Now, I have finished my last sponsored video by peak design.
So now I can really
talk about what I really think about
this Peak Design travel tripod
I mean, on the web, there's mostly really positive about
this tripod, and also on the web, people
are complaining about, oh, oh, this looks really
flimsy, look at that, look at the center column!
It's like as thin as me! I mean, it would be slapped
in any second, slapped in half.
Like me, I go *breaking sound* , and I'm in half.
Actually, on the web, things always go (indistinguishable)
extremely. Something is the best thing ever,
on the planet, and some would say any bad thing about any
popular product, because it (indistinguishable). People just look at
some pictures on the web, and then obviously, they know
the truth about certain products.
Yeah, I'm one of the person on the web, but anyway
I'm going to compare this,
to this!
I'm not sponsored by any of them.
So, let's go.
Like I say last time, stability is the point
of a tripod, so is this actually stable?
I mean, obviously, this is, these look really thin, but
it's a travel tripod.
I mean, that's the point of a travel tripod as well.
But look at this flex! Oh my god!
Carbon fiber my ass!
That, that amount of flex.
This is shit isn't it, it's a shit product.
What are they talking about, look at that, that flex.
Carbon fiber, I may just use my leg instead.
It's also carbon construction.
But yeah, that is the main
criticism on the flexing of the legs and
of course the center column, look at that, it looks so big!
Some people just can't take any flex of a tripod. But
what are you comparing it to?
A tree? A cow? I mean, this is a travel tripod.
It has to have some compromises.
If you want to compare it, compare it to another travel tripod.
Ok this is a Manfrotto Be Free live.
Not the be free, the normal
advanced be free advanced is carbon fiber
version as well
I mean, the only thing about this be free live is it has a fluid head.
But the normal be free has
a ball head, so this is only difference, but legs is exactly the same.
Now when we look at the legs, this is, um, peak design
obviously much thinner than the Manfrotto
be free and as you can see,
it actually, this also flex.
I mean, when people like to complain about flexing,
these flex as well, but this flex
much less than this.
Look at that, this looks so bad
And this is so thin as well
but the thing is when you look at it actually
does it actually flex on the top?
The Peak Design actually flex less
than Manfrotto.
I mean, that's why you can't just look at some pictures on the web
It's thin, it must be bad.
But, the reality is
Peak Design is stabler.
I don't know the exact reason
I think it could be this bit. This bit is less strong
than this bit.
I don't know, I'm just guessing because the legs,
yeah the legs flex more, but it's stabler.
The next day, I try again at home with a more
heavier camera on top and now you can really see
the difference. I really think it's the difference on the
center bit I don't know what it is called.
The Manfrotto probably got more play with
between the center column and that center bit.
Especially when I extend both tripod to their
maximum heights, you can really see the difference.
It's quite a lot.
Well, OK, I have mentioned that the point of
a tripod is how stable is it's stability.
But that's not the only point, I mean
every tripod got three points.
Ha, you get it.
But especially a travel tripod.
If you are not comparing to this be free live
tripod because be free live got a
heavier fluid head. The normal be free
advanced carbon fiber with a ball head
it's actually just a few grams difference
between the two, and then they both go to similar heights
but when Peak Design gonna decide on this name
how peak is their design?
One really great thing is, it got a low flipping design.
Now, every other travel tripod
doing the same thing, they try to eliminate
the tripod head, because you can make legs shorter
but not the head, the head still stick out.
So
they figure out if you can, like, you extend the center column
and then flip the legs around, you can hide the head
within the legs, so that when you
retract it, it's much shorter than any
I mean the head, it's not stick out any more
But Peak Design is doing the other way 'round.
Instead of trying to hide the head,
they made the head really thin, and if you look at
the really unique ball head design here
Most of the ball actually hide inside the tripod.
So now they can make a tripod that
you don't have to flip around, but still
achieve
the same small size.
I mean, it's actually shorter than the Manfrotto be free a little bit, but then
it's so much thinner.
because the Manfrotto and a lot of other
travel tripods still use this tube
you see there's of lot of gap in between
Peak Design don't use a circular tube
like leg so that they can save a lot of space.
Now this ball head is upside down design, but this is not the first
and only upside down ball head design, actually
Arca Swiss makes an upside down ball head for a long time
That one is actually great for interior
architecture photography because
you can quickly level the head there
and then on top you have other
really delicate
adjust for tilting and panning.
So that you can always have a level platform for that tilting and panning
But this is probably the first one
the purpose of this upside down design is
compact, because you can
put it down like that
I find one (indistinguishable) for video shooting
Because ball head is never ideal for video shooting.
But then for this,
you can mount a fluid head on top
and now, certainly, you got a quick
leveling, just like lots of video tripods out there.
Now you can
quickly level it with the spirit level on top.
Lock it down,
and now
Wherever you pan and tilt, it's always level.
One slightly annoying thing about this is that you have to
always extend it a little bit in order to use it.
Because when you retract it
it can't move at all.
And also because of this design, it got, like, three bits here,
So in some situations, for example, if I
tilt forward here, it's stuck there.
It's blocking the way. You have to
like, remove the camera, turn to this side,
Put it
on again, and then now you can tilt it all the way
On a normal ball head there's also
only got one opening that you can tilt it to
ninety degrees, but this opening you can easily
rotate it to whatever angle that you want.
Peak Design let you turn to vertical very easily, but
then it limits the angle that you can tilt.
Yes there's one angle that you can
ninety degrees, but always have to unmount
and mount the camera again and again.
While I don't think you need that extreme angle all the time
but it's still a limitation I have to mention.
It is a compromise to make it thinner and then you don't
have to flip it around when you retract it.
Now one thing I hate about quick release is those quick release that
you need a coin to release.
This is even worse if you use an allen key
Good that it comes with an allen key
always at the leg but then if you lost this one,
then you screwed.
But good that it's Arca Swiss so that you can get another
Arca Swiss
quick release if you want one that doesn't need
any tools or coin at all.
With the allen key you can take the center column into two
remove the longer bit, put the head back
on and now you can set it to really low angle.
For Manfrotto though, you have to buy a short
center column separately.
The center column lock you can pull it out before you rotate it
just another really great idea that peak design had.
One thing really interesting is that
inside the center column it hide a really small
phone mount.
It's not super useful for everyone
but it's still amazing what they can do.
I wonder what's next, an umbrella
within that.
So this is a travel tripod from Peak Design which is called
"Peak Design Travel Tripod"
Now, as I mentioned at the beginning, this video is not paid by any company
at all, I can finally tell you what Ireally think about this
This is a really great tripod
I like that, I mean, of course, it's got compromises
to make it as small and light
and easy to use, you don't have to flip it 'round.
The only thing is that it's
expensive. It's really expensive.
It's almost twice the price of the Manfrotto be free.
And it's almost as expensive
as the Gitzo but then,
this, you pay for the much smaller size
it is the same length but this is smaller
that this, it's smaller than the Gitzo.
That is what you are paying for.
So for me, between these two, I would pick this one.
The really difficult thing is that between this
and the Gitzo travel tripod because
I always like Gitzo tripods they look so
cool, and well, also, we know that
Gitzo's tripods are really durable.
So, between Gitzo and this,
Which is what I don't know how to choose.
But this itself
is really great, which is true.
I mean the hype is true.