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7 Best Travel Tripods for Your Next Trip – Lightweight & Strong

Traveling with a tripod may not be convenient, but it can open the doors for creative photography or video. Here are 7 great options that won't weigh you down.

Camera Gear Guides | Tripod & Monopod Guides | By Mark Condon | Last Updated: April 2, 2024

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To find the best travel tripods of the year, I tested over 50 different models from various brands at different price points

From the latest lightweight carbon fiber tripod to budget aluminium models, this guide will help you choose the best way to stabilise your camera while not sacrificing weight and space.

Great stability, useful features and compact design takes up less space in your travel bag. Available in carbon fiber or aluminium with life-time warranty.

A good camera tripod will let you blur flowing water or star trails for beautiful long-exposure photography, create an engaging time-lapse video, capture panoramic landscapes, or even take a self-portrait.

Tripods allow you to get sharper and clearer photos than shooting handheld, especially in low-light environments.

A great tripod for travel should be strong, compact, and lightweight to carry mirrorless and DSLR cameras with long lenses attached with minimal vibrations.

The top models should also offer unique features to make your shooting experience more efficient and enjoyable.

Based on my testing and independent research, here are the tripods you should consider for your next trip.

(I’ll update this list as new models are released, so keep checking back.)

Table of Contents

I’ve been a professional photographer for over 10 years, having traveled all over the world to shoot weddings.

Whenever I fly, I like to pack the lightest tripod available with a height and sturdiness that suits my needs for the event.

Over the years, I’ve used many different tripods, from budget to high-end.

For this guide, I reviewed a mixture of tripods I own alongside those supplied by various brands.

This is a summary of what I consider to be the best tripods for traveling the world, based on various essential factors outlined below.

Stick to the travel tripods on this list to narrow your choices to the top options for the average traveling photographer/filmmaker, and remember the following factors when choosing:

• Size (when folded) – The smaller, the better for packability.
• Height – closest to the user’s eye level is best if sturdiness/strength is maintained. Min height allows macro/close-up work.
• Weight – the lighter, the better if sturdiness/strength is preserved. Between 1 and 1.5 kg offers good strength to weight.
• Build – a carbon fiber travel tripod is lighter and stronger than the aluminium equivalent, but also more expensive.
• Sturdiness is measured by rigidity under load vs. maximum weight capacity and the number of leg sections (less is better).
• Value for money – the price is justified based on overall quality. It is within the budget of the average travel photographer or backpacker.
• Additional Tripod Features – anything unique that adds value.

The best portable tripod will be different for each person reading this article – only you will know which of the factors above are most important to your needs.

What is the Best Travel Tripod in 2024?

1. peak design | best travel tripod for mirrorless or dslr cameras.

Material:  Carbon fiber or aluminum alloy | Maximum height: 153cm / 60.2″ | Minimum height: 14cm / 5.5″| Folded length: 39cm / 15.3″ | Weight: (Alu) 1.56kg / 3.4 lb (CF) 1.27kg / 2.79lb | Feet: Pads (spikes optional extra) | Number of leg sections:  5 |  Max load: 9kg / 19.8lb | Further Testing: Peak Design Travel Tripod Review

• Ultra-compact storage
• Well-built and durable
• Quick to deploy
• Unique & innovative features
• Feels great to use
• Good maximum extended height
• Often out of stock
• Carrying case is tight
• Size: 10/10

The standout feature of this highly portable tripod is its unique ability to collapse into a tubular unit, similar in diameter to a can of beans.

When folded, there’s none of the ‘dead space’ which is typical of other tripods – it’s svelte enough to slide into the water bottle holder of the Peak Design travel backpack , with no protruding ball head and ultra-compact quick-release plate. Folded height is impressive, at only 39cm.

Users of travel tripods are sensitive to the packed volume of the tripod – this is where the Peak Design tripod excels.

• Max Height: 9/10

At full extension (153cm), it’s among the taller tripods for cameras tested – tall enough for comfortable usage while still retaining good rigidity. It’s best to avoid extending center columns if possible, particularly on windy days, but this is the case with all lightweight tripods.

• Weight: 8/10

Both the aluminum and carbon fiber travel tripods are relatively lightweight – there are certainly lighter products, but they often sacrifice strength and rigidity. The 29g weight saving for the carbon fiber tripod for camera use may not be worth the extra price

• Build: 10/10

As with all Peak Design products, the Travel Tripod is very well-designed and built. There’s also a lifetime guarantee – perfect peace of mind for backpackers and frequent travelers. Also great as a tripod for spotting scope use.

• Sturdiness: 9/10

Despite having 5 leg sections, the stiffness and damping of the Peak Design Travel Tripod is impressive.

With a maximum load capacity of 9kg, you can safely support any camera + zoom lens. In high winds, there’s a hook beneath the center column to hang a weight, like your backpack.

It’s the best tripod for mirrorless camera users based on average mirrorless body sizes and lenses. Some flagship DSLR cameras combined with heavy telephoto lenses may unbalance it, but these are minority cases.

• Features: 10/10

Innovative features that don’t exist on other travel tripods. (Bottom left: smartphone holder concealed in centre column.)

In testing, I found that the Peak Design tripod still has the most unique and useful features of any other lightweight tripod.

It’s undoubtedly the best camera tripod for anyone who values original design quirks, despite the fact that other DSLR tripod brands have frequently mimicked it since its release.

The stem of the ball head nestles between the tops of the tripod legs when collapsed, ensuring no protrusions and compact storage.

Lever locks can be controlled with one hand while you adjust the camera angle with the other, making adjustment of locking angles fast and efficient.

Legs slide in and out smoothly, and leg locks are strong yet easy to open – full deployment of all 5 sections is very fast.

The Center column hook conceals a mobile phone holder  neatly tucked away.

Rubber feet are replaceable for spikes, and the column can be inverted for macro photography camera setups. Even the protective case is well-designed, with all-over padding and not an inch of superfluous material.

The unique rounded design with legs that tuck away neatly makes this my pick of the best backpacking tripod.

Sliding it in and out of a side pocket is so much easier than even the most compact travel tripod – since nothing is ‘sticking out’, it’s almost like you’re stowing a smooth waterbottle.

• Value: 8/10

Reddit users agree that the Peak Design Tripod is worth it despite the high price.

This is by no means a budget tripod – you’re paying for a unique design and innovative features that don’t exist on other models.

A lifetime warranty is a huge benefit, making the price tag more justifiable.

The aluminium model is the best bang for your buck, although carbon fiber feels/looks better and has a slight weight advantage (I own the carbon fiber tripod).

Final Score: 64/70

Truly one of a kind, beating all other travel tripods with a unique space-saving body / ball-head design, fast leg deployment, impressive strength-to-weight ratio, and overall good looks, giving it that desirable x-factor. Lifetime warranty is a huge benefit. Highly recommended as the best lightweight tripod for backpacking.

Check the latest price >>

2. HEIPI 3-in-1 | Best Travel Tripod for Stability

Material: Carbon fiber (aluminium sub tripod) | Maximum height: 149cm / 59″ | Minimum height: 14.5cm / 5.7″| Folded length: 44.5cm / 17.5″ | Weight: 1.35kg / 2.97lb | Feet: Pads and spikes | Number of leg sections:  5 |  Max load: 25g / 55lb | Further Testing: HEIPI tripod review

• Stable and solid construction
• Useful and unique sub tripod
• Efficient locking ring
• Impressive maximum load
• Hidden mobile mount
• 2 tripods for price of one
• Currently available on Indiegogo only
• Slightly larger/heavier than Peak Design’s

With a similar tubular design to the Peak Design travel tripod, the HEIPI saves space in your backpack by eliminating any gaps between folded legs and retracted ball head.

Everything tucks in perfectly, allowing it to slide into its carrying case easily (much better than Peak’s overly tight one).

150cm is decent as a maximum height, but as with the other options, it still means tall photographers will need to stoop a little.

With a carbon fiber body and aluminium subtripod, the HEIPI is light at 1.35kgs (1.2kgs without the sub tripod).

This is a sweet spot for lightweight travel without sacrificing on stability in higher winds or grassy/unlevel ground.

However, for truly lightweight travel, there are lighter options.

The HEIPI feels very well built, with the legs sliding in and out smoothly and leg locks securing everything in place with confidence.

The ball head is robust and durable and looks like it can stand consistent outdoor use and the rigours of travel.

All 3 component pieces work with 3rd party accessories (3/8″) – slider, ball heads, tripods, etc.

• Sturdiness: 10/10

Here’s where the HEIPI excels and is unique among the tripods I tested.

A separate aluminium ‘subtripod’ is set inside the main tripod, adding to its rigidity when retracted.

When extended, since there are 3 legs in place of a regular singular centre column, it’s 3x as stable as other travel tripods.

Due to the increased stability, I consider it to be the best tripod for astrophotography at this price.

It’s also the best travel tripod for DSLR users who need something strong while remaining portable.

The subtripod is extended and deployed by a centre column lock ring, easily rotatable with a couple of hand twists.

Opening it completely releases the subtripod, which can be used for low-angle, macro photography, or even as a mini tripod for use on a table.

When used in conjunction with the main tripod, the subtripod adds rigidity far superior to using a single centre column. This is currently the only travel tripod with this feature.

Rubber feet can be screwed open to reveal spiked feet for use on sand, ice, grass or snow. You also get 3x hex keys, a water-repellent soft case, and a quick-release plate.

The detachable ball head is like an extra accessory that can be used on either tripod—the main one or the sub one.

There’s a handy bubble level and even a counterweight hook which allows you to add some extra stability by hanging your bag under the tripod.

By no means a budget tripod, the HEIPI is a high-quality product and is priced accordingly. It’s great value for a carbon fiber tripod with this many features.

Remember that you’re essentially getting two tripods for the price of one (the mini tripod is useful and unique, fitting snugly into the main one).

It’s currently only available on the HEIPI site, but it’s still a good deal cheaper than the equivalent carbon fiber Peak Design Travel Tripod.

Final Score: 65/70

Innovative one-of-a-kind concealed subtripod design provides stability when extended and retracted and offers two-for-one functionality. Excellent maximum payload means you can attach heavier cameras and telephoto lenses with no issues. Compact, space-saving design is perfect for backpacking.

3. 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey | Best Tripod for Backpacking

Material: Magnesium alloy | Maximum height: 147.5cm / 58″ | Minimum height: 18.5cm7.2″  Folded length: 35cm / 13.67″ | Weight: 1.5kg / 3.4 lb | Feet: Pads (spikes optional extra) | Number of leg sections: 5 (+ 2 section column) | Max load: 14kg / 30lb | Further Testing: 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey Review

• Multiple attachment points
• Stylish design
• Strong legs
• 14kg maximum load capacity
• Bubble level
• Colours not for every taste

Designed specifically for travel and lightweight backpacking, the Punks Corey packs down to an impressive 35cm / 13.67″, with the legs folding back 180 degrees over the center column, helping to create a slim overall packed diameter for your camera bag .

• Max Height: 8/10

At (147.5cm / 58″) extended height, the 3 Legged Thing is tall enough for comfortable usage while still having good rigidity.

Legs can be positioned at multiple locking angles or splayed close to the ground for low-angle or close-up travel photography .

At 1.5kg / 3.4 lb, the Punks Corey is a lightweight travel tripod for photographers who prefer to travel carry-on only. Its size/weight make it ideal as a backpacking tripod.

Aircraft-grade magnesium alloy construction is unique for travel tripods, offering excellent durability and one of the best strength:weight ratios. Excellent ball head design.

With 5 leg sections and a unique 2 section center column, the 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey maintains great rigidity. A unique detachable d-ring under the column allows you to hang extra weight for increased stability. Impressive maximum load capacity of 14 kg / 30 lb.

Unique design and useful details make for a fun and functional tripod for backpacking.

Twist locks offer fast leg deployment. Double center column increases rigidity and allows efficient fine-tuning of overall height. Fast-adjusting AirHed Neo ball head with grippy knobs.

Precision-engineered leg lock system offers excellent stability and rigidity. 2 spirit levels (head/leg) for precise leveling. Ergonomic ‘bubble’ grip leg locks for all-weather use. Detachable monopod .

Invertible column for macro camera setups. 1/4″ screw foot with multiple accessory options. Tri-mount plate with hollowed spurs for clipping on accessories. Durable drawstring bag. ‘Toolz’ multi-tool, including hex key, coin key, key ring, carabiner, and bottle opener! Available in multiple attractive colours.

• Value: 9/10

Good value to suit most budgets. 5-year limited warranty against manufacturing defects.

Final Score: 63/70

Detachable monopod leg, the ability to splay the legs completely for low-angle work, unique detailing, friction control knob design, excellent strength:weight ratio and overall efficiency in use. Highly recommended lightweight travel tripod for backpacking.

