questions you are sending in. Keep them coming either in the comments below or by emailing me directly. I hope to see you in the next Office Hours session.
Stay safe and healthy.
21 Comments
I recently purchased the Manfrotto "Befree" carbon fiber w/ the fluid head. Love it!
I watched one of your videos about 2 years ago about the benefits of using a video head for Photography and I have never looked back. Best advice I ever got on YT. Brilliant video as ever with lots of great information. Thanks Hudson
Could you add the folded length including the head to your tripod pages? I've been trying to compare the fluid head vs panoramic head (and now vs the travel ball head) collapsed length with the head installed, and the listings seem to list the folded leg length only. Thanks!
Thank you, sir, so very much, for your very good advice, showing different solutions for to choose a tripod with the right level of weight and being in balance with the need! Wishing you all the best and please stay blessed! Greetings from Sweden!
Would the GXP-SS ball head be a decent option for using with the MSM tracker?
Nice travel tripod, an alternative for those that like using fluid heads might be the Leofoto BV-1R while it doesn’t have the load capacity of the Acratech head its works great with a Z 7II and a 70-200mm it has a panning clamp so easy to use with either the camera mount or the lens mount. BTW I have the two other Leofoto tripods you recommend and love them.
On your page linked to the tripod you have the max height of the tripod wrong…
I love what you’re doing – preaching camera support! I was out today at sunset doing the cityscape thing, there was another guy there trying to hand hold his DSLR. To be honest the lighting wasn’t that good, so I thought I would make his day, so I offered up my tripod. Apparently he’s never used a good tripod, he was shocked by the image quality. I then showed him how to move the camera into portrait orientation and shoot a pano with bracketing. I left him with instructions on how to stitch together an HDR pano and your YouTube channel.
I suppose you could add the ball head quick release and then share the ball head with the move shoot move as well as make the tripod smaller for packing. Thanks. Great setup
Yes, I have nearly this identical setup for my lightest setup. I have the older GPSS head, which is about the same. To get even lighter and shorter, I also have a Leofoto pano clamp that I can screw on in place of the ball head. 90% of my shots are at or near level anyway….
Great video content as always! But man, the AF on your camera is all over the place in your video. What are you recording with?
My experience with this leofoto tripod is also great. But due to cost, I use the leofoto BV 10 fluid head and have been 100% satisfied. works exceptionaal well even with a \ftz adaptoe and nikon F mount 200 500 the head has had no issues for me and hs been the perfect match with this tripod
Have you seen anyone show up w/ the Ulanzi travel Tripod? It's a direct competitor for the PD travel tripod (which I'm not a fan of at all). I bought the ulanzi one a few months back… and I think its a great option, lighter still at sub 3lb, and a real nice toss in your bag option. Doesn't have ALL the benefits of that small one you just showed but I feel its really good for the price and size.
A kilobuck for the lightweight tripod? I just backed a Kickstarter for Heipei that has a Peak Design-type travel tripod coming out that looks very nice for $300. I have a self-leveling Leofoto tripod with a VH30 head, and I lug that with me I'm out hiking around. I really like it, and it's not horribly heavy, but I'm looking forward to getting the Heipei. I'll let you know how I like it after I've been able to use it for a while.
You sold me on leofoto. Back in the spring I got the tall legs you promote with the Acratech GXP Ball-Head and the LB-75 leveling head and there QS 60 adapters so I can do a quick change between my ball-head and gimbal. It is good all good stuff and weighs less than my old stuff by quite a bit… and Leofoto is less expensive. Thanks for Your wisdom.
Another great vid. I have that same setup except I have the Acratech Pan & Tilt head which I absolutely love. Fantastic lightweight and made for the Z cameras for sure!
Hudson, why not just use the Acratech Panoramic head in lieu of the GXP SS head? Any advantage to the GXP SS?
I have the bigger tripod setup and love it but the lighter version is something I could see myself using a lot…!!
It is great to see someone wax so poetically about tripods. Your love for your craft comes through.
Too bad, this video is 10 days late. I bought the Leofoto 324CEX with the Arcatech head. However, the smaller version than you are using. Now I probably would have ordered this one as it is comparable to the 324CEX and to the 284CEX. It would be easier to transport, especially on a plane. Why didn't you use the Arcatech head like you did with the 284CEX? I may still follow your advice and buy the 255CEX as well, but would stick with the Arcatech head.
Regardless, I love your videos. I have learned quite a bit in the meantime. I set up my Z50 based on several setup videos. On my last trip to London (UK) and Singapore I tried the whole thing out. There will always be minor fine tuning.
Where do I send in my best photo of 2022?