In this video, we will review a lightweight travel tripod we have been using since 2018.
If you are a travel photographer like us, you are probably looking to buy an inexpensive
travel tripod. It was us in 2018 when we were packing for Iceland ring road trip.
When I began my search for a travel tripod, I quickly discovered that many
tripod that I saw were too expensive or too cheap. After checking many reviews,
prices and investigating the quality of those tripods, I chose a tripod by Bonfoto from Amazon.
We chose Bonfoto's carbon fiber version. The carbon fiber version withstand various
weather conditions much better compared to aluminum one. The aluminum version is
30-40% cheaper compared to the carbon fiber version. While in this video I show the 2018
version of Bonfoto’s carbon fiber version, their most recent version is very comparable
with what we have with a few improvements. The first thing that caught my attention
in Bonfoto’s tripod is the quality you get for the price. Their carbon fiber version
costs around $100. Prices for travel tripods by well-known brands may start
at $200 or $300. This was reason number one. Our version of a tripod has a weight of 3.1lb
and a minimum height of 21”. You can downsize the tripod even further by folding it. This makes its
height around 15”. The tripod comes along with a carrying case. This is how we travel with this
tripod and pack it into our luggage or carry it around. It occupies pretty minimal space.
To extend the tripod, use these rotating leg locks. The tripod’s maximum height is
58”. This presumes that you extend the center column. We rarely do so because this reduces
the steadiness of the tripod. If you do not extend the center column, the tripod’s height
is 48”. This is how we use it 90% of the time. The tripod comes along with a ball head that can
rotate 360 degrees. There is a small opening on the head that allows you to take photos at
a 90 degrees angle. But, be careful with putting your camera into this position,
as it makes the tripod less steady. This tripod has a quick release mounting
plate with a standard 1/4" screw. This makes it easy to attach or remove a camera from the
tripod. When we attach the mounting plate to the camera, we use a coin to tighten the screw.
According to the manufacturer, the tripod has a loading capacity of 26lb. This means that
you can load quite heavy equipment on this tripod and it will still be steady. But,
this loading capacity likely presumes that you do not extend the center column. To be honest,
I would be very cautious with loading heavy items on it. We often attach our Nikon D850
DSLR camera with a 70-200mm telephoto lens on our tripod. This configuration weighs about
5lb and the tripod handles it with no problem. The carbon fiber tripod’s center column comes
along with a hook. You can attach weights or your camera backpack to improve the tripod’s stability.
We did this a few times and it helped a lot. Bonfoto's tripod’s ball head can
rotate horizontally for panning shots. The tripod has bubble level which can help
you find the balance. We rarely use it. Instead, we rely on our in-camera level tool for alignment.
The tripod’s legs are easy to adjust to different angles depending on the environment. We used this
feature many times. You can even turn your camera upside down for ground level shots like so.
One of the tripod’s legs has a foam cover for easy handling. Also, the tripod can be converted
to a monopod. You need to remove the center column. Then, unscrew the leg with the foam
covering and put the center column with this leg together. We almost never use the monopod.
As for the negatives, I would not say it has any major flaws. My only minor
complaint is about the plate. You need a coin to tighten the screw when attaching a camera.
Otherwise, the screw becomes loose. This will not cause the camera to fall off, but it will
not hold it stationary. For this reason, we always carry a coin for snug tightening.
Another minor drawback of this tripod is the inability to extend the legs fast. The tripod
has rotating leg locks and it takes a little bit of time to open them up. But even so,
extending legs is easy, but not superfast. We can live with this. The tripods that have
faster opening locks are 3x-4x more expensive. Since 2018, Bonfoto made several improvements
to the version we have. In particular, they added two locks to extend the center column.
Bonfoto also increased the number of leg locks from three to four on each leg. Also,
they increased the maximum height to 59”. These improvements together increased the weight of
the carbon fiber tripod from 3.1lb to 3.22lb. This is by no means an ideal travel tripod. I
wish that it was even more lightweight as well as compact when folded. But even so,
for the price of around $100 this Bonfoto’s carbon fiber version of this tripod provides
great value for the price. The aluminum version costs even 30-40% cheaper. We left a link for
this tripods if you’d like to check them out. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a
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