4. Leofoto LS224C | Best Lightweight Travel Tripod for DSLR or Mirrorless Cameras

Material: Carbon Fiber |  Maximum height: 127cm / 50″ | Minimum height: 119cm / 47″ | Folded length: 47.5cm / 18.7″ | Weight: 1.42 kg (3.14 lbs) | Feet: Pads & Spikes | Number of leg sections: 4 | Max load: 6kg / 13.2 lb

• Lightweight & compact
• Sturdier than competitors
• Great ball head
• Unique removable centre-column
• Spiked feet included
• Lighter max load

At a folded length of only 47.5cm / 18.7″, the Leofoto tripod folds down nice and compact with everything fitting snugly into its included carry bag.

Since the centre column is removable and optional, there’s no negative space between all 3 legs, meaning that the folded tripod occupies much less volume when folded up.

The Lefoto tripod’s height is around 127cm / 50″, which is average among the tripods we tested. As with all travel tripods that focus on weight-saving and compactness, it’s not advisable to use the centre column for optimal stability unless the ground is completely even/stable and there’s zero wind.

• Weight: 10/10

The Leofoto LS224C is the lightest travel tripod I tested and much lighter than most others at its price point. Available only in carbon fiber, it weighs in at an impressive 1.42 kg (3.14 lbs) with the ball head installed, making it perfect for all-day backpacking or tight airline carry-on luggage allowances while traveling.

If you need an ultralight tripod for backpacking or solo travel, this is the model to get – it’s the best lightweight tripod for traveling I’ve come across.

• Build: 9/10

You may not have heard of Leofoto, but it’s a brand of Laitu Photographic, a manufacturer that has been making tripods and accessories since 2014. The LS224C is very well built and feels great when extending the legs. The leg hinge joints are nice and stiff, inspiring confidence when setting the Leofoto up.

Everything feels very stable on the Leofoto when the legs are fully deployed, and the centre column is unattached.

Obviously, this will reduce the tripod’s overall height, but it’s a small sacrifice for the greatly improved stability.

Source: The Center Column

As can be seen in the screenshot above, David from the Center Column rated the LeoFoto’s stiffness alongside much more expensive travel tripods.

• Features: 9/10

The LS224C is one of the few travel tripods we’ve seen that haven’t been designed around a centre column.

This is a great space-saver when packing light since the tripod can have its legs folded closer together, reducing the overall volume it occupies.

The twist locks on the leg joints don’t need to be twisted more than 1/4 of a turn before the legs release, making the tripod deployment fast and simple.

Leg locks can be pulled out to unlock the legs for them to be splayed to 55, then 85 degrees for close-up photography.

The rubber feet can be replaced with the included steel spikes for use on grass or soft ground – a nice feature not commonly seen on travel tripods at this price point.

Overall, this lightweight camera tripod ticks a lot of boxes making it a great buy no matter what genre of photography you’re involved in.

• Value: 10/10

With this kind of performance and features from such a light tripod for travel, it’s surprising to hear that the LS284C is available for under $200.

For such a compact tripod that weighs less and performs better than others twice its price, it’s incredible value for money.

Great build quality, impressively lightweight and stiffer than its competition. If you can get past the relatively unknown brand name, it’s an absolute bargain.

5. ZOMEI Z699C | Best Budget Travel Tripod for Beginners

Material: Carbon fiber |  Maximum height: 152cm / 60″ | Minimum height: 35cm / 3.7″ | Folded length: 35cm / 15″ | Weight: 1.3kg / 3.3lb | Feet: Pads and spikes | Number of leg sections:  5 | Max load: 15kg / 33lb | Further testing: Zomei Z699C Review 

• Great value for money
• Great for beginners
• Folds up nice and small
• Super light weight
• Converts to monopod
• Low quality protective bag
• Not ideal for cold weather/gloved operation

Folded up, the Zomei Z699C is compact enough to suit any small camera backpack . Folded height (35cm / 15″) makes it the smallest travel tripod I tested. Having a small tripod is great for traveling carry-on only, which is my preferred way to fly.

At full extension (152cm / 60″), the Zomei tripod is tall enough for comfortable usage while still retaining good rigidity.

Legs can be locked at multiple angles, or splayed close to the ground for low-angle or close-up travel photography.

• Weight: 9/10

At just 1.3kg / 3.3 lb, the plastic tripod head helps keep weight down. Carbon fiber construction offers the best weight savings.

Carbon fiber tripods are stiffer, lighter, more weather/corrosion/scratch-resistant, and in general, stronger than aluminium. They also look and feel nicer.

• Build: 7/10

Legs slide smoothly, and locks on each leg can be deployed all at once with one hand.

Grips could be larger/grippier for cold-weather / gloved operation. Leg grips are a nice addition and provides padding when in transit.

The plastic ball head is basic but includes bubble level. The protective bag feels low-quality but does its job.

Good rigidity and center column hook for additional stability.

Surprisingly sturdy considering its lightness – max load of 15kg / 33lb can support any camera/lens combination.

• Features: 7/10

The Zomei features everything most traveling photographers need.

Reverse folding design. Monopod conversion. Multiple leg angles, including inverted macro. Contoured rubber feet for flat and metal ‘spikes’ for outdoor/uneven surfaces.

Twist locks are great for fast deployment.

The Zomei Z699C is a great-value compact carbon fiber tripod . You won’t find carbon fiber at this build quality for less. It’s the best cheap travel tripod when you still need high quality and the best budget tripod for travel I’ve come across so far this year.

Final Score: 61/70

If you’re looking for great bang your buck this is the best affordable travel tripod. Details aren’t as impressive as higher priced rivals, but operation is decent and size/weight/strength are competitive. Easy and enjoyable to use for beginners.

6. Manfrotto Befree Live | Best Travel Tripod for Video

Material: Aluminum / Carbon Fiber |  Maximum height: 150cm / 59.06″ | Minimum height: 40cm / 15.75″ | Folded length: 40cm / 15.75″ | Weight: (Alu) 1.76kg / 3.9lb (CF) 1.36kg / 3lb | Feet: Pads | Number of leg sections:  5 | Max load: 3.9kg / 8.8lb

• M-Lock twist-lock system quick and convenient
• Fluid head tripod for smooth video panning
• Included carry bag
• Levelling ball joint for accurate alignment
• Hook for attaching accessories
• Fluid arm position can be adjusted
• No convertible feet
• No friction adjustment for panning

When folded down, the BeFree Live is a relatively compact tripod, especially considering it has that all-important fluid head and lever for smooth video panning movements.

However, the legs and head do not rest snuggly against the central core, making the entire volume of the unit larger than the other travel tripods we tested,

You could remove the tripod head completely to allow the legs to sit closer together if you want to pack it even tighter.

At 150cm / 59.06″, the maximum height is comparable to other travel tripods at this price point.

With its compact folded length of only 40cm / 15.75″, the height should be good enough for most travel photography.

The head itself weighs only 380g (0.84 lbs) which is really light for a fluid head and can hold up to 3.9kg / 8.8lb. As for the total weight of (Alu) 1.76kg / 3.9lb (CF) 1.36kg / 3lb, these are respectable for travel tripods for video.

There’s no need to opt for the carbon fiber model unless owning the most lightweight tripod is a top priority to you.

• Build: 8/10

Being a Manfrotto tripod, the BeFree Live is well-made and feels good in the hand when deploying the twist-lock leg sections.

The inverse foldable leg design is easy to operate, and everything sits nicely in the included carry bag.

• Sturdiness: 8/10

We tested the Manfrotto BeFree Live with a Sony a7IV and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens in average winds, and it performed well.

Unless you’re using a camera/lens setup that exceeds the max load, you shouldn’t have any issues with how sturdy it is.

• Features: 8/10

The arm of the fluid head can be fully adjusted, so it’s in the right position when you’re positioning the tripod.

When using the tilt control, there’s a tightening knob to open it up fully for a nice and smooth tilting movement.

The fluid head fits onto other travel tripods, so if you need to swap it for whatever reason, it’s simple to do so. There’s also a bubble level for precise setups.

It also features a feature called ‘Easy Link’ (standard 3/8” attachment) for optional accessories and a hook to attach a weight for stabilization.

At around $270, the BeFree Video is excellent value for money if you’re looking for travel tripods with fluid heads for shooting video.

Sure, you may be able to find cheaper, but it won’t be from such a reputable brand as Manfrotto. It’s the best video tripod at this price, and highly recommended.

Final Score: 57/70

The BeFree line of travel tripods is enormously popular, and this is the version intended for video shooters. Manfrotto is synonymous with making high-quality tripods, and the BeFree Live is no exception, available for a great price for backpackers who need a decent travel tripod for video.

7. Joby GripTight One GorillaPod | Best Phone Tripod for Hiking

Material: Plastic/Aluminum | Dimension: 1.34 x 1.57 x 6.50 in  Weight: 71 g (0.16 lbs) |  Max load: 325 g (0.72 lbs)

• Flexible legs
• Fits all smartphones
• Durable build
• Works as hand grip for vlogging
• Only 1-year warranty

As a mini (aka tabletop) tripod kit, the Gorillapod GripTight One is a lot smaller than other travel tripods and takes up little room in your travel bag – it’s so small, in fact, that it can fit easily into your pocket.

This makes it my top pick as best hiking tripod, when you don’t want to burden your backpack with a full sized light weight tripod.

• Height: 5/10

A small camera tripod such as a Gorillapod doesn’t have a fully extended height since it’s intended to be used with the legs partially splayed or bent to wrap around thin objects. It’s also an ‘attached’ ball head tripod, meaning that you can’t change the ball head for another.

Either way, you’ll usually be either crouching down or trying to find something higher to secure it to or balance it on.

It’s the best compact tripod if you’re really limited in space in your backpack or just need something to carry in a jacket pocket.

Weighing in at a tiny 71 g (0.16 lbs), this flexible tripod can be taken on every travel adventure without a second thought. It’s the best hiking tripod, so long as you don’t mind the lack of extension.

Made from ABS Plastic, Stainless Steel and TPE, the Gorillapod is the best tripod for travel when camera bag space is at a minimum. Obviously, it’s not as robustly built as some of the heavy-duty tripods , but it doesn’t need to be.

• Sturdiness: 7/10

The GripTight is designed for any smartphone, with or without a case (56mm – 91mm), such as all the modern iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices. Leg joints are stable and strong, but you’ll need to find thin tubular objects to wrap them around or flat surfaces for optimum stability (since all leg lengths are identical).

The base of the mount features a 1/4″-20 standard tripod mount meaning that you can attach it to other travel tripods if you need some extra height.

Other than that, the key feature is the ability to wrap the legs around thin objects or use them all together as a handy grip while filming.

If you’re after the most portable camera tripod, nothing beats a Gorillapod, which can fit in a jacket pocket.

If you’re looking for the best tripod for hiking that is able to stand up taller like a traditional tripod, you’ll need look elsewhere on this list.

At less than $25, the GripTight One is amazing value for money, and the 1-year warranty is adequate for regular travel. This makes it the best mini tripod for anyone on a tight budget.

Final Score: 59/70

Gorillapods allow you to secure your camera to objects for a variety of shooting angles and added convenience when traveling alone. Rubberized ball joints provide grippy finger placement for one-handed selfies and vlogging.

FAQs about Travel Tripods

Do I need a tripod for travel photography?

Yes, a tripod will help you take better photos in low light when traveling by stabilizing your camera and reducing movement. This will allow you to use a slower shutter speed to capture more light without having to rely on a higher ISO which can introduce noise into your images.

A tripod can also be useful when taking timed shots or self-portraits, allowing you to include yourself in your travel photos.

That said, you can use any nearby object as a camera stand – rocks, walls, even the ground – as long as you don’t need adjustable elevation or optimal stability, you can use pretty much anything as a make-shift tripod.

How heavy should a travel tripod be?

It’s important to have a lightweight tripod for travel, so the usual trade-off between having a stiffer/more stable tripod that is heavier isn’t so relevant. As long as the tripod is strong enough to hold your camera and lens without swaying, try and find the lightest tripod you can – this will make your traveling experience more enjoyable.

How do travel tripods differ from regular tripods?

They are typically lighter, have more compact dimensions when folded, and are designed for easy transportation. Regular tripods might offer more stability and height but are usually heavier and bulkier.

Can travel tripods support DSLR cameras?

Yes, many are sturdy enough to support DSLR cameras and lenses, but it’s important to check the tripod’s weight capacity to ensure it meets your gear’s needs.

How do you stabilize a tripod?

You should set up the tripod on stable ground and only extend the number of leg sections that are absolutely required – try and avoid the centre column at all costs. If your tripod has a hook, hang something relatively heavy from it, such as your camera bag – just don’t exceed the maximum weight capacity.

Also, you obviously already know how many legs a tripod has , but do you know why they have 3 legs? It’s for optimum stability.

Are travel tripods stable in windy conditions?

While they are designed for portability and may not be as stable as heavier studio models, many come with features like hook weights for added stability in windy conditions.

