- Today I got a tripod that I'm really excited to show you
because it's the first one in a long time
that I feel like is the answer,
if that makes any sense.
So it's this one,
the Pineta Peak from YC Onion.
And we're gonna go over all the details in a minute.
But the baseline is, I'm a big fan
of the Sachtler flowtech but it's expensive,
and I have one and I don't wanna buy three.
This one is,
it's not quite as good as a Sachtler flowtech
but it's pretty close and it's way cheaper.
And it might be the solution in that sense of like,
you know, for a $500 tripod or whatever it costs,
can we get a flowtech basically?
And I think the answer is yes,
and I'm really excited about it.
We got Lindsey on the zoom over here.
(chuckles) Thanks a lot, Lindsey.
And to do that, I think because this thing is very dark
and I also don't want it to beat up my table,
I'm gonna put this reflector on top so we can see it better.
And Teddy, you can hold the microphone
'cause we don't need that for this video.
By the way,
he's there to fill, you know, the wider angle seat.
'Cause a bunch of you complained that the seat was empty,
which is a fair point, it was weird.
But now we got a nice little thing going on here.
We got a nice fire going, we got Teddy hanging out.
But what we need is a name for this damn bear.
If he's gonna be sitting in that seat
when I don't have a guest.
Obviously the plan is to have a guest most of the time.
But if I don't have a guest,
what are we gonna call this thing?
Put the answer in the comments.
Okay, tripod.
So yeah, Pineta Peak is what this one's called.
So first off, let's talk about the mechanism here
because I mentioned it's kind of like a flowtech.
The idea is that it's just a single lever,
you push it all the way up and then the legs can extend.
All the segments can extend from a single lever at the top.
And then we have these locks here,
which obviously, if you pull them out
they allow you to go wide with the leg
and you can go all the way out to the side
so that you get that like,
really, really low to the ground set up.
And you can pull it back in.
And another thing that I like is that this is the,
you know, unlocked position. So we can move it.
But if we bring it in,
we can then press this button in, like that,
and then now they won't come out.
So when you are traveling, (tripod rattles)
they're gonna stay nice and solid.
So you know, pretty simple things.
But that's what we're looking for here.
And then on the feet side,
if we bring this around here.
So it also comes with a nice carrying case
which I'm gonna use to get the other feet out
'cause I wanna talk about that.
The carbon fiber version I think is the way to go
because it has a bit more
in terms of accessories and options
and inclusions and stuff like that,
where the aluminum version,
while still having the fancy latches and everything,
but it's pretty straightforward,
where the carbon fiber has a bit more
stuff you can do with it.
Anyway, nice case with the ability
to strap things down where you want.
Nice and padded, good zipper, no complaints.
So in my case, the carbon fiber came with this sort of,
you know, regular, I dunno what you wanna call 'em,
little, stubby Manfrotto feet like this, installed.
But in the bag came the flexible ones
that you see often on a video tripod.
And what's great is they're just-
(foot clatters) well, that one's gone forever.
Is they're just 3/8 inch.
So if you have even your own feet that you want to use
or you wanna like attach something,
you can just use a 3/8 inch connector,
so the flexible ones.
But also it comes with these pretty rad spikes
that you can use as well
if you wanna get in the terrain
that you're gonna need spikes for.
But for in studio, I love these types of feet
because my issue is that I like to lock things down
and not have it move much.
And if you use these regular sort of stubby ones,
they can kind of skip around on the floor.
But these ones, they bend
and then they kind of get flat and they get a lot,
you know, a lot better of a grip.
So I'm appreciating that those were included.
And then obviously we need to talk about the bowl.
Because it's kind of a,
it's interesting, peculiar but also has an advantage.
So this is unrelated.
This is the carbon fiber,
sort of attachment I was talking about.
I think if you put this in,
you basically end up with the aluminum version
which is just sort of your straight rod, flat on top.
You can put it upside down though, which is sweet,
and we'll do that sort of as a demo.
But this is, if you have this,
and everything was aluminum, that'd be aluminum version.
But the carbon fiber has the sort of bowl thing,
which is cool.
Now they all are interchangeable parts,
but it's just about
which one you get with your kit by default.
And I think there's better value in the carbon fiber.
