Praise for the MeFoto backpacker

[coolie21]

Planning an overseas trip inevitably ends up with an internal debate, should I take a tripod with me or not?

Although my Gitzo 2541 is fairly light it only folds down to around 60cms, and I usually end up having to take the ball head off to travel. More often I have left it at home and taken a gorilla pod, which has its own set of drawbacks.

Recently I bought the MeFoto backpacker travel tripod. It folds down to around 25cms and includes a pretty good little ballhead with an arca plate. I have an L plate on my 5DMkII so this was a big bonus.

When I tested it next to the Gitzo before I left my heart sank. Mounting the 5D and giving the camera a little flick set up a bunch of vibrations, whereas the Gitzo as expected was solid as a rock.

However.

On the road was a different story. This little sucker slipped into the water bottle pocket on a standard (non camera) back pack and the weight was hardly noticeable. The leg opening mechanism (twist and lock) and the leg position adjustment is a straight copy of the Gitzo and so very familiar. The arca plate and ballhead were solid with the 5D and a 17-40 or a Sigma 50mm 1.4. The tripod has a hanging hook, and with a backpack attached to the hook this setup became flawless and unshakeable.

I would highly recommend this as a cheap travel tripod. It will be with me whenever I go overseas now. There are no doubt many alternatives but if anyone was thinking of this one and unsure I would give it a big thumbs up.

[danny]

I just finished reading a review of the MeFoto road trip. The review described it as the best tripod of 2014!

[coolie21]

The road trip is a little larger and has the advantage that the central column isn't fixed. It looks a great little tripod. If I didn't have the gitzo I would have gone for that, but I really wanted small.