Can travel tripods be taken on airplanes?

Yes, they are designed to fit into luggage or attach to backpacks, making them suitable for air travel. However, always check with your airline for specific carry-on restrictions.

How do I maintain my travel tripod?

Regular maintenance includes cleaning the legs and joints, checking for loose parts, and, if necessary, lubricating the moving parts according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Always ensure it’s dry before folding it away to prevent rust or corrosion.

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Mark Condon is a British wedding photographer and editor of Shotkit. When he’s not taking photos or reviewing the latest camera gear and software, Mark can be found cycling around the northern rivers.

50 Comments

Hi, Thanks for this amazing piece of product. Last morning I was trying to find out which tripod is the best lightweight tripod that I should go for. Your article was very useful in this regard.

I started to learn about photography recently, but mostly by myself with the help of the internet. And I’m looking to buy a tripod for it. But until now I have no idea which type I should take on. Because everything looks good nowadays. I might buy the small and the big one, as I wanted to try vlogging and even take photography more seriously. I really want to think before investing money on them, because I have a problem with budgeting sometimes especially when everything seems like a good item to invest in.

Ah yes, paralysis of decision! I know it well, Lala… Why not just go for my number one recommendation, or the second option on the list (which is slightly cheaper)?

Sirui T025X. Only 752grams and folds to 30.5cm. Max height 1.3m. Great for mirrorless. I’ve been using it for couple years now and its always with me everyday.

Ah yep, some Sirui reviews coming here soon actually Izham. They’re great value for money.

A great comprehensive review thanks for sharing

Glad you liked it, David :-)

What would be your thoughts on this tripod? My friend told me to give it a try but I’m not sure if it would be good from my small camera (the camera is pretty light).

Thanks in advance

Hey Roland! What is your camera/lens? It looks like an ok tripod, but depends on what weight you attach to it.

After reading the travel tripod reviews I purchased a ZOMEI Z699C tripod for my travels. On the first trip the bottom section of one leg dropped off. It rolled off a jetty and was lost in the sea so I couldn’t recover it. Zomei is not responding to my emails concerning either a warranty claim or the supply of a replacement leg for a repair.

Hey Robert – when you say it dropped off, did you loosen the leg to the point where it came off? All tripods listed here will behave in the same way if you keep twisting and twisting a leg. I can reach out to Zomei on your behalf, but it depends on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Hi mark, you have put great effort but please also guide me that which is best shooting tripod among these with good quality and affordable price.

What are your criteria Rachel?

Thanks for the write up! I just purchased the Manfrotto MTPIXI-B PIXI Mini which was actually surprisingly cheap for a Manfrotto product. I plan on using it for Vlogs and my upcoming trip to NZ

Sure thing Lewis. I have that Pixi too – it’s a great alternative to the Gorillapod when you need something a little simpler.

I suppose there is a mistake in data about Gorilla weight.

Great spot Gienio! Thank you – I’ve fixed it now.

Here is my issue. I want a more compact version of the alta pro, something that is more between 3 and 4 lbs. Just not gonna happen. LOL.

Season’s Greetings! While the Oben CT3535 Carbon Fiber Tripod is good for a mirrorless or small DSLR with a smaller lens than the typical 70-200mm zoom, a much more robust Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod than CAN handle any 70-200 f/2.8 zoom on any DSLR or mirrorless camera, is the FLM CP26. It is absolutely Awesome, and the ball head has numerous features, some of which are unique to the brand, such as a Pan function that can ratchet 360 degrees in 15-degree increments…great for precise panoramas! It is superbly well made, a marvel of engineering and design! Highly recommended. FLM-Canada supplies the US. Happy Holidays!

If i’m not mistaken, the vanguard pro isn’t a travel tripod. This review is a bit misleading.

Actually, I stand corrected – maybe I should of read the start of the review!

Great review btw.

Is the Zomei review of the 669 or the 699? Obviously you mention the 699 a lot but the link and specs seem to be for the 669.

Hey Irvin, it’s the 699. I’ll double check those links – thanks for pointing that out!

Where are the tripods from 3 Legged Thing? I’ve got three different of them for different purposes. :)

Hey Peter, I intend to update this list in 2018 with a couple from 3LT – great tripods, I agree.

I spent ages assessing tripods before buying one a couple of years ago, so I was pleased my decision of a MeFoto Roadtrip was validated by your review which I just read now.

I’m completely happy with it, but I have to say, I bought a third party swiss arca plate. The one that comes with the tripod is virtually useless. Not only do you need a tool to tighten it, as you point out, but the rubber grip doesn’t protrude enough from the base to actually provide any traction. Which is a fancy way of saying it kept falling off. The plate I bought was this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008S6G09S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It has served me very well.

I also want to add that the two fixed positions of the legs hasn’t restricted me one bit, especially as you can take out the central column of the tripod and put it back in upside down, so the camera actually hangs underneath the tripod to get really close to the ground.

Thanks for sharing that Paul – good to know there’s a better plate out there for the Roadtrip.

The Velbon Ultra Voxi L is the best travel tripod that I have used. It’s folded length is only 36cm and I can set up and put away faster than any other tripod on the market.

I’ll add it to my list to review – thanks Dennis!

Very helpful thank you, I’ll be using it while I’m out in the field conducting research so really need to save space, the Pedco looks perfect for what I need.

What about 3 legged thing tripods? These are awesome, very well made, and I think outstrip a few of these recommendations… from a pro and amateur perspective. They also have the best customer support…

I’m due to review their new ‘Leo’ soon for this list actually Robin :-)

Good article Am going to try the OMEI-Z669C-PROFESSIONAL-CARBON-FIBER-TRIPOD Monopod important for me Thx

Mark, a good article, though I realize that selecting a tripod, like cameras or camera bags, is a subjective thing indeed! John, check out the Oben CT3535…it’s a sturdy little carbon fiber travel tripod that converts to a monopod. See specs online, but I can say that it’s great for a mirrorless kit, or even a small DSLR with a wide or mid-range zoom. The quality is quite high. IMHO, I’d avoid the cheaper tripods with a fixed center column or leg spread. They won’t work at all on uneven terrain!!

Hey Steve – thanks for the tip re. the Oben CT3535 – will check it out!

I’m a fan of the Rangers 55″ tripod/monopod; it’s simple, inexpensive, and gets the job done.

Ah yes, I need to add this one to the list Matthew – only came across it last month, but have been hearing lots of great reviews about it. Here it is for anyone interested.

Not sure how you could have possibly missed the most popular in terms of coverage (YouTube, forums, reviews, etc) the Sirui T-005X (or the carbon version Sirui T-025X.

What about the Sirui T-025X Carbon with C-10S Ball Head??? I heard is no less than the MeFOTO Aluminum Roadtrip, maybe even better.

I’ll have to check that one out, Omri – thanks for the tip.

Has anyone tried K & F Concept tripods?

manfrotto 190 290 vanguard veo

I have no access to camera shops locally, so this is very useful. The reviewer with Tiger were amazing. Thanks for sharing. ( Annice)

Bradley, yes, I agree that Gitzo is the best in terms of build quality and reputation, however, for about 1/3 the price, I find that the Oben CT3535 Travel Tripod is great for a mirrorless or small DSLR system. It is carbon fiber, with all metal control knobs, and quite well built.

The Vanguard Alta Pro is seriously the best tripod out there. I freaking love mine. To be able to shoot from directly above is great for product photography and stop motion.

Daniel/Mark, While I have no experience with the Vanguard tripod, and have no doubt it serves your purpose, I recently came across a unique and extremely high-quality travel tripod…the FLM “CP26 Travel Tripod”. It has super-strong 10x Carbon Fiber legs (26 lb load capacity!) with well-made twist locks, and a ball head that has several unique features that I’ve not seen in my 35 years of photography using tripods…For example, the “Pan” function permits butter-smooth normal panning, but in addition, adds a 15-degree ratchet function that is fantastic for us landscape/panorama photographers! There is also a “Tilt” knob that locks the ball head so that only one vertical/up/down plane is available. And finally, there is a “lock” function that locks the ball head from panning/turning, so that it can easily be unscrewed and/or mounted solidly. The kit comes with very well-made screw-on metal spikes, and folds up to a compact 15.5″ for travel. Quite ingenious and precision design overall, and highly recommended for travel!!  Bottom line: This FLM tripod simply exudes Quality. Here’s the link to that awesome tripod: https://www.flmcanada.com. Please tell Ari that Steve sent you. Thanks, and I think you’ll find the FLM CP26 Travel Tripod stunningly robust, and a work of art!

Hey Steve, thanks for that – very interesting indeed. I’ll see if I can get my hands on the FLM tripod you mentioned to review later this year.

I’m also a big fan of the CP-26 Travel. I have this and a CB43-FTR ball head and it’s excellent. I’ve taken it hiking in the Scottish Highlands, and regularly use it for my Sinar Norma large format camera. For me it’s perfect because of the load capacity and the exceptional ballhead. The friction control is very smooth, and when you have a heavy camera it’s also very important.

Hi, I think you are making a mistake of one order of magnitude in your weight difference calculation. For example, the weight difference of the two peak design tripod is 290 g, not 29 g. If it was only 29g, the carbon would not be worth it at all. 😊

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Mark Condon has been a professional photographer for 10+ years and has used and reviewed hundreds of tripods for backpacking around Australia and overseas travel. He prefers to fly without checked luggage (carry-on only), so a lightweight tripod is essential.

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Tested: Four travel tripods for every budget

Although image stabilization technology has come along in leaps and bounds over the past few years, there are few things you can do to improve your low-light or telephoto images more than mounting your camera on a tripod. But many tripods are heavy and bulky, making them inconvenient to bring along on longer hikes or when traveling by air. That's where the humble travel tripod comes to the rescue.

In this review we compare the following travel tripods:

• MeFoto BackPacker S - $159.95 list / ~$120 street
• Manfrotto BeFree Advanced - $324.99 list / ~$280 street
• Peak Design Travel Tripod - $599.95 list / ~$600 street
• Gitzo Traveler Series 1 - $1014.99 list / ~$600 street

Travel tripods are available across a very wide price range, from consumer models that cost not much more than $100 to professional-grade ones that can run into the high hundreds of dollars or more. But is it worth spending that extra cash, and can you expect a significantly better experience from a more expensive tripod? To find out, we rounded up a selection of name-brand carbon-fiber travel tripods spanning the pricing gamut for an in-depth, side-by-side comparison.

In many respects, all four tripods have a lot in common. They all come with quick-release plates that you can leave attached to your camera for quicker setup, for example. And they all have reversible center columns which also let you shoot straight downwards, something that can be handy for macro shooting in particular.

They also share locks and/or safety pins to help prevent your camera accidentally being disconnected, and sandbag hooks either at the end of the center column or on the side of the spider, from which you can hang some weight for extra stability. (Just remember to include this weight along with that of your chosen camera and lens when determining your required payload!)

In this review, we'll focus mostly on how these four tripods differ from each other, and their advantages and disadvantages in real-world shooting. Read on to find out how they performed, and which was our favorite.

• 1 Introduction
• 2 MeFoto BackPacker S
• 3 Manfrotto BeFree Advanced
• 4 Peak Design Travel Tripod
• 5 Gitzo Traveler Series 1
• 6 Conclusion

I know this is two years old article but... Gitzo is an etalon of tripod legs stiffness. Now I have the Gitzo 1545T that has excellent legs stiffness. But I also have an old Velbon EL Carmagne 540 and its stiffness is basically the same. Gitzo is more compact but the weight is almost same. Please do not compare Velbon El Carmagne series tripods with Velbon tripods from the Walmart. These are absolutely different "animals".

Nice review! My company producing photographic equipment including differnt types of tripods. How to contact you about cooperation? Thank you.

We have more than 16 years' OEM&ODM experience for many well-known brands.

The PD Travel Tripod would have been a truly great tripod if it had had just four leg sections instead of five. It's light, compact, ergonomically very good and stiff. Stiff, until you pull out the fifth leg sections, that is. Then it becomes flimsy and that is a pity for such a great product. I love mine nevertheless, but if a four section version became available, I would gladly accept the extra pack length and trade it in.

This is a decent selection of tripods. Very mainstream brands, other than Peak Design.

I would like to see DPReview build on this article by reviewing some other brands--Leophoto or FLM for example. Let's find out if some of these smaller makers are producing better tripods.

A folded diameter of 1cm for Traveler seems a bit low :)

What a waste. Any budget? How about including a $75 Slik Sprint? Sirui and Benro make some nice tripods that would fit into prices between the ones listed too.

I carry a Benro Slim CF, mostly because my local shop had one open box for $100 and I needed one. I was actually going to buy the Mefoto BackPacker, but the price on the Benro was too good to pass up & it felt a bit sturdier.

