[Music] Hi I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here to Give you a review today of one of the Maybe more accessible and less expensive Travel tripods that come in a carbon Fiber design and that is from newer Newer is very popular on places like Amazon with a lot of different products That are a little bit more friendly in Terms of their price point than what Some of the more Boutique Brands offer So this is the light trip 35 carbon Fiber travel tripod it retails right now For about $215 but there is an instant $50 Discount right now so that puts it at About $165 now when you consider the fact that Some of the carbon fiber travel tripods That I reviewed have been upwards of $600 that stands out as being a pretty Remarkable value being three to four Times less them what those cost so the Question of course is is this a tripod That is worth using I'm going to dive Through its various features sets give You some things that I like some things That I don't like and offer up a Conclusion as to whether or not you Should consider the newer light trip 35 Carbon fiber travel tripod for your own Personal use let's dive in so let's Start by giving you a rundown of the Specs here this tripod weighs in at 2
And2 lb that's 1130 G so it still it Still feels very lightweight it's not The lightest one that I have reviewed I've reviewed quite a number of these at This point not the lightest but it does Feel very very lightweight while Maintaining a nice balance is still Feeling very sturdy it can support up to A 22 lb or 10 kogam payload and so you Could see in the opening sequence this Being my heaviest combination at the Moment uh I had no problem in supporting That in either horizontal or vertical Shooting positions 0 issues there so for Most people in most situations Practically this is going to support Whatever gear you throw on top of it now When it's fully retracted position it Goes as small as 19 in that's 49 cm and Its minimum length it does utilize a Peak design style wedge leg design Rather than a circular leg design and That does allow it to fold up very very Tight it's only uh 2.2 in or 5.5 cm in Diameter And so it does allow for a very narrow Footprint when it's stored which is the Advantage of this design and I've always Found with at least the peak design ones And I think it's true here as well There's something about this design that Does feel a little bit extra sturdy and So I am partial to it now if you use the Included short Center column you can go
Down as low as 6.4 in or 16.5 cm to get Down low for doing macro or tabletop Type work now the included QR plate here It is uh ARCA compatible and it is also Compatible with Peak design products and So it's it's pretty clear that they've Been intentional about not only Utilizing some of the design I think Philosophies of peak design but also Ensuring some compatibility with things Like a peak design capture clip for Carrying your camera and so I I do Appreciate that as a peak design user That if I'm using their quick release Plate it is going to be compatible with Some of the other products that I am Using the actual ball ball head itself Is very nice in its design it is fully Removable and and also replaceable There's a nice Bowl here to where you Could Implement other things as well it Also includes a number of accessories Even at being at a lower price point so Obviously it comes with this nice padded Case for carrying everything and inside There's actually also a pouch that has a Zipper on it that allows you to store All of the extra accessories that come With it so I've already mentioned the Shorter Center column that you can Utilize for that it also comes with a Unique uh device here that can be used Both as a grip and I have used it for That just out of curiosity and so a way
To carry a camera or for that matter Even to carry a phone that is you know Practical and helpful but then also it Is a phone holder that allows you with a Lot of room to accommodate different Sizes of phones so it utilizes the Quarter inch accessory Port here in the Center top of the tripod head and so you Can actually screw it down there and you Can use it as a phone holder for that Matter you could utilize one of the side There's a total of three different Expansion ports and so if you wanted to Also you know maybe have a secondary Recording of something a main camera on Top secondary here you could actually Utilize that there for a different Perspective so it is a very handy little Thing that is included there and the Other thing that is included is also Really unique something that I've Actually not seen with any of these Before for and it is another quick Release plate that has a separate Panorama head on it and utilizing that And then the the Pano on the head itself Allowed me to do really smooth panoramic Moves even like circular shots as you Can see here uh you know not maybe Practical in all situations but the Ability to do those smooth pans is Something that is superior to pretty Much any of these other uh travel Tripods that I have used so that is
Something I do give it high marks for so That was one of the things actually that I did test I was interested in having These accessories and seeing how they Would play out and so I did find that I Could get really smooth pans as a part Of that so that was certainly an area Where it passed the test when it came to That another one of the things I like to Test with these tripods is the Arca Compatibility of these heads and that Includes a number of things are they Going to be compatible with for example Quick release plate plates from other Brands or maybe ARCA compatible a tripod Feet on lenses and so what I found is That it's kind of a mixed bag when it Comes to that it's obviously clearly Designed to work with Peak design plates Which is good for me because I have Those mounted on the bottom of all my Cameras and so I could go on to that no Problem using Peak design quick release Plates some of the other brand quick Release plates that are more similar I Could also use without issue what I Where I did run into an issue is when it Came to ARCA compatible feet on say this New Sigma 15 mm uh fishee lens that I Just reviewed I found that when I put it On there while I could get it in it Wouldn't lock down properly and so as a Byproduct there was still some movement Back and forth if I had tried to switch
