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Note that for me while travelling I use a mobile phone (well, since a few years), but mostly a compact camera, such as the Samsung EX1, then the Sony RX100. I may change to a M4/3 or something like that with a pancake lens, no zoom, as mostly I don't need the zoom. A bigger camera with more dials/controls would be nice (the EX1 was better than the RX100 in that respect, the RX100 is too small).
I've used a Gitzo basalt G1097 since 2013 on my trips, but I didn't always take it as it was just a little too big in travel state, at ca. 43 cm closed. I felt that in December 2018 and I didn't get round to using it on that trip... I've actually mostly used it for making beamshots of bicycle lamps, mounting them on the tripod. It is quite light at ca. 857 g with ball head. Height with ball head is about 120 cm
Recently I bought a Cullman Neomax 260, which gets a bit higher to ca. 134 cm, and it's lighter at ca. 673 g., but most importantly it has a small travel size at ca. 28 cm. That is significant, I can leave it at the bottom of the backpack and just not mind if I don't use it on a trip without feeling I wasted effort in taking it with me. It is less stable, esp. the centre column will move more than the Gitzo when you pull sideways, but how important is that? In wind? I used a tripod mostly to make pictures that are better than from hand of which the camera may or may not filter out the motion, but also for some pictures of myself (not often, as I am not that interested in pictures of myself, I prefer to make pictures of what I see/visit). So I don't often encounter situations where wind is a factor.
So far the Cullman looks good. Setting it up goes with twisting the end leg which fixes all sections in between, though sometimes you need to fix a section anew. Will this be an issue (an annoyance after using it more)? For now the small size is excellent. Gitzos are excellent but really expensive. I don't think Gitzo even has something similar, definitely not at this price (ca. 60 euro)! I had a look for some Gitzo tripods that are ca. 35cm folded (and ca. 130cm extended) that were only available second hand but never got my hand on one. I didn't see anything from other brands (so ca. 130cm height, 0.6-0.7 kg with ball head) So I decided to try this. The ballhead has a ring with the thread for the camera that rotates but is captive, so this is used to screw/unscrew the camera but it can also be used as a sort of panorama feature: Fixate the ball head, then turn the camera in various directions, tighten, make picture etc. It's not a real panorama head but then it only weighs about 100g (instead of 300g or more). So from what I've seen so far I like it, but the real properties will become clear with use, if all goes well that will come in May 2019.
I am not that interested in seeing myself on pictures so I never really looked at selfie sticks though they could be useful perhaps if they include a sort of inbetween size tripod. A mini tripod could be useful to put on a fence perhaps, or on a table, to make good pictures (no shaking of the camera). I am considering getting one of these to perhaps give an option that may beat the Cullman. It will depend a bit on whether the height of that tripod is really useful...
Last modified: 2019-4-12