What I'd really like to see is a shoot out between two well known and TALENTED photographers both using a $600 travel tripod and a $40 travel tripod. My prediction would be that there would be no difference in the results.

Then let's really quantify the results based on making them have the choice of carrying around these tripods for 1 month and see how many times they left the $600 tripod at home.

Certainly no difference if studio and flash lightening.

Hmm... well known and TALENTED photographers generally (hopefully!) make a decent living from their photography and therefore invest in gear that gets the job done and only has to be bought once. So, they'd already have the $600 (or $1200) travel tripod and might say "if you can afford one, buy this brand then stop shopping and start shooting." No $40 tripod would be bothered with.

Of course, we should all be expected to make the best use of whatever we have available, even a $40 tripod. Will it be enjoyable (or profitable)?

With my Element Big Traveller Manfrotton made an effort to comply with current trends by having an ARCA head plate. But the plate screw heads protruded by about 2mm so you cannot slide camera on like my other equipment – has to be fully open to drop it in vertically. While Manfrotto’s response was disappointing my solution, not available to most, was to get a friend with a lathe to machine down screw heads so they were flush. Also I can only fit it into supplied bag if you reverse the ball head which is very tedious. Suppose it was to get the headline overall length down.

I have to say that I was a bit surprised when I purcahased one of the MeFoto tripods. For what you pay, they're actually quite good and in some cases, only slightly cheaper than the crap you find at places like BestBuy and WalMart (the Sunpack or Platinum branded ones for example).

I also like my Sirui A1205 CF tripod I got for about $200. Although it does have the double-column, it still a good travel tripod, quite light for hiking/carrying around, and sturdy (you do have to really lock down the columns to make sure it's steady, but it's not bad for $200).

I'd say if you're on a budget the aluminum tripods from MeFoto are quite good for the money. I had a RoadTrip aluminum as my primary travel tripod for years. Upgraded to the Sirui last year because I wanted CF. Thinking of getting a really small MeFoto tripod for urbexing....

I have had only 2 tripods for over 60 years of amateur work. They cost no where near that. I replaced the last one when some how the camera mounting screw fell out and could not be replaced. I never used a quick mounting plate. My new one, with a brAnd name Kodak, seems great, nice and stable, light and easy to carry. But, it can be used only with the quick release mount. Seems it wouldn't be a problem, but I just tried to mount my 35 mm F mount lens with FTZ onto my Nikon Z50 and found I had to remove the rapid release, the mount blocked the FTZ, which has its own tripod mount female. A minor nuisance, but a nuisanse any way.

@Mike Tomkins "Much flimsier than the other travel tripods in this review"

How was this tested and what impact does this have to picture taking?

I bought a Benro IT25 last year, had several good reviews. Have not used it in the real wild, but it works ok for my casual use.

Nice and useful in travel

"Four travel tripods for every budget" with 2 of them @ $600.00 LOL

How about "4 travel tripods under $100"?

I'll look at the guy's pictures who is carrying around a beat up, duct taped, cheap tripod before some gear head, no talent poser with a $600 'travel' tripod. Creating compelling images has little to do with spending ridiculous amounts of money for a tripod that folds down to 17 inches instead of 21.

Oh and one more thing Mike Tomkins you're based in Tennesee and your readers are 97% based in the USA. What is CM? Your tape measure is really metric? Really?

The sooner the USA comes across to the metric system, the better off you will be. 2020 is a good time to learn.

When a country using the metric system walks on the moon, I'll consider it.

Going by China’s progress you have 4 years. Based on what I know of the USA you should have started considering it about 6 years ago.

You don't seem to realise that most technical and scientific fields, especially NASA, do all their primary work in metric? Sometimes, to present to the great unwashed American public, it might require translation back into that archaic imprecise, error-prone Imperial measure. Photog sensor pixels, like silicon IC, are measured in nanometers not millionths of an inch or whatever. Micrograms, nanograms, picograms etc. Even scifi has advanced more than the 'real' America. I don't know about the very first series but Star Trek TNG went metric, as has every movie. I can't remember Kubrick's 2001 but Arthur C. Clarke would have advised him that the future, especially in space, was metric. Finally, even Imperial measures are now officially/legally defined in metric terms (for the same reason metric was invented--it's the only way to do it accurately and reproducibly) so in a very real-world sense, every American measure is metric, just laboriously converted to an arcane clumsy proxy.

"You don't seem to realise that most technical and scientific fields, especially NASA, do all their primary work in metric?"

Who said I don't realize that? What's that got to do with a website who's readers are 97% from the USA using the metric system? Makes about as much sense as him publishing the article in German.

mfinley: "Makes about as much sense as him publishing the article in German."

That only makes sense if NASA scientists use German (of course in the early days several crucial ones did, but being Germans they also spoke impeccable English). NASA actually speaks metric. Any and every American with a technical education or vocation speaks metric. What you show is that while your experts who put those men on the moon speak in the sole modern 'language' of science, the American public are stuck with baby (and babel) speech. As I said, even Star Trek does! So yes, it is good and appropriate that technical magazines--even populist ones like DPR--use the primary 'language' 100% used in this technical speciality. Instead of pretending it is otherwise. But then 40% of Americans are anti-vaxxers so what can be done with such people? It's just another 'mileage' marker on your route to a failed state.

Antivaxers? what are you going on about? NASA scientists? Technicians? Star Trek? This is an article about tripods not splitting the atom.

mfinley "This is an article about tripods not splitting the atom."

Then why did you bring up the moon landing? Answer: because you thought scientific sophistication and achievement was somehow done using Imperial measures, but as I pointed out, that is quite untrue, eg. by NASA. Remember their $100m accident that was due to a utterly unnecessary conversion between the two? (Someone inadvertently applied the non-metric data and the thing blew up.) You can deny it all you like but the reality is that the world is metric, including almost all American scientific and technical activity. Instead of fighting it, why don't you try training yourself in the universal language of science? (I think Thomas Friedman has the answer to that: "as dumb as we wanna be".)

"{You can deny it all you like but the reality is that the world is metric, including almost all American scientific and technical activity. Instead of fighting it, why don't you try training yourself in the universal language of science? "

Who cares what the rest of the world is using? You do understand that " "The rest of the world" doesn't read DPRreview don't you?

Why do you assume I don't know the metric system? We learned the metric system here in the 1980s it was taught in all the schools. This is the USA we did not choose to adopt it just as we didn't choose to adopt French as the national language.

So again, why do you publish an article using the metric system where 97% of the audience doesn't use the metric system? Why not publish it in Swahili too, that makes just about as much sense.

Americans sometimes get confused and think the world revolves around them. The reality is that the 97% statistic is wrong, and this site is global (after starting out in a metric country). The USA doesn't even have a national language, can you start on that after you go Metric?

Only two countries use the US system, Liberia and the USA, this is around 400M, the other 7.1Billion do not understand the concept of inches or miles.

Metric is the logical choice for all progressive countries.

mfinley: Why not publish it in Swahili too, that makes just about as much sense.

That would be true if 97% of the world spoke Swahili. It's funny logic because it you who is trying to justify using archaic measures which the vast majority of the world abandoned a century ago. You are the Swahili speakers! Also, how do you explain adopting a metric currency system?

Are you re-tarded or something? Who cares is 97% of the world uses the metric system? 97% or the readers of this website DON'T. Hard-headed, in denial or just butt hurt that as usual the world revolves around everything the USA does.

Let me guess, you or someone in your family own blue jeans, wear Nike shoes, you use I-tunes, owns an I-phone, wear clothing with US company logos on it, somebody in your family drives a Ford, search the internet using Google, use email, watch movies made in Hollywood, listen to music made by celebrities in the US, can name more people in American politics than I can, you drink Coca-Cola, somebody in your family has eaten at McDonalds this month.... in other words, the majority of your life or people in our family's lives, what you do on a daily basis revolves around what the USA makes, or sells or puts out in the world, but you want to pretend you are aloof? Funny,funny stuff in your pretend reality.

Remember how it works - we lead, you follow.

Oh I forgot, let's add - you've likely ordered something from Amazon and have a Netflix subscription.

Mfinley, and after your little rant....... you are still too insecure to accept Metric.

Thanks for playing along.

Yes that is it, I'm insecure to accept it. That's what the butcher said to me when I ordered 200grams of cheese, he said what the hell is a gram? I tried to explain it but he didn't want to go buy another scale just for me. When the cop pulled me over and said I was going 15 miles per hour over the speed I said that can't be right, can you give that to me in kilometers over the speed limit? He said no, this is America we use imperial miles. Same thing when I went to the hardware store and told them I needed 4.6 meters of rope, they said something wierd like we sell rope in feet and inches. I asked them to sell it to me in meters but they said I would have to come back in a few years after they ordered a metric tape measure.

But yes, you're so right, I live in a non-metric country but it's correct to say I'm insecure because I don't use the metric system while the rest of the population uses Imperial, that makes so much sense. That really cleared things up for me thanks

Mfinley, you’re still struggling, ill try to help.

Your LOCAL, butcher, Police and Hardware are suitably isolated from the world outside your State and National borders, this means they can operate outside of the metric system without confusing anyone locally (thankfully).

Dpreview is an INTERNATIONAL website, it makes little sense to impose a system that only two countries in the world use. The other 193 countries would get confused.

Almost all camera equipment is produced in metric speaking countries,

What imperial focal lengths are your lenses measured in? What’s the flange distance of your favorite camera in inches? What diameter is the front element on your favorite lens in inches? What size is your camera sensor size in inches?

Even RRS understand the need to speak metric.

If this is hard, you may not want to look at what size the tyres/tires are on your car?

I thought we were done already, but you go ahead, be special and have the last word....

So silly. International? Statistically nope.

DPRreview.com stats 94.7% North America 8.93M page view Avg. Visit Duration 3:44 Pages per Visit 4.61 Top Referring Sites: feedly.com15.06% my.yahoo.com9.03% amazon.com4.77% juzaphoto.com4.58% digicame-info.com4.20% 99.98% Organic search 0.02% Paid Top 5 Organic keywords dpreview4.63% sony a7c0.41% camera comparison0.33% nikon z6 ii0.33% dp review0.32%

Australia bite the bullet and adopted the Metric System progressively from 1966 and the road signs were converted in 1974 resulting in a marginal increased in speed limit 60 MPH became 100 KPH. I was going through University then and we had to deal with imperial units to metric units conversions such as Psi to kPa half way through my engineering bachelor degree !!!

I have three main criteria for a travel tripod. It must be less than 14.5" (36.8cm) so that I can carry it inside one of my camera bags (typically the Lowepro Mini Trekker). WIth or without the head attached. It must be light, and thus carbon fiber. And if it comes with a head, it must be Arca compatible.

The reason it must fit within the camera bag is simple; I don't want to accidentally hit someone with a tripod attached to the outside of my bag. Yes, sometimes I am in the country and I don't have to worry. But sometimes I am in the city, and I do have to worry.

It must be light, of course, so carbon fiber is a must.

And it must be Arca, because I have custom Arca base plates on all of my cameras and on the tripod supports of the longer lenses.

And so I personally have two options: a Sirui T-025x for ultra portable use, and a Promaster T525P with Acratech head (the head is carried separately). I usually use the Promaster.

By the cheapest that works for you. It's like buying a cane.

That may be true if you are on a very tight budget and have to have a tripod right now. But I have been through my share of cheap tripods. I finally said to heck with it and got a RRS. That or Gitzo or FLM....

They sell $150 hammers to pound nails. It isn't so much being on a tight budget, it's just that I don't use a hammer enough to warrant the price.

Then you are a smart person. You would be not smart to spend 1400 bucks on a RRS tripod and head if you don't shoot with a tripod a lot. I shoot with a tripod a lot....

K&F Concept tripod is more than enough for most people.

What.... I just saw this.... Big mistake DPR. Rare for you. What are you thinking? You said for any budget. Plus you included the Gitzo so that opens it up for RRS and the best travel tripod in the world (by far) is the Really Right Stuff TFC-14 Mark II. It has been the best for many years and in 2018 they came out with the second version of it. The BH-30 LR ball head goes with this it and has the quick lever release. And no travel tripod should ever have a center column! I don't care how tall you are. When you travel, you bend down a little if you have to. That is one of the sacrifices to get compact and light stability. Center columns are a huge no-go, especially for light travel tripods. Greg Johnson San Antonio, Texas https://www.flickr.com/photos/139148982@N02/albums

@Greg7579 "And no travel tripod should ever have a center column!"

Why? The center column can come in very handy in some situations, especially for a short travel tripod. One does not need absolute stability in every situation and even then, no tripod actually provides this.

Tsai, I have been a photographer for a long time and I must say I totally disagree with you. Center columns on a travel tripod is a rookie mistake for so many reasons.

Like what, vibration? Yaw? Bragging rights? RARELY a problem, even with my $15 Walmart hand cranked center column tripod, which I bought as a disposable during a trip but ended up bringing home. Would be nice to tote my geared head and center column tripod for pixel shifted hi-res images but that 40lb beast is married to my 8x10 "Green Monster". It pretty much stays at home.