Into a vertical mode using just that Tripod foot very likely the the lens Could have slipped out and that would Have been a major problem so you're Going to want to be careful in what you Try to put on there it is ARCA Compatible but not fully ARCA compatible It is kind of it's kind of Hit or Miss Depending on the design One of the other things that I like to Evaluate is the distance between the Actual legs um at its you know full Extended out but normal position not Trying to ratchet the legs out further Because that has a lot to do with how Stable the base is going to be for Supporting gear so I found that as Measuring between between those I could Get a little over 32 in between the legs Which was actually a little bit wider Than what a lot of the competitors are I've done this test with a lot of Different uh tripods the best in the Travel tripod class continues to be Peak Designs travel tripod it's 37 in so That's a significant amount larger and Thus a more stable base but compared to A lot of you know the peak design Representing one of the most expensive In the class so compared to a lot of of Others this actually did fairly well in That Regard I also did various tests with That phone holder I found that it did
Work well and of course you know once You have it mounted on there the ability To use the ball head to put in whatever Position that you want was useful uh you Could also utilize obviously not the the Separate quick release plate but this Still does have a smooth panning action And you could do that though the weight Is a little bit heavier so you you know You could do a panning with the foam but I actually really like the addition of That uh that other quick release plate Because it's just a little bit smoother In its operation a little less Resistance for that and so and then I Just used it in I've used it for about a Month for filming episodes for doing Photography work and frankly in all of Those things it works just fine with the Exception of the fact that it didn't Always work with all of the Arca Accessories that I was working with and So I actually during this time I tried To use it on two different Sigma lenses That I was reviewing both of which had a Tripod collar and foot and it as for the Reasons I've already mentioned it didn't Work quite well for that so let's talk About some things I like and some things I don't like starting with things things That I like obviously price is really Attractive here carbon fiber travel Tripods can cost easily two to four Times more than this and so this feels
Like a really solid value for what you Get I also noted that it feels very Sturdy and stable particularly if you're Just using it's a five leg extension and So if you're just using you can get up To a really nice height already a very Usable height and I found that at that Point it was really really stable now if You extend up the center column you Introduce a lot less stability and it's Not bad you know for what happens when You extend a cender center column Instead of that solid base but I Certainly preferred it without the Center column extended and certainly Even if it's extended extended a little Bit and not to its full height that's True for all of these it also has a Surprising number of accessories Included for being a very reasonably Priced tripod so that's obviously a Bonus you're getting I think a lot for Your money here I also really liked that Panning quick release plate it's Something new that I've not seen before I've actually found it more useful than What I anticipated and and found it to Be something that I can reach for and of Course obviously with this design it's Something that you could use on multiple Tripods as well and so uh that was a Useful accessory included I also found That the kind of the design around not Just being a an ad adapter to put a
Phone on but also to be able to use it As a grip uh I I really like its actual Use I do wish you know in some cases the Phone holder is integrated into the Design in some way you know Pete design Designs it to where it slides up the Center column um ha designs it to where It actually pulls out of the the base of The the head there I find those to be Easy because you don't have to go and Find an accessory they're they're built In they're right there and so you you Always have them with you and so I would Have preferred it to be integrated into The design Su but I do think it is a the Actual accessory itself is really well Designed and implemented it even has a Cold shoe on it if you want to do Further expansion so I do appreciate the Inclusion of This while it may seem to be kind of Counterintuitive for this company to Integrate so well with Peak design I as A peak design user I do appreciate that And I appreciate that compatibility Across the board it means that I'm not Having to try to find for example a Another you know to either swap out a You know Peak design quick release plate To go on this or if I'm using the quick Release plate from this I don't have to Worry about it not fitting into my Capture clip or something like that so I Do appreciate that integration I also