So I'm just gonna pull the locks on all three legs
and then extend the legs all the way out
to show you sort of how low it can go.
So on top we've got a fluid head.
This video isn't really about the fluid head,
but if you want me to give you a quick review on it,
it's okay.
As far as how it feels when you're actually using it,
it's quite nice and the payload is okay
for like a mirrorless camera setup,
but you don't have the ability to adjust counterbalance,
proper tension for both the pan and tilt,
for the sort of fluid, you know, rigidity.
So it's kind of just, it performs how it does
and hopefully you like that.
I would say that for the money, it's okay
but I probably would invest in,
if I was serious about it, I would invest in a head
that gave me control over all those things.
But it's not bad. It looks good, it's well-built.
The plate's okay, uses a standard 502 setup.
But it actually has, which was kind of neat,
there's a setup for using the Ronin RS2 and RS3 plates
directly on here, or the sort of Manfrotto 501 plates.
And they can just be,
they have the drop in style
where you just drop 'em in like that
and then tighten 'em down.
So yeah, I mean it's a fine head.
It just, I prefer ones that you can adjust.
Anyway, this is the interesting thing.
So actually one thing that is kind of rad
about this head though,
is I've seen a lot of, you know, extending arms.
This one feels like a magic trick.
So if I loosen it, look how long this is, right?
It's kinda like a weird illusion.
And then if I collapse it all the way.
Doesn't it feel like that's too short for how long?
Like it's like where's the... where's it coming from?
I don't know. I found it kind of trippy.
But if you need to have a really kind of compact handle,
this provides it. Okay.
But if we unscrew this thing,
this is where it gets kind of strange
with the bowl head thing.
So this head can be separated
and then you can attach it to this style.
You know, I guess we can do that right now.
Like this.
And then like I said,
we can actually use this in underslung mode if we want.
Because the bowl is a separate thing
and you can buy these individually as well.
So when you un, so if you unscrew the bowl from down here,
and then speaking of those other heads,
this bowl configuration will actually work
with the Sachtler aktiv bowl head.
Like the really good heads, like the one I'm using,
the one that Lindsey is actually using right now.
You could put that on here if you wanted.
And your overall package would still be a lot cheaper
than if you got the flowtech legs with the head.
So just that fact that this is compatible, is great.
But otherwise this is the, their little,
I think they call it like a coconut bowl or something,
and it's just, it's,
it's just a little bowl head that sits in there,
and then this thing just kind of looks like that on its own.
Now this recess in here, like I said,
you know you can put this in here like that
but you can also put it underneath
in underslung mode like this.
And then you could rock your, you know,
your camera underslung.
This is awkward to do at a desk.
Whose idea was to set up a talk show set
and then review a tripod?
Somebody fire that guy.
Now obviously what everybody wants to see
is the smooth action of the legs going in and out
by just releasing the latches.
And I will show you that in a second.
But first there's a couple little specs
that I'm sure people are gonna wanna know.
So lemme just pull those up.
The folded length with the legs,
the shortest it can get is 68 centimeters or 26.8 inches,
and the maximum height is 61 inches or 155 centimeters.
That's to the flat part here.
But when you do it all the way low like this,
the lowest possible height that you can get
with the legs fully spread out
is 6.3 inches or 16 centimeters.
You can see that there's a 3/8 inch on this side
and there's also a 1/4 inch on this side
and they have like the ARRI locating pins.
So you could put a really rigid, you know,
friction arm or something on there
and not have it twist or whatever.
I really appreciate the locating pins
and I appreciate that there's
two different locations for this.
And then you also have one of those like,
bubble spirit levels right here on top
which I've been finding when I look down
is in a pretty good position.
But the coconut head, I don't know why I keep calling...
I don't like that name.
The bowl head attachment thing
has a bubble level on it as well
and you can kind of spin that one around
so that you can always see it.
So you'll have plenty of leveling visibility.
Now the last spec
and the one I wanted to make sure I get right
is the payload.
So overall the weight of the carbon fiber version
is 3.5 kilos which is 7.7 pounds.
The aluminum one's slightly heavier,
it's four kilos or 8.8 pounds.
But the payload, which is relevant
and why I brought up the difference
between this sort of flat shaft style
versus this, you know coconut bowl head thing.