"One does not need absolute stability in every situation and even then, no tripod actually provides this."

Good argument. I use a tripod also just because it helps me with the composition and not because I have to keep the camera steady. Here stability is obviously not a requirement. But most of the time a tripod is used, it is fair to assume that stability is a requirement.

Having said that, I can see that a geared, self-locking center column makes a lot of sense on a studio tripod which never leaves the photo studio. Set the tripod base low and use the geared & self-locking center column to select the desired height. Some weight is here advantageous because the tripod then doesn’t topple easily. Somewhat also true for a solid (heavy) field tripod, for example, when used for field work with a large (heavy!) large format camera. But after reading The Center Column's results regarding center columns effect of stability (link https://bit.ly/3nKPCMo) I agree that a truly lightweight tripod should not have a center column. Somewhat is a catch-22 situation: if truly lightweight enough then the center column is too unstable, if heavy enough that the center column is stable, then it's not lightweight enough!

$1000 for a tripod are you friggin smoking crack?

Thats small change for a Leica owner

I just got the Novoflex TrioBalance Q6/9, I think that it is the best and most versatile you can get for your money, I was very lucky to find it, because unfortunally it is no longer in production ? Though Novoflex still have it in a picture on their homepage, the one to the left in the upper photo here... https://www.novoflex.de/en/products-637/camera-support-systems/triopod.html I can see it is still listed in some photoshop dealers... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1298133-REG/novoflex_riobal_o_6_8_tripod_base_with_integrated.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUJJgIU6a9M&list=PLokEyThO0pfPurpmzdFrCq246amUmF9L0&index=179

The Center Column has the Manfrotto ranking as one of the worst travel tripods. They use stiffness as one of the basis for their scoring and the BeFree Advanced has one of the poorest stiffness ratings which means potentially lots of vibration. That would be the one travel tripod I would stay from.

Very interesting reading though the comments and many personal recommendations.

IMO, one big factor many commenters fail to consider in their personal recommendations is that the tallness of the user plays a big role. A short person might be perfectly happy with a short and hence lightweight tripod - which most travel tripods are - while a tall person might need much more height for a comfortable working height.

I am 6'5" and really need at least 70" maximum height in a tripod. Quite challenging to find a "travel" tripod that is reasonable stable and is 70" plus in height!

The Manfrotto is the best. Only 4cm folded :)

For me the folded size is the most important. I can live with extra 100-200 grams but i want my tripod to fit in a small backpack when traveling.

Too bad you didn’t review a Leophoto tripod. The Ranger tripods are very high quality for a good price.

Why repost an old review as new?

I like this one for longer hikes, Rollei compact traveler no 1 carbon, lightweight and only 97 Euros.

https://www.rollei.com/collections/reisestative/products/carbon-stativ-compact-traveler-no-1

got off brand carbon fiber Q888C travel tripod for $140. old bogen 3028/3221 is used otherwise, couldnt be happier with both. sirui also make great tripods.

It's worth noting that you can easily address the lack of pano panning on the Peak Design head without replacing it entirely...

A panning clamp (eg Sunwayfoto DDH-05 or 07) can be clipped in on the fly atop the existing PD head, not only would this be cheaper (~$50) and add less bulk than a whole new head, but it would have some advantages over the panning function of most standard heads. Namely it'll let you use the existing head for leveling before panning via the added clamp.

I still wish PD had an alternate/larger head with this built in, but this solution has been very satisfactory for me and I'd easily take it over most heads with panning on the bottom... On my previous Sirui legs (T-1205X) I was using a small Sunway head (XB-28 II) which had a tiny panning clamp (even smaller than their DDH series) built into the head's ARCA clamp atop the stem.

I think RRS has a bunch of broad patents on pano clamps and that's why designs like that aren't more common.

I have 3 Tripods, an Innorel RT80C for when I need really steady, a Viking something or other for modest walking/hiking with my canon 5d's, and a Benro for when I travel light with my 2 canon m's ( infrared and normal). The most expensive was my Innorel at around € 140 and it's a beast, and they're all carbon fibre. Why not have a roundup of the cheap end of the market whether it be travel Tripods or big buggers?

Isn't this just a repost of an earlier article? And what about 3 Legged Thing? The Winston and Patti Tripods are my favorites, are lower cost than some of these options, and offer a lot of reliability, performance, and value.

Sirui - by far best value for money

Some ODM products are actually very decent, I paid a bit over $100 for a Fotopro X-4CE, which is actually just a slight upgrade to an Amazon brand tripod, but IIRC it's the lightest carbon fiber tripod on the market at 760g, and the build is solid.

One thing in the Peak Design's favour, which I don't think was mentioned: the extremely short minimum distance between camera platform and tripod shoulder point, which is the most stable point on any tripod. The more distance there is between the lens and this point, the more any vibrations are magnified. The other tripods (especially the Gitzo and MePhoto) with supplied heads are quite poor in this regard, effectively forcing the photographer to use a minimum extension of what looks like around 16cm. Tripods are important tools for many of us, so I'm glad that DPR did this review - I'd appreciate more on this area. I get a bit sick of reading about AF tracking and video specs, which are of zero importance for me, while important tools like tripods are covered very sparsely.

That’s why I have repeatedly commented and lobbied for technical tests by DPR. They have done them in the past. You may be right about shoulder point but another deficiency like Peaks unique head might be a problem. You just won’t know till you use objective scientific based testing.

Thanks for the comparisons. I'm lugging around a GT5542LS because when I need a tripod it must be a rock solid support that gets a viewfinder up to my eye. I have a far lighter (and far cheaper) Manfrotto 190 that, for various reasons, is left collecting dust under the stairs. If the Traveler Series 1 really is solid with no cost-cutting fiddly bits that break/fall off, I'd give it a go when my pack mule dies.

I think the table on the first page is wrong - it says the Gitzo is 1cm when folded - I very much doubt that.

Got a Cullman Carvao 816 TC. Useful for light(er) gear only.

ah we all get a prize..,

The Gitzo 0545t or 1555T could have been a good competitor in this field. Lighter than the 1545T but not as high max. Sturdy as well though.

Yup I have a GT1555 and a RRS BH25 ballhead. Excellent travel tripod and it fits sideways in a carry-on suitcase.

The Gitzo is really 42.5 x 1 cm ??? 1 cm?

Manfrotto BeFree Advanced Manfrotto.com | $324.99 (~$280 street)

No major retailer is selling this at "street" right now. Hmm.

I mean the GK-100-T

Whilst I have a 40-year-old Manfrotto tripod for work near the car boot (trunk), I have a Vesta 203AP for long hikes. It cost next to nothing (it paid for free parking at the mall). It is really sturdy and comes with a compact head and sets up in seconds.

https://www.vanguardworld.com/products/vesta-203ap

Manfrotto tripods have always been the best looking and most creative.

How come this months-old article turns up again?

My comment: Slik Sprint Mini III, $80, 33.5 x 8 x 8 cm, 860 g.

Personally I have and use the even more compact version I which, unfortunately, isn't made anymore. Wouldn't want to carry anything heavier when travelling.

Because we're repromoting some of the useful content published earlier in the year as we get close to the end of the month and things start to slow down.

Candor appreciated. I look forward to technical testing of tripods in the future.

@Barney Britton: Nothing to say against per se. With the surreptitious way in which you do it, not even a hint that it's a rehash except if someone would actually look at the date, you're fooling people into thinking they were seeing new stuff. Bad style for a journalistic product. Something one might perhaps expect from those mirror sites the makers of which can hardly write a proper English sentence, but not a serious site like dpreview.

Sorry if this has caused any confusion. The fact that it's a previously-published piece of content is clearly mentioned on the homepage, and the publication date is the first piece of information after the headline.

We're not a 'mirror site', as you know. And periodically re-surfacing group tests / roundups is something we've done for years. We only do it with 'evergreen' content that might otherwise be hard to find for casual site visitors.

First, sorry if this came across less nice than it should have been. And there's no need to be sorry except for your own reputation among readers who care about such things, or who are misled to comment on an old article as if it was a new one. My own "confusion" was limited, and my post was for your sake, not for mine.

You think it's ok because you've been doing it for years? Are you aware of the fact that there are other ways to reach your content than starting with your homepage, one of them being your own RSS feed? Can't remember when it was the last time I intentionally brought up your homepage. If I had to follow all my news channels by going through their home pages, I'd need to stop following most of them. And people don't look at the publishing date of an article on the top of the list to make sure it's not yesterday's news. Don't want to boast, but when someone who has been an internet professional for 25 years is fooled by this, I guess some others will be, too.

Barney, if it is a republication, then why didn't you learn from me and include the best travel tripod in the world (by far - not even close)? Didn't I tell you guys that last time and you said it was too expensive? But now you included the expensive Gitzo! That opens up the review for the best tripod in the world.... RRS. Come on....

You mean the new $1,400 Ascend-14? You'll be happy to know that I'm working on a writeup of that right now...

Barney, I didn't even know about that new tripod! Wow, just looked at it. I don't know much about it except the advert. But it has some kind of integrated head? I don't like that it has a center column. But worth a look and it is super compact and strong. Anyway, I was talking about the old tried and true great travel tripod Really Right Stuff TFC 14 with BH-30 ball head. I also have the TFC 24 with BH-40 ball head, but that is for more at home.

Yeah it's pretty fun, very full-featured. I'm hoping to have something written up soon.

Obviously the FLM CP38-L5 II is my choice of travel tripod. Obviously it is a much heavier and larger tripod than what the 'travel' category is defined of. Let me share my reasoning. Travel means to get to a place where one will probably never go again. Maybe few more occasions. So the relative chance of creating a reasonably good photograph is already thin. Why would any sane person lower that chance by using suboptimal tool when she/he travels/hikes to those exotic locations? How big is the weight gain? 1.5 kgs maybe? There are so many other ways to shave off that weight from a backpack...

"moTmeN" Never heard of FLM before reading your comment. Took a look at their website and ordered the FLM CP30-L4 II right away. With tripod head, maximum height is 70" plus without having to use a center column.

Completely agree with your reasoning why a suboptimal tripod won't do it.

The folded dimensions of the Gitzo are impressive! 42.5 x 1 cm

https://thecentercolumn.com/rankings/travel-tripod-rankings/ a more scientific approach to measuring the charactersitics of tripod (and heads)

Travel tripod reviews + no folded dimension = fail

and 'inch'? Nobody in photo uses that anymore.

dan_darkroom Just a quibble of course—as basically I agree , but not quite nobody. There are 1 inch sensors

I did a ton of research, read a ton of reviews and finally went with the Sirui ET-2204 Carbon Fiber Tripod with K-20 Ball Head. Yeah, it's over 1kg but if you plan to use a FF and long Tele on your travels, not having your camera do a face plant with your uber light travel pod should be high on the priority list. This thing just feels rock solid when setup, it has a hook to hang a weight or you bag on to stabilize it, and isn't bad at all to carry. That and the price is hard to beat for what you get. I wanted flip locks and carbon, light but able to carry a FF and heavy Tele. This was the best bang for the buck I found.

If you are going to hike with a M43 or APSC and short primes or wide's, I suppose some of the lighter pods might be worth considering, but I'm feeling like a tripod still has to be stable to be worth carrying, especially for long exposures, otherwise I might as well just rely on the IBIS and leave the tripods at home... or just carry a mono pod.

Can recommend the Cullmann Mundo 522TC, if you want something really light and compact without spending a fortune.

These are ridiculous tripods. Expensive and made from carbon fibre and all still manage to be well over a kilo. If you are travelling and you are not weight sensitive, get something decently sturdy and accept that it will weight nearer 2 kilos. But if you're really travelling, anything over 1kg is just bogging you down. If you can afford the weight and you want something practical, take extra water instead.

Sunpak makes some very nice tripods for under $30. My guess is you couldn't see the difference in the resulting photos.

I have a handful of tripods, MSRP from $70 to $200, and all of them are annoying to use in one way or another, but the $70 tripod is the worst from a photographic standpoint - flexible legs and undersized ballhead mean that anytime even a moderately sized lens is put on the front - say, my 450g Olympus 14-54 lens - the camera sags, ruining my framing. Not worth using with a telephoto at all. The reverse folding tripod is finicky and surprisingly heavy, and my carbon fiber tripod is light, but is significantly longer than the other two (without being much taller when extended).

If I traveled with a tripod on a regular basis (or got paid for my photography), I'd love to have something like the Peak or the Gitzo - and having experienced cheap and mid priced tripods, I'm betting they'll make up their cost in fewer headaches and annoyances.

You can't tell the difference in the resulting photos -- because the person with the $30 Sunpak will never get them because they're wrestling with their tripod, or it's misaligned, or the lens has drooped, or whatever. It's not a matter of image quality -- it's "do you get the shot or not?"

I bought one of these cheapie tripods when I was on the road from a small town Wal-Mart in a "better something than nothing" moment, after my Arca-Swiss plate went missing and I couldn't find a replacement, and carried it for a couple of miles through Badlands.

It was a *nightmare* to wrestle with -- three times the size and bulk of my other one, yet a third as stable. Once I started shooting nightscapes it was a royal pain to get set up -- if I had to work quickly I'd have missed shots.

I don't have an expensive tripod -- but those $30 Sunpak plasticy tripods are awful. My g/f uses the MeFoto in this article: it's fine (holds her 300/2.8 in a pinch!), and a huge step up from a Wal-Mart tripod.

BBS - You clearly haven't tried to mount a professional DSLR and a 100-400mm lens on a $30.00 Tripod! Not gonna work, no way no how.

If you buy a cheap tripod, you buy twice. Been there done that.

You can get a remarkably good picture with a cheap lens -- like a $25 pawn shop nifty fifty.

You can get a remarkably good picture with a cheap tripod.

A cheap lens can be friendly to work with.

A cheap tripod makes you want to throw it off of a cliff.

This is conclusion of every review of photographic equipment ever written:

"size and load-bearing capabilities come at a cost, because it's also the heaviest in the group, and the largest once folded"

You can substitute any terms you want; aperture, weight, length, battery life, resolution, expected lifespan, cost, bit depth, repair service, fps.... but the result is always the same. Yet it's always surprising how many people object to this simple equation. As more states in the US legalize marijuana I expect more photographic consumers to cut their ties with reality.

Haha - you should try reading Laura Kuenssberg's political analyses on the BBC. The grand mistress of the closing caveat.

I. usually enjoy discovering new writers but a look at her bio indicates she’s yet another high born parasite and a ranking member of BBC royalty, the most odious kind of media hypocrite. She pretends to report on the leering, greasy-chinned viscounts and the remorseless, sociopathic billionaires of England’s ruling class while never letting on that they’re her friends and neighbors.

I'll go for the rock solid stability. That's the whole point of a tripod or else why even bother.

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The best tripod for photographers in 2024: give your camera a rock-steady support

The best tripods combine high-end performance and sturdy build quality without costing over the odds, but which will win the three-legged race?

The Quick List

Best tripod overall, best pivot column tripod, best flip-lock tripod, best aluminum tripod, best hybrid tripod, best compact tripod, best super-sized tripod.

• How to choose
• How we test

The Quick List ↩ 1. Best tripod overall 2. Best with pivot column 3. Best with flip-locks 4. Best aluminum tripod 5. Best hybrid tripod 6. Best compact tripod 7. Best super-sized tripod How to choose How we test

Who needs a tripod, in these days of in-body and optical image stabilization? Well, you can count me in for one. I think a tripod is as useful nowadays as it’s ever been. For long exposures capturing anything from landscapes using 10-stop neutral density filters, to twilight cityscapes and the night sky, a tripod is still one of my kit bag essentials. I need them just as much for keeping my camera still and steady through a sequence of shots, for example when taking exposure-bracketed stills to merge into an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image. 

And then there’s architectural photography, when I want to set up my camera with supreme precision, or maybe take a series of shots with incremental panning to create panoramas. I could go on, the list is long.

If you’re after a tripod that folds down really small, take a look at our separate buying guide on the  best travel tripods . And whereas the photography tripods covered in this buying guide aim to give fixed, solid support for stills, free-flowing video capture is another ball game altogether. For that, check out our guide to the  best video tripods . 

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is  an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers, and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.

Here's a quick rundown of all the tripods in this guide. Scroll down for a more in-depth look at the individual products.

This is the tripod that I use most of the time. It’s super-sturdy, enormously versatile and folds down pretty small despite having a really tall maximum operating height. And it’s beautifully crafted.

Read more below

A really steady support that's ideal for heavy camera & lens setups, and I like that I can pivot the center column through a complete 180-degree arc, opening a feast of creative shooting possibilities.

Manfrotto’s 055 series tripods are renowned among enthusiast photographers the world over. The MT055CXPRO3 is my pick of the crop. It’s really rigid with quick-action 3-section legs and a 90-degree pivot facility.

This is a rock-steady aluminum tripod that’s packed full of advanced features. It’s a strong contender that suits anyone who doesn’t want to pay the extra for a carbon fiber tripod but wants a seriously strong kit.

The Nicky is a smart option for hybrid photographers who shoot both stills and video. It’s undeniably pricey for a set of legs but you get what you pay for and it excels for quick and easy leveling.

Manfrotto aluminum and carbon fiber 190 tripods come in various sizes and are the favorites of many enthusiast photographers. This puts a different spin on things, being unusually compact and featuring twist locks.

Load the next products ↴

Gitzo is renowned as the Rolls Royce brand for tripods. Nicknamed ‘the Giant’, this one literally leaves most other tripods in its shadow. It’s so tall that it should probably feature a red light on the top to warn off low-flying aircraft.

The best tripods for photographers we recommend in 2024

Why you can trust Digital Camera World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out how we test.

1. 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0

Our expert review:

Specifications

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

✅  You want a really tall tripod that folds down surprising small for easy stowage.

✅  You like the option of really low-level shooting, the center column is removable.

✅ You fancy the option of different optional footwear, including short posts for conversion to a tabletop tripod.

❌  You don’t feel the need for tripod legs with a huge 40kg load rating.

❌  You’d rather have a tripod with a pivoting center column.

❌ You don’t want to run to the expense of a carbon fiber tripod – the Charles 2.0 is the same tripod but magnesium alloy.

3 Legged Thing is a UK-based manufacturer with a deserved reputation among photographers for making attractive, sturdy tripods with real design flair. The Winston 2.0 is my outright favorite and I’m particularly impressed that, despite stretching to almost 2m in height, it folds down to just 61cm for the journey, in it’s supplied high-quality soft case. It’s also easily adaptable for ultra-low-level shooting.

Thanks to smart design with clever engineering, I find the Winston 2.0 quick to deploy and very resistant to flexing and vibration. Its leg and center-column sections are constructed from 8-layer carbon fiber, making them lightweight but solid, and the leg diameter is thick all the way down. I pair mine with a 3 Legged Thing's AirHed Pro and find it’s one of the most dependable tripods I’ve ever used. The legs and head are available as a complete kit, at a discounted price. Smart optional extras include a range of footwear. Indeed, as all of the legs are removable instead of just one for monopod duty, I convert mine to a tabletop tripod when I need one, with optional Vanz feet. If you’d rather save a few bucks and don’t putting on a bit of weight, the Charles 2.0 is basically the same tripod but made from magnesium alloy instead of carbon fiber.

Read more: 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 review

• Back to the top ⤴

2. Vanguard VEO 3+ 303CBS

✅  You can make use of the full 180-degree pivoting center column.

✅  You want a tripod that can support two cameras, on one camera plus accessories.

✅ You’d like a dual-axis ball head for level panning for panoramas and shooting video.

❌  You don’t need the 25kg load rating and would rather have a tripod that weighs less than 2.6kg.

❌  You don’t feel the need for a pivoting center column.

❌ You’d rather save money by buying an aluminum rather than carbon fiber tripod.

I enjoyed some trips out with this fairly new tripod a while ago, which is billed as Vanguard ’s most stable and versatile kit to date. It’s based on a super-sturdy carbon fiber build using large-diameter three-section legs and a pivoting center column. The Vanguard actually goes one better than the pivoting Manfrotto tripods in this guide, in that I can pivot the center column through a complete 180-degree arc instead of just using it in vertical or horizontal orientations.

I also like that the Vanguard comes with an extra platform that attaches to the center column. This enables me to mount two cameras at the same time, or a camera and another accessory like an LED light. The ball head supplied with the kit is a great match for the legs, being very versatile and particularly sturdy and robust. I also like that the ball head has dual panning sections, the upper one ensuring level panning even if the tripod legs aren’t levelled.

Read more:  Vanguard VEO 3+ 303CBS  review

3. Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3

✅  You prefer flip locks to twist locks for all the leg sections.

✅  You like the idea of a 90-degree pivoting center column.

✅ You want rock-solid support.

❌  You’d rather buy a complete kit than head and legs separately.

❌  You’d prefer a pivoting center column that can be used at any angle.

❌ You feel the aluminum version of the tripod is better value.

I’ve used the aluminum version of this tripod, which is available as just a set of legs, or as a complete kit with either an XPRO Ball Head or XPRO 3-Way Head. At purchase time, I dug deeper into my pockets and forked out on the carbon fiber edition. It’s naturally more expensive but feels much more of a luxury item, is nearly half a kilogram lighter and, in my tests, proved more resistant to vibration. I generally prefer twist-lock clamps for the leg sections of tripods but the flip-locks of this one are cleverly designed and are particularly quick and easy to use.

I like that the tripod gives really solid support, and feels worthy of more than the 9kg maximum load rating given to it by Manfrotto. A killer feature for me is the pivoting center column that I can use as a horizontal boom. It’s great for macro shooting and for stopping the tripod feet from creeping into the shot when I’m using an ultra-wide-angle lens.

Read more: Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 review

4. Vanguard Veo 3+ 263AB

✅  You want a high-end tripod for half the money of a carbon fiber kit.

✅  You’re happy with aluminum, especially with comfort padding all legs.

✅ You want a complete kit that comes with a competent ball head.

❌  You prefer the luxury of carbon fiber and don’t mind paying more.

❌  You’d rather pick your own head and legs separately.

❌ You don’t feel the need for a pivoting center column.

The Vanguard Veo 3+ 263AB is a full-size tripod with the usual three sections per leg, so it doesn't fold down to a particularly small length but it's quick to set up and reaches a good height. It doesn’t feel that heavy for an aluminum tripod, and if you want to shave off a little weight, there is a carbon fiber (CB) version that’s only a little more expensive. One of the things I don’t like about aluminum tripods is that they’re cold to the touch in chilly weather but this one features comfort padding on the upper leg sections.

I think the design and build are first class, and particularly like that I can use the pivoting center column at any angle, rather than just in vertical or horizontal orientations. Everything works brilliantly and all the controls and adjustments have a smoothness and precision that I’d expect from a far more expensive tripod than this one. Sure, it’s not the most compact tripod when folded, but I’m more than happy with the trade-off of height, adaptability, rigidity, and quality, making it ideal for my needs.

Read more: Vanguard Veo 3+ 263AB review

5. 3 Legged Thing Legends Nicky

✅  You want a tripod that’s equally useful for videography as well as stills.

✅  You’re happy to buy one or two heads separately.

✅ You need a tripod with a really hefty 60kg maximum load rating.

❌  The 1.56m maximum height is insufficient, there’s no extending center column.

❌  You can’t stretch your budget, it’s very expensive for a set of legs.

❌ You don’t need a tripod that’s ideally suited to panning.

Let me start by saying that the 3 Legged Think Nicky is a professional-level tripod for a discerning audience. It’s made for photographers and videographers working with heavier kits, so it’s strong, straightforward to use, tall, and adaptable. It’s a base rather than a kit, but I have a collection of heads and accessories already (as many photographers do), so I’m happy to mix and match, or you can naturally buy the kind of head you want for stills and/or video, and perhaps a leveling bowl too.

What sold me on the Nicky is that works so well for both stills and video shooting. It’s super-strong and sturdy and, although very versatile, it’s very quick and easy to set up and fold down again. I like that it comes complete with flat and bowl plates but, as I’d expect from a ‘hybrid’ video and stills tripod, it has no center column. As such, the maximum operating height is limited to 1.56m. On the other hand, it works really well for low-level shooting and can be converted to a table-top tripod with optional Vanz footwear, as all three legs are removeable.

Read more: 3 Legged Thing Legends Nicky review

6. Manfrotto 190go!

✅  You want a tripod that folds down conveniently small for carrying around.

✅  You prefer twist locks rather than the flip locks of most 190 series tripods.

✅ You like to pair the legs with your own choice of head.

❌  The 494 ball head of the complete kit option isn’t an ideal match for the load rating of the legs.

❌  You don’t need a tripod with a 90-degree pivoting center column.

❌ You’d rather have a tripod with a taller maximum operating height.

This is my go-to tripod when I want to keep the weight off, and the size of my kit to easily manageable proportions. Manfrotto 190 series tripods are somewhat legendary but the 190go! is unusually compact and has twist locks rather than the usual flip locks for its leg sections. Technically, I wouldn’t class it as a travel tripod, as it doesn’t feature the usual swing-up legs that are now the norm. It also has four rather than five sections in each leg, and a single-section center column. It doesn’t fold down as small as most current travel tripods but the plus side is that it’s really quick and easy to set up and pack away.

