Hi! guys welcome back to London today I've got a new tripod so I'am going to be unboxing
that and taking a look at it and quickly explain why I use one of these what I use it for why
it might be of some use to you a little behind the scenes for those of you that don't make
videos and maybe something useful for those of you that do or want to its a Manfrotto
I think its called Manfrotto Manfrotto I see people on YouTube pronouncing the name all
sorts of ways but you can see how it is spelt in the title of this video the model is a
mini pixi I already had one have one this si my previous one it is a little bit worn
I've got a new camera that I'am filing on today a canon G7X mark 2 to replace my mark
1 when I ordered this I also ordered a new mini pixi tripod this one is a little bit
worn I've had it about two years the reason I use this one as a tripod it is quite very
useful the main reason I use this is actually as a handle for the camera so it is obviously
a very small tripod but it functions very well as a handle and a handle for these are
quite important when I first started vlogging compact cameras were compact and they didn't
have touch screens so you could easily manoeuvre that these however modern compacts the good
ones are pretty big they just about fit in a pocket and you've got flip up screens so
holding that is not as easy as it was with the little ones holding it like this you risk
putting your fingers over the mic holes if you have got the touch screen enabled you
will start touching the screen it is quite hard to avoid that and focusing the camera
on something that you don't want to focus on when you touch it it refocuses so yeah
handles are quite important and these also these mini pixis also fit in your pocket and
when your out and about I film mainly in London in the city so this comes in very handy I
don't need a bigger tripod because I can usually find benches walls window sills to sit this
thing on when they are new and they have tension still in the legs that is why I've replaced
this one it is getting a little bit worn you can actually sit them on very small spaces
and then angle them if this were a window sill it would probably be pointing down so
you cant just sit it on there you can pop it on there and the ball head is full adjustable
so you can angle the camera there is a new version of this out with articulating legs
I didn't go for that one you could pre order it it was quite a bit more the reason I didn't
go for it I think more moving parts when using this a s a handle the handle aspect might
not be so good for a tripod they will I've seen people using these what is this a joby
joby gorillapod you can use these however there is from a tripod point of view they
are great you can really put them in odd places attach them to railings and poles and posts
they are useful for that from a handle point of view there is a little bit of movement
in it far more than one of these also in the attachment so the idea of the handle is to
give you stability and to improve image stabilisation so your not shaking so much the handle needs
to be stable and not shaking about too these little ones even the bigger ones seem a little
bit wobbly I guess it is just the movement in them that makes them so good at what they
do which is standing on odd shaped objects and attaching to odd shape things doesn't
necessarily make them great as a handle so anyway lets cut into my new one I'll bring
you a little bit closer for the unboxing so you can see what a new one looks like OK I've
got a gorillapod original on the desk there just to give you an idea of size the Gorillapods
are great they are fantastic for attaching cameras to odd shape objects they don't work
quite as well as the Manfrotto as a handle the thing that makes them great is the flexibility
but that also makes them slightly less stable as a handle the Manfrotto mini pixi is actually
a tripod designed for still photography but it make the perfect vlogging camera tripod
and camera handle for the canon G7X mark 1 or mark 2 and the Sony RX100 or equivalent
size cameras I made a video about this tripod when the Canon G7X mark one came out everyone
was moaning about the autofocus of that camera but it was one of the first compacts to have
a flip out touch screen and the touch screen would override auto focus when you touched
it the that is if you didn't turn the touch screen off the Canon G7X and the Rx100 were
also a bit bigger than most other compact cameras which made them harder to hold and
manipulate without the risk of dropping them and they are expensive cameras you don't want
to drop them they were really the first generation of compacts that required a handle and they
didn't come with one so the solution to overriding the touch screen was actually quite simple
you just turn off the touch screen functionality which I do even when I'am using one of these
as a handle just to completely avoid accidentally overriding auto focus but having a handle
makes holding cameras at arms length so much easier and gives you so much more control
of the camera far less risk of dropping your expensive camera they are also very handy
to have as a tripod you can out them down anywhere on uneven or angled surfaces and
get the camera pointing in just the right direction it allows me to use street furniture
like benches bins walls or window ledges to put the camera on and the greatest thing they
are light weight and fit in the pocket or bag easily they'll easily take the weight
of these compact cameras they maybe take the weight as a tripod of DSLR I've been using
the one I had previously for two years its stood up really well to quite a lot of use
I've had to tighten the screws in the bottom a couple of times just to give it a little
bit more tension but I could tighten the screws up again and it would work just fine but I
thought as I'am getting a new camera I'd replace it but yeah the ball head on my two year one
has stood up very well its lost a couple of the rubber feet but all in all I'am replacing
it with another one because I'am very happy with it Manfrotto also do other models of
mini tripod now but I think for my purposes as primarily as a handle for a vlogging camera
I think the Pixi is going to be the best the Evo is the next model up in the range which
has a cut out in the ball head which means your going to get a greater scope of angles
from the camera but I mainly use it as it is here it also the EVO also has movable legs
and for me more moving parts mean in time it is just more likelihood of less stability
less camera stability less image stability as a handle which is the reason I don't use
the Joby there so yeah for me I think the Manfrotto Pixi is going to be the best option
as a handle so in short I definitely recommend the Manfrotto pixi mini tripod as a mini camera
tripod and a vlogging camera a handle my last one I've had for over two years very happy
with the quality of it so now it is starting to wear I'am replacing it with exactly the
same model