The max payload with this sort of standard
central shaft setup is only eight kilos.
Well, not only, but it's eight kilos.
But when compared to this coconut bowl head-
Have I been saying ball head?
Coconut bowl. Anyway...
Is it goes all the way up to 35 kilos
which I think is like close to 80 pounds, right?
So that's considerable and it's it's definitely worth,
if you want to put a big cine rig on here,
this is the way to go obviously.
But this is still fine, I guess
for most mirrorless systems, like eight kilos
that's probably more than most like mirrorless setups.
So either way you'd be fine with that.
And then the max height with the central shaft
in either setup can get up to 72 inches on the carbon fiber
which is 185 centimeters,
or 68.9 inches on the aluminum,
which is 175 centimeters.
And then like I said, as far as,
so again, carbon fiber even goes taller
and it comes with the bowl so you can get the max payload.
And then as far as accessories,
the carbon fiber comes with the spikes
where the aluminum one doesn't,
and the lock button capability for transport
is only available in the carbon fiber, not on the aluminum.
So you can see what I'm saying.
It's kind of just get the carbon fiber.
The aluminum one I'm sure is great.
I have never even used it
but all the cool stuff is on the carbon fiber.
So that's the direction I would go.
I imagine you'll save a little bit of money on the aluminum
but I don't know what the price of it is.
Alright, let's actually do a little (mimics click)
with the legs.
All right, I'm just gonna spin this back on
and reattach the coconut bowl. (chuckles)
And then you can see how easy it is
to get these legs back in.
You just fold them in,
(legs clicking) you can hear them lock,
and then they lock again at this position.
Another thing worth mentioning is that
the locking mechanism for the bowl is really smooth
and really satisfying.
You just sort of whip it over and it's locked.
Slide it back, smooth, unlocked.
It's really easy, it just works well.
Everything about this feels highly refined and polished.
No complaints.
The only thing I guess you could complain about,
but it's weird, is that the 3/8 on the top of the bowl
isn't one where it slides down and reveals a 1/4 inch.
So you're not gonna be putting
any 1/4 inch heads on this thing, it's 3/8 only.
Keep that in mind.
But what are you doing buying this thing
if you're using some tiny little 1/4 inch head, right?
Okay, so now let's do a little demo.
So we loosen these latches and then...
(legs slide and click)
Smooth.
Then you just lock 'em in.
Super easy.
It's got a handle here, which I like.
It's really light, like we talked about.
It's only 3.5 kilos.
And when it's spread out like this,
the weight gets spread out and yeah.
And it's really sturdy, like...
Like I said, it doesn't slide in the legs.
And then if we want to collapse it, you know,
and you already had it in full height,
so you bring it in like this
and you just release these three things.
This is how smooth it is.
(legs slide and clunk)
It's really, really, really good.
A little bit loud I suppose,
(legs sliding and clicking) but this is incredibly smooth.
So no complaints there.
And they also added a nice little grip here.
Not as necessary with the carbon fiber,
'cause it doesn't really get that cold or whatever.
But it's still nice to have a grip.
Get outta here.
I don't really have anything
negative to say about this tripod.
Like the things I did mention were pretty minor, like,
you know, it's only 3/8 on the top.
And I mean...
I think it's, my experience so far is that
it's exactly what I was looking for.
I often get requests either in the Discord
or in the comments that are like, ah, what's,
you know, what's the good $500 tripod?
And unfortunately the one that I liked before
is now going for $1,000 - $1,200 often.
And the Sachtler is more than that.
So I felt like there was a gap for a $500 tripod
in that zone that I could really stand behind
and that I really, really loved.
This is it.
This is my favorite tripod in that price bracket.
It's one of the few products I've seen in a really long time
where I just took it out, started using it
and I was like, "Yeah, that's pretty much perfect."
I don't have anything to say, no notes, you know.
It's great. YC Onion, terrific job.
If anybody's looking for a tripod in this price bracket,
get it.
Honestly, if you're in that like $400 zone,
save a couple of bucks extra and get this.
Tripods are worth the money, they're worth the investment.
This is the solution.
This is my pick for the tripod right now going forward.
I've got nothing else to say.
Let me know in the comments
what I'm supposed to name the bear.
(upbeat music) Great tripod.
Alright...
I'm done.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music continues)