One of the things I like best about this tripod is its pivoting center column, which I can use as a horizontal boom. That’s good news for macro photography, really low-level shooting, and for ultra-wide-angle shots. It’s generally sold as a set of legs with no heads but is available in some regions as a complete kit with a high-performance Manfrotto 494 Ball Head. I’d give that a miss as the head has a much lower load rating than the legs. The carbon fiber version is typically pricier but more luxurious than the aluminum edition.

Read more: Manfrotto 190go! review

7. Gitzo GT5563GS Systematic Series 5 Carbon Fiber

✅  You want a giraffe of a tripod that towers above competing kits.

✅  You don’t mind lots of clamps to contend with, it has 6-section legs.

✅ You want a ‘Rolls Royce’ product and don’t mind paying for the privilege.

❌  You’re not prepared to pay three times the price compared with most high-end tripods.

❌  You’d rather have a center column and less leg sections.

❌ You’d prefer to have a tripod that’s not so heavy to cart around.

Sometimes things just get in the way. When I can’t work around obstacles, this tripod generally enables me to look over them. The Gitzo GT5563GS is nicknamed ‘Giant’ with good reason. It extends to an absolutely whopping maximum height of 278cm, which is taller than anyone alive – I feel that perhaps a stepladder should also be included in the kit. Despite its towering height, it also goes extra-large on load capacity, at a weighty 40kg. I’m struggling to think of any camera and lens combination that weighs this much but an upside is that the Gitzo is extremely sturdy and resistant to flexing.

I’m happy that this isn’t just a ‘tall’ tripod. There are plenty of times when I want to get down low for creative effect. The Gitzo obliges with a minimum working height of just 10cm. Suffice it to say that it ably covers all the angles from ultra-low to super-high shooting. The carbon fiber build makes it lighter than I’d expect for a tripod of this height and strength, and the quality throughout is just top-notch – as I’d expect from a super-expensive Gitzo tripod.

Read more: Gitzo GT5563GS Systematic Series 5 Carbon Fiber Tripod (Giant) review

How to choose the best tripod for photographers

So what do I look for when choosing a tripod? Size and weight are key considerations. For versatility, there’s no beating a full-sized tripod with a lofty maximum operating height. Some go further still with a pivoting center column, ideal for macro photography and shooting with really wide-angle lenses, so I can keep the tripod feet out of the frame. Full-sized carbon fiber tripods tend to be around 25 percent lighter in weight than their aluminum counterparts, making them easier to carry around, and they’re often more resistant to vibration. The flip side is that they’re more expensive to buy.

The maximum load rating is important to bear in mind if you have a relatively hefty camera and big telephoto lenses. Even if you don’t, I find that tripods with a beefier load rating tend to be more sturdy, solid, and stable, and less prone to flexing. A greater number of sections in each leg enables the tripod to fold down smaller but each joint is a potential weak point when it comes to stability, they take longer to set up and fold down, and the bottom legs often tend to be relatively thin and spindly.

Aluminum or carbon fiber?

These are the two most common materials used for tripod legs. Aluminum tripods are cheaper but weigh more. They’re ideal if you want the maximum stability for your money. Carbon-fiber tripods cost more but weigh less and absorb vibration better. They’re good if cost is less important than weight – but the price premium can be substantial.

How much height do I need?

Shots aren’t always improved by shooting them at eye level (lower often works best), but it’s also about getting a comfortable working height. Check the height without the column being extended, if you can.

Check the folded length

The weight of a tripod is important if you’re going to carry it any distance, but so is its folded length. If it’s too long to strap to your bag, and it’s unwieldy in trains or climbing over stiles, then it’s going to put you off taking it anywhere. Many so-called ‘travel’ tripods have legs that fold upwards for storage and completely enclose the head. This makes them smaller and neater when folded and easier to carry around.

How many leg sections?

Tripod legs may have three, four, or five sections. A larger number of sections means the tripod is shorter and more portable when it’s folded, but it will usually take a little longer to set up and may well not be quite as stable.

What type of leg locks?

These come in two main types: twist locks and flip locks. Twist locks take up less space and are generally a little quicker to use – you can often unlock all the leg sections in a single movement when you’re setting the tripod up. Flip locks are operated individually and may be a bit slower. Try both types to see which you prefer.

How many leg angles?

Most tripods have legs that can be angled independently – which is particularly useful when working on sloping sites or in cramped areas. The standard leg angle will be fine for regular use, but it’s often useful to splay one or more legs outwards on uneven surfaces or to rest them on walls, say. Splaying out all three legs will allow you to shoot from a much lower angle.

What type of head should I get?

Sometimes the tripod head is included with the legs, sometimes not. You can change one head for another depending on how you like to work, as the connection is standardized. Ball heads and three-way heads are the most common types. Ball heads are compact and quick to use, but not so good for small, controlled movements. Three-way heads are larger but allow precise adjustments for each axis independently.

You can also find other, specialist heads. Geared heads allow you to make fine adjustments to camera angles. Gimbal heads are designed for use with long, heavy lenses – which can otherwise can unbalance a tripod. And then there are specialist heads for panoramas and video too.

What about attaching my camera?

Most tripods are sold with heads, and most heads have a quick-release plate so that you can detach the camera in moments for handheld shots. The Arca Swiss-compatible plate is by far the most common, meaning you can swap between different tripod heads, even if they're made by different manufacturers. However some makers, notably Manfrotto, make their own bespoke QR plates, which can be a nuisance if you have two or more tripods from different makers.

What extra features should I look for?

Detachable monopod legs: These sound really useful – a detachable leg you can then screw into the center column to make a monopod. In practice, we find these often lack the rigidity of a 'real' monopod unless you're starting with a particularly substantial tripod.

Center column: Not all tripods come with a center column, but most do. You can extend this upwards to increase the height of the camera, although this introduces extra wobble. On some tripods, the center column can be rotated to produce an angled boom, which is perfect for overhead shots, macro work, and tabletop photography. Using the center column does reduce the stability of the tripod, however, so is best avoided with long exposures.

Bowl base: This is a video-specific feature that allows you to get the base level without having to make a whole series of tiny adjustments to the leg length. A level base is essential for a video where you want to make panning movements, and the best video tripods come with bowl or leveling bases as standard.

Types of feet: Rubber feet are fine on most surfaces but best on carpets and wooden floors, where you don’t want to cause damage. Metal spikes are good for soft and uneven ground. Some tripods have rubber feet, which can be screwed back to reveal spikes.

How we test tripods

We measure the maximum operating height of each tripod and its folded height for carrying, complete with head attached. We also measure the combined weight of each set of tripod legs and head, using electronic scales, and measure the diameter of all leg sections, from the widest to the thinnest, using digital calipers. We check the ease of use, smoothness and precision of all available adjustments in each set of tripod legs and heads. This ranges from adjusting leg sections and pivot facilities (where available), to the locking mechanisms of the head, as well as independent pan and friction damping adjustments, where fitted. To check overall stability, we shoot with a range of camera bodies fitted with wide-angle, standard, telephoto and macro lenses. We look for good resistance to flexing and vibrations throughout the whole range of operating heights, including the tallest available settings with the legs and center column fully extended.

You can find out more about how we test and review on Digital Camera World .

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Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.

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Related articles

The 10 BEST Travel Tripods – Ultimate Photo Guide [2024]

• Last Updated: February 2, 2024

If you’re in the market to buy the best travel tripod then we’ve got you covered! Working as professional travel photographers we have personally tried and tested countless products on the market, and now are ready to share our expert guide to the best tripods for travel in 2024!

Having spent almost a decade travelling the world on various photography assignments, from Antarctica to the Arctic and everywhere in between, it’s safe to say when it comes to gear, we know what works and what doesn’t.

While some accessories are a bit more generic than others, what we’ve found over the years is that selecting something as important as tripods is not so straightforward as one would think.

We’ve bought, tested, and eventually ditched, dozens of travel tripods since we first got into photography, and are always on the hunt for the best deals.

Editors Choice: Peak Design Travel Tripod

We’ve tested everything and officially declared this Peak Design product as our top selection for best travel tripods. It’s lightweight, reaches eye level, durable and packs down to the size of a water bottle. You can save a few bucks with the aluminium version or choose carbon fiber for the best in travel photography technology.

Table of Contents

Peak Design Travel Tripod

Punks travis system  , manfrotto befree, vanguard veo 2 go, joby gorillapod 3k pro, zomei iphone tripod, benro systemgo, gitzo traveler series 1, sirui t-005x, mefoto backpacker s , portability , best professional tripod: gitzo traveler series 1, most portable tripod: joby gorillapod 3k.

These days we have finally narrowed it down to our favourite few products, based on features, durability, portability and price, and after thousands of questions from friends and readers we have finally sat down to share our top recommendations from our experience.

But do you really need a tripod for travel photography?

You might think it’s a bit unnecessary, but truth is the travel photography you can create is going to be so much higher quality thanks to one of these essential tools.

Even the steadiest hands give off some shake, and the second you start diving into the world of long exposures, you’re going to need to keep your camera perfectly still.

Speaking of cameras, make sure you check out legendary guide to travel cameras here !

A lightweight travel tripod will provide crystal clear shots, time-lapse video, panoramas, and long-exposure looks at the night sky.

Besides helping create beautiful images, a tripod also comes in handy if you want to setup the camera to take a photo of yourself when no one else is around.

So why talk about the best travel tripods specifically, rather than just camera tripods in general?

Before you can set up your tripod and start shooting, you’ll have to haul your gear to the location.

Any traditional camera tripod may be capable of capturing the shot, but might be too heavy to carry with you.

Remember, you’ll have to carry every piece of gear you take on your hike and back every step of the way.

Photography equipment built for travel has one primary objective: be light weight.

Great travel tripods are small enough to slip into a daypack and strong enough to withstand a grouchy luggage handler to bring a quick and easy setup on the move. 

Even a professional travel tripod will compromise some operating features to be more portable.

Whether it’s a lower peak height or wobbly legs, a tripod built for travel won’t have the same comfort levels as a traditional tripod, but packability is priceless. 

The good news is, there are plenty of travel tripods that provide enough creature comforts and extra features that allow them to serve your needs beautifully, and we’re here to show you what the best options have to offer. 

This epic buying guide will cover everything you need to know to feel confident in your purchase.

READ MORE: Keen to become a better creator? Check out our expert guide to our best travel photography tips !

Whether your valuable equipment needs a strong max load, your far-reaching panorama requires great maximum height or your extreme adventures require durable carbon fiber construction, we’ve got the sturdy travel tripod for your next adventure.

There are loads of different components that make up a tripod kit, and no one secret formula to success. Tripod manufacturers and models all have different strengths and weaknesses that allow them to function in different scenarios.

In addition to showcasing the best-in-class tripods, we’ll examine some key points to consider when choosing the best travel tripods for you. So take a look, get your batteries charged, and start shooting with the best tripod for your needs.

The Best Travel Tripods 

We’re on our way to the mountaintop just before sunrise to grab an epic shot. And we’re not going to take just any old tripod with us.

To qualify for this buying guide, the tripods on our list offer the best overall value and utility.

Starting at the pinkies of the interchangeable rubber feet up to maximum height with a ball head attached, we expanded and compacted the leading lightweight travel tripods.

Whether you’re looking for something petite for a compact camera or a full-sized unit, read on to find the best travel tripod for your trip.

Peak Design isn’t just a company name – it’s a brand legacy. After revolutionising the industry with their Capture Clips and backpacks, their award-winning travel tripod was crowdfunded thanks to its smattering of unique design features that make it fit uniquely in every camera bag.

Peak Design spent four years working on this aluminium and carbon fiber travel tripod. An included ball head design that works with unique leg locks to reduce the mini tripod to the diameter of a can of tomato sauce and extend out to a maximum height at eye level. 

The ball-head of such a compact tripod may look funky, but the potential is there, and the ARCA -compatible camera plate works with most DSLRs.

You may feel a bit awkward swinging your camera around the first few shots, but this center ball-head is also one of the biggest reasons this tripod is so packable. Once you get the hang of operation, you may never switch back.  

It’s not the most affordable tripod out there, but any passionate photographer will tell you not to skimp on key camera accessories .

Don’t trust a cheap plastic base to protect your DSLR camera; trust in this sturdy aluminium version (or pay extra for the carbon fiber tripod, which we did ) backed up by a lifetime guarantee. 

• Packs down to the size of a water bottle
• Lifetime warranty
• Light, durable and versatile

If it wasn’t for the incredible product design at Peak Design, this Travis system would be the clear-cut champ of the travel tripod market – despite not even being created for travel first. 

At $100 less than their rival and with loads of valuable features, this three-legged thing is an excellent addition to any camera kit. 

While it doesn’t pack down to the same compact folded length as our editor’s choice tripod above, Travis has its own strengths. It’s not just trying to be the best travel tripod, it wants to be the only tripod you own. Whether you’re into standard travel photos, astrophotography or waterfall photography , this unit has you covered.

