Today I'm reviewing a tripod. A tiny travel tripod.
Because I needed it for an upcoming trip.
So, I guess you could call it a tiny travel trip tripod.
But it's okay if you don't want to call it that.
Let's get Undone.
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What is happenin', everybody? I'm Gerald Undone
and today we're gonna be looking at the Andoer 57" Travel Tripod.
[funky electronic music]
Now, quick disclaimer about this tripod,
which also has a bit of a fun coincidence attached to it.
I have a shoot coming up next week
that has very specific weight and size requirements
for what I'm allowed to bring.
So, I was debating on whether or not to bring
my current travel tripod that I already have,
bring a monopod, bring, like, a Joby GorillaPod,
or just bring nothing at all.
And that list got significantly shorter when I realized
that my current travel tripod was doing this.
And while I was planning this, I received a timely e-mail
from Andoer, which was asking me to review this tripod,
which is even lighter and even more compact
than the travel tripod that I already have.
Anyway, so that's my story, and basically,
I just like it when things like that happen.
But also, that's to let you know a bit of a disclaimer,
that this product was given to me for free.
Andoer contacted me and approached me
about reviewing this product. But I was not paid
to make this review and the opinions that I give
are my own, because I'm as curious as you guys
are to figure out whether or not this tripod is any good,
because I need to know whether or not I can rely on it
to bring it to my shoot next week.
All right, so, let's talk a little bit about the specs.
So, this guy, when completely collapsed, is about 19"
or 48 cm and it's just a little bit shorter than that
when you're at your minimum working height,
which I think is about 18". So, it might actually be
pretty decent for, like, some tabletop vlogging scenarios.
Extended, it reaches 48" or 122 cm,
and that's with the centre column down.
But then if you jack the centre column all the way up,
it gets to 57.5", or 146 cm. And it weighs about 1.1 kg
or 2.4 lb. So, while it's not the tallest tripod in the world,
it definitely is light and compact.
And it's about 5" or 11 cm in diameter
when it's collapsed like this, and it comes with
a decent little bag for storage and carry.
One thing that I like about it is that the legs
come in four sections rather than the typical three.
You know, this has some obvious pros and cons to it.
The cons would be that you physically have to open
and close more clamps to get it fully extended.
And also, then, when it is extended,
its stance is a little bit more narrow,
which could lead to a little bit of instability.
But the pros of that means you get
a more compact build and you take up less real estate
when you are fully extended, which is better for working
in smaller spaces. Now, the instability thing
that I just raised can be addressed by the fact
that they added a hook to the bottom
of the centre column here, which will allow you
to hang a counterweight from it. But the hook is plastic,
and I'm not really sure how much weight it can handle.
So, we'll put it to the test. I have a 15 lb sandbag
that we will use and see if it can hold that up.
The 15 lb sandbag might be a bit excessive
because the capacity of this tripod is 7 lb.
So, I can't really see a person needing to use
a 15 lb sandbag for a 7 lb camera rig,
but this'll give us a strong idea of whether
or not this hook is gonna live up to the challenge,
or if it's gonna break off.
[funky electronic music]
♪
All right, well, that actually worked out quite well,
and I was a little bit surprised because I went over
double the capacity. Another thing that I wanted
to talk about was that it says that it has
aluminum construction. And this is referring of course
to the legs, because the rest of the joints and fixtures
are all plastic. But that's kind of to be expected
for a tripod at this price point. Speaking of price point,
it comes in at $41.99CAD, which is about $32US,
and is a little bit cheaper than some of the competing
models I've seen in this design, which are usually in
the $50 to $60 category. And it comes with a phone clamp
which is actually pretty decent construction.
And nice and solid, and a good fat grip on it.
And, I paid, like $20 just for one of these alone
from Joby, so it's a nice little value-add.
And the phone clamp has 1/4"-20 threads
on both the side and the bottom, so I think that's cool
that they added that in. Now, like I was saying,
there are comparable models online
with different heads and features,
but I think this one's a little bit better for me
because this is definitely a video-focused head
with the way that it tilts and pans.
And while it's not really comparable to a quality
fluid head, the knob on the side here
does actually provide a decent amount
of incremental resistance when it comes to panning that,
I think is pretty good for-- for a plastic build.
The mount on top is a standard 1/4"-20 screw
and it also features some nice spongy textured grips
on all three of the legs. Now, I tested this tripod
with the Panasonic Lumix G9 and the 12-35mm lens,
which is more in line with the kind of travel-friendly gear
that I would be bringing on a shoot that would have
the weight and size requirements that would need me
to use a tripod like this. If I was doing a bigger production,
I would bring a bigger camera or a rigged-up GH5,
and then I would bring my bigger tripod to go along
with that. But just for fun, let's give it a try
with the Sony a7 III and the Sigma 35mm f/1.4,
which is a pretty sizeable combination for, like,
a compact mirrorless camera, with the Sigma being
quite a hefty lens and the Sony being a full-frame camera.
[funky electronic music]
♪
So, with the heavier lens like the Sigma here,
it definitely requires a little bit of assistance
in order to get a smoother pan.
When the weight of the Sigma is allowed to sink down
like that, it's a lot jerkier. Uh, I guess that's one
of the cons of having such a lightweight plastic head,
is that it can't really keep smooth.
It's okay. When you support the lens, it's okay,
but if you just let it go and try to turn it
like you would with a fluid head... it's really quite jerky.
So, there's ways to get around it.
A little bit of counterweight on the back side
of the handle will make it a bit smoother.
Overall, you know, it--
whenever you're in this price point, it's kind of hard
to really make a strong-- 'cause it's like,
"This doesn't perform as well as my $350 head."
Of course not. The whole tripod is 40 bucks.
But it's not bad. I think for-- for what you get--
you could definitely get some work done with it.
But it would not replace a high-quality fluid head.
Which brings me to one of my last points,
which is that the words "professional"
and "semi-professional" get thrown around a lot
when it comes to photo-video accessories.
And I think instead we should be focusing on purpose.
Tripods like this are not intended for lifetime longevity
or professional productions in my opinion.
Instead, I think that they serve two specific purposes:
one is a lightweight stopgap like what I'm gonna be
using it for in the upcoming shoot when I can't actually
bring the big gear that I want to be bringing,
and two would be more kind of like
a semi-disposable travel tripod. And I don't mean
disposable like you plan to throw it away,
but that instead you plan on putting it in situations
or taking it to places where it's to fill a very specific,
probably temporary need.
Now, if you're a first-time tripod buyer
but you're serious about photography or videography,
I recommend that you go right into a high-quality tripod
from the get-go, especially one that has
a future-proof capacity, because those'll last you decades.
And in the long run, you'll probably end up spending less
than you would've if you kept buying and replacing
less expensive tripods over the same duration of time.
On that note, though, if you're just a hobbyist
who doesn't really put much weight on their tripods
or doesn't really put their tripods through
that much stress, this might be a great full-time tripod
for you. And if you already have a big mean tripod
and you're just looking for something small, light,
and compact to travel with,
I think the Andoer 57" Travel Tripod is a solid choice
for the money. If you have any questions about
the tripod, leave them in the comments,
and I'll do my best to answer them,
but in the meantime, I have a question for you.
What are you currently using to hold your camera up?
Let me know your tripod, monopod,
GorillaPod configurations, and whether or not
you like them in the comments below.
Anyway, that's gonna be it for me.
I hope you found this video helpful
or at least entertaining. And if you did,
make sure you leave it the old thumbs-up
and consider subscribing if you haven't already.
But if you did not find this video helpful or entertaining,
feel free to hit the dislike button twice.
Alright...I'm done.
[funky electronic music]