Felt like the ball head for a travel Tripod actually felt more robust and Better executed than a lot of these that I've used the materials here are nice uh It's clearly aluminum all throughout This and then of course you know going Into the carbon fiber for the legs Themselves everything seems to be quite Nicely engineered and so that's fairly Surprising at this price point I also Really really like the design for the Ratcheting of the legs this can be Something that's a bit of a pain on some Designs but this integration is really Really well executed and so it's very Quick very intuitive to get at and uh it Is something that I really really liked Now ironically I love the ratcheting of The legs but my least favorite thing About the design is actually the leg Locks uh out of the box they're Extremely stiff they're um there's a lot Of pressure that's there but the problem Is is that there is actually no Adjustment place on them and so my Concern is is it over the process of Time that these for one thing this is Basically the only plastic thing that I Can find here and so the fact that I Think these are potential break points But also as they start to invariably Loosen up over time which I think they Will do the fact that there isn't really An adjustment Point means that you can't
Retighten them nor at this stage could You loosen them a little bit to make Them make there to be a little bit less Resistance I've found them to be a Little bit uncomfortable I just did a a Polar Plunge and I got a little bit of Frostbite in the tips of my fingers so My tips of my fingers are a little bit Sensitive right now and I did not uh Enjoy pulling at these with my Fingertips at the moment because that Resistance is a little on the heavy side Another thing that I didn't love is that While it does fold up you know nice and Compact it's not as compact as com Competing uh tripods and so at its you Know minimum uh size it is still over 19 In long and so that compares to like the Most compact I recently reviewed free Wells travel tripod it get gets down Under 17 in uh the ha is 17.7 in and of Course the winner in this class is Peak Designs uh carbon fiber tripod and it Gets down as small as 15.4 in so you're Talking about about 4 in longer uh for This as opposed to the winner in the Class which is the peak design and so uh Again useful but it may stick up those Extra few inches means that if I'm Putting it in my backpack for example It's going to stick up a little bit Higher than what some competing ones Might the other thing that I'm a little Bit critical of is the fact that yes you
Can remove the center column quite Easily you just screw off the area where You hang your backpack from this hook Down here and if you unscrew that it Allows you to then loosen the center Column and to pull it right out and so Obviously you could invert that for Shooting in a underneath position and You can also swap out to the short uh Center column and so that you can get Low down work the problem is that you do Have to utilize an allen key to loosen Off the ball head and so it it's not a Toolless operation to do that so it Takes a little bit longer to do that Swap maybe than what I would like the Other thing that I don't like is Something I've already alluded to and That is that there is I think there's More arcer related issues than what I Have typically found with these travel Tripods doesn't seem like there's a Whole lot of range of adjustment in the Actual quick quick release mechanism and So you basically need to be this width There's no ability to tighten or loosen It's going to work within a a very Preset and I do like the locking Mechanism I like it when when you're Using a compatible uh quick release Plate it's great but the fact that it's Not as versatile means that in some Situations I'm not going to be use it be Able to use it with everything so what's
My conclusion I actually think this is a Really nicely made travel tripod outside Of the leg lock mechanism which I am not A fan of at the same time I will also Freely admit there isn't really any Killer app I think that a lot of these That I've reviewed in recent years There's something about them that makes Them really stand out you know they're Either really really small or there's Some really clever feature that's Integrated in them this basically has a Lot of the features that other travel Tripods have but it doesn't have Anything that I would point to to say That's really unique to this this is the Lan reason why you should buy it so what Is the most compelling reason to buy This I think the actual answer is Probably the price this is a really Strong value and you're going to be able To get into a carbon fiber travel tripod Which means you're traveling lighter and Carbon fiber is nice and stable when it Comes to reducing vibration that's great But your main reason to get in this is The fact that it is cheaper I think that In many ways it mirrors a lot of the Compelling aspects of peak designs Approach travel tripod but at a much Lower price point it's not as good don't Get me wrong it's not as good as Peak Design although there are a few areas Where I really like it like when it
Comes to the execution of the ball head It's not as short as what Peak designs Is but it is a more functional ball head Than what Peak designs is I'm actually Filming with the peak design trap travel Tripod right now so if you're on a Limited budget I don't know that I have Used anything that costs less than this That has as much much function and value Is what this does so this really does Hit a sweet spot of the combination of Price point and then the function and The performance of design and if that Works for you then the newer light trip 35 is probably a really interesting Option for you to consider in a travel Tripod I'm Dustin Abbott and if you look In the description down below you can Find linkage there to a text review There's some buying links there and of Course as always thanks for watching Have a great day and let the light [Music] In