It’s tough to argue with some of its specs. With a great maximum heigh, durability, and strong tripod legs, there aren’t many shots you can’t capture with this tool. 

What we love most about this tripod is the number of professional features the photography-focused 3 Legged Thing brand brought to the little guy.

This system features extra foot options, a quick-release plate, and extension accessories normally reserved for professional tripods that cost hundreds more than this affordable option. You can build out your tripod any way you see fit.  

• Loads of customization options
• 11:1 load to weight ratio
• Ships with its own carrying bag
• Not a travel tripod first

Manfrotto’s BeFree line of travel tripods can be hard to navigate. The Befree tripods come at a variety of costs supporting loads of different features. 

While any model will give you a sturdy camera stand, our favourite BeFree tripod is the 2N1 model , which comes with monopod options.

Detach the center leg, and you’ve got the perfect selfie stick!

You won’t have to lug the entire tripod around when a monopod will do the trick. Put it all back together and you’ll have 4 different leg sections that help you get the shot at all levels.

That’s a great feature, and this robust travel tripod is way more than a one-trick pony. Twist locks clamp across the ball head and each leg allows plenty of height adjustment up to eye level. We love the simple brilliance of a good twist and lock tripod. 

No need to reinvent the wheel; Manfrotto instead took quality features and built them into a lightweight travel tripod affordable to photographers of all levels. 

They also have other models that are worth a look, such as the Manfrotto Befree Advanced.

• Can also be used as a monopod
• Wide selection of tripod models for various features
• Click or twist-lock options
• Doesn’t pack down as low as other models
• No carbon fibre models

Right away, we couldn’t believe that this affordably priced travel tripod comes with carbon fibre construction.

The ultralight and durable material carbon fiber is usually reserved for the most expensive travel tripod options, but Vanguard has made carbon fiber available at a fraction of the cost. 

If materials are the number one concern on your list, but price is a close second, this tripod makes the decision easy.

Set up requires five flip locks that allow the tool to reduce to a tiny size and expand up to eye level, all at less than three pounds. 

Shop around to find a VEO 2 Go package that includes a bubble level, cell phone mount and Bluetooth remote or whatever customisation options you want to bring along with you. One thing for sure, this bad boy is all about traveling light. 

• Packs down very small
• Carbon fibre at an affordable price
• Reversible centre column
• No carbon fibre option

There’s light, and then there’s this. A vlogger and amateur camera-man special, the slingy arms of the Joby GorillaPod 3k is always a go-to for travel photographers where space and flexibility are of the utmost importance.

This is not a full size tripod, as it won’t extend much higher than one foot, but it can be used just about anywhere and the 3k version is perfect for point-and-shoot or mid-sized mirrorless camera setup.

They’re so good, we have two!

The GorillaPod travel tripod can be wrapped around trees, poles or mounted easily to ledges, walls, and car hoods for quick and beautiful shots.

The larger 5K tripod has a larger max load that can support DSLR cameras, but this slim 3K tool supports smartphones and go pros and fits into any daypack. 

The legs of this Joby tripod are flexible, allowing you to find stability and center the horizon on all sorts of uneven surfaces. Above all else, this aluminum tripod is one of the more affordable options on our list. 

If you’re not shopping for a full size best travel tripod, look towards this GorillaPod to fit into every luggage and balance on every surface. 

• Super flexible legs
• Works in places where full-size tripods are banned
• Only extends 16 inches
• Won’t support a larger camera

For the travel photographer that prefers to leave their big DSLR or mirrorless cameras at home and stick to their favourite smartphone, the ZOMEi iPhone Tripod is the one for you.

For less than 20 bucks, you can secure your phone for stable action shots and easy selfies.

If you just want a few memories to send to the folks at home, you can casually throw this ZOMEi lighter tripod in your day pack and start exploring. 

It’s so light you won’t even notice it in your luggage, and once it’s time to shoot, you can take advantage of the three-legged tripod and remote control to capture yourself in motion just as easily as others. 

You can easily sling this tripod to whatever angle you need, making it a perfect option for capturing backyard skateparks and backflips. It’s also a great choice for budding vloggers who haven’t started raking in the ad revenue.

Remote shutter features allow you to stop and start live streams without walking up to the camera.

The affordability, remote start, and iPhone functionality make this a great first tripod, so you can see what a great set of three legs can do for your photography. 

• Most affordable tripod on our list
• Comes with a remote shutter
• Built to work with iPhones
• Can’t support a dSLR
• Five leg sections to clip through

The SystemGo gets a huge boost by Benro’s additional range of accessories.

It’s a tabletop tripod that can double as a mobile work or photo editing station with the GoPlatform that allows you to mount your laptop with the same protection and versatility as your camera.

Even without this fancy feature, this tripod would be worth a second look .

Benro’s center column helps expand your field of view, although unfortunately, you’ll have to supply your own ball head. 

Its affordability takes a hit because of all these additional purchases, but camera operators who want more choice will love this system.

The built-in monopod attachment grants you further control over your kit. You can detach the center leg and use the travel tripod as an arm-extending monopod if you don’t feel like lugging the entire arsenal. 

Look past all these extra features, and you’ll see a great, folding, sturdy tripod with a heavy operating capacity at a modest weight. 

• Doubles as a mobile workstation
• Can be used as a monopo d
• Includes a padded soft case
• Ball head sold separately
• Larger than other options on our list

Trust this piece of gear to be ready to roll before sunrise. Carbon fibre can sometimes sacrifice durability in the name of lightweight, but not this Gitzo .

Gitzo tripods are no less than three pounds of the best tripod functionality whittled down to travel size. 

This series is the closest thing to a professional-grade carbon fiber travel tripod on our list, and it still fits in overhead flight storage.

A Swiss Arca quick release ball head and reverse folding leg design allow you to stow this carbon fiber tripod and quickly expand the leg sections when it’s time to shoot. 

Five twist-lock sections are user-friendly and easy to activate to make getting the perfect height even easier. I feel further responsibility to nitpick ultra-expensive options, and we do wish the legs would extend to a bit higher than 58 inches, but overall this series is well worth the high price. 

Gitzo is arguably the number one name in tripods, and with their Traveler series, you can expect nothing less but the best stability and user-friendly features from this model. 

However, for most amateur and even professional photographers, we feel that other tripods can perform the same functions at a fraction of the cost.

The major exception to this is any travel photographers planning to shoot in extreme weather. You won’t find anything more storm-ready than this Gitzo.  

• Respected tripod brand
• Very durable
• High max load weight
• Quite expensive

Sirui’s aluminum travel tripod cemented its place on our list thanks to its incredibly low price point and high quality build.

If you’re not shopping for a cheap plastic iPhone only tripod, this is the most affordable travel tripod you can find that still offers the stability and performance to be worth bringing along. 

Don’t expect this tripod to rock a heavy load capacity; it’s simply a cheaper aluminum version of the best models on the market.

We love how lightweight it is, and the number of leg sections fold up nicely to stow the tripod in about a foot of space. 

We didn’t love the fact that twist locks split into five different leg sections even though the tripod head won’t reach near 5 feet high.

Oh well, they are what they are, the best budget travel tripods on our list. If you’re looking for no more than three legs and a high build quality ball head, look no further. 

• Very affordable
• Really lightweight
• Carbon fibre and aluminium hybrid
• Centre column doesn’t compact

To round out our best travel tripod list, we present another sturdy option that saves you a bit of money.

The Backpacker S doesn’t pump out eye-popping specs, but it does stay incredibly affordable and lightweight.

And most of us won’t need anything more than this sturdy tripod with Swiss Arca ball plates – no need for a hex key!

The ball-head allows complete 180-degree rotations of your camera, perfect for panoramas. You can have your choice of several bright colors, all with great functionality at an affordable price. 

It’s another high-quality aluminum tripod that isn’t trying to reinvent the industry.

Instead, Mefoto has presented affordable and lightweight travel tripods that prove you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to shoot with stability. 

• Can be converted into a monopod
• Additional mount available for phones and cameras
• Affordable and customisable
• Not built for all-weather
• Decent across the board but doesn’t have any exceptional features

How to Choose the Best Tripods for Travel

As you can see, there’s a lot of great options when it comes to selecting the best travel tripod!

By definition, tripods often look pretty similar – Three legs with varying degrees of leg locks come together at a ball-head camera mount, maybe with a quick release plate.

With so much standardisation in construction, how can one tripod be considered better than the rest?

While loads of budget tripods can provide a capable camera stand, there are only a few products that seriously consider each of the following factors.

To choose the best travel tripod for your next adventures, take a look at these factors and decide which ones are most important for your needs. 

Ask yourself how you’ll be travelling to your photoshoots. If you’re travelling with an entire car full of room, you won’t have to worry as much about tripod weight as you will if you’re looking for a compact travel tripod that is also a hiking companion. 

Long-term travellers living out of a backpack may not feel the difference in a pound or two, but should emphasise buying a tripod that compacts to a small size.

And, of course, we have to be able to afford the dang thing! 

READ MORE: Make sure you have a good way to carry your tripod by diving deep into our ultimate guide to the best camera backpacks !

Without portability, your travel tripod is just a tripod. Your tripod’s portability will be a combination of its weight and folding size. 

Weight is a straightforward factor to consider – less is more! However, a lightweight tripod may sacrifice a bit of durability to weigh next to nothing, and lightweight tripods are generally more expensive, such. asthe

Ask yourself how many miles you plan on walking with your entire load capacity on your back, and let that answer define how lightweight your travel tripod will be. The lightest options on our list weigh between 2-4 pounds.

The folded length is just as important as weight. The Peak Design Travel Tripod ’s ability to condense down to the size of a water bottle is what earned its title of the best travel tripod.  

We want the number of leg sections to fold down and fit inside our travel bag, but some ultra-folding travel tripods may sacrifice maximum load capacity and durability to bend further.

Visualise how you will be transporting your tripod weight and decide how important folded length is to keep everything inside your backpack.

Aha! The reason why tripods aren’t more portable across the board. I like my tripods to reach as close to eye level as possible, about 5 feet at maximum height. Anything more is a bonus, but anything less will start to lose value. 

Don’t forget to check out minimum folded height as well! You might want a tripod that can function with a leg angle selector at only a few inches off the ground for close-up shots, which can be handy for some types of landscape photography .

Not all 6-foot tripods are built the same, a lot depends on the number of leg sections it takes to get there.

Look at how the tallest travel tripod reaches its height and make sure it doesn’t sacrifice too much max load – we still need a sturdy tripod!

The more sections your tripod has, the smaller its folded height may be, but the more leg locks you’ll have to turn loose before your tripod is ready to shoot. 

I find that tripods with more than four leg sections start to be less sturdy and more annoying to lock up. 

Some of the tripods on our list are not cheap, especially if it’s a carbon fiber tripod. If you’re making a significant investment in your travel tripod though, you should expect it to last.

We’ve already touched on a few factors that impact durability; lightweight status, tripod weight, and leg sections. But the biggest indicator of your tripod’s durability is the build materials. 

Most of the tripods on our list use aluminum and carbon fiber. We do not recommend investing in a travel tripod made of plastic if you plan on taking it through the wringer.

Even if you don’t plan on bumps and bruises, the cheapest travel tripod won’t last more than a year or two, it will be flimsy and you wouldn’t even want to trust compact cameras on it.

Aluminum is a great middle ground. It’s not so expensive, and it’s not very fragile.

Travellers taking photos in normal weather conditions and exposing their gear to an average amount of wear and tear will be OK with the lightweight metal, and it still supports great maximum height.

Going near the ocean though, or want the best travel tripod on the market? You’ll need to look at carbon fiber tripods.

Carbon fiber is the strongest, lightest, and most weather-resistant material used in tripod construction, but also the most expensive. Invest in a carbon fiber tripod if you plan on shooting rain or shine. 

Some other tripods are made up of a combination of the two materials to strike up a middle ground. 

There’s a large amount of range in tripod pricing, and you can expect to get what you pay for. As you can see, you can find a good tripod for anywhere from $100- $400. Even higher if you’re looking at the Peak Design Travel Tripod (it’s worth the price tag though).

I strongly believe in investing in your gear, but you shouldn’t buy a travel tripod that costs more than your camera!

Some gearheads will swear by the most expensive options, but the truth is, casual travellers won’t need the features included on a $400 tripod. 

That’s a Wrap!

We broke out the zoom lens and examined the landscape of the best travel tripods on the market with everything we got. Hopefully, the image is starting to get a bit more clear.

While best travel tripod won’t affect your picture quality as much as your camera will, a sturdy, steady, and lightweight tripod will go a long way towards sharp images and safe camera use. 

Whether you’re trying to play with long exposures, vlogging, or working in low-light, our editor’s choice Peak Design Travel Tripod will help you perform to your fullest no matter where you’re shooting. 

Looking for other ideas? Here is our runner up in 2 different categories:

This special carbon fiber tripod won’t come cheap, but it’s the best we’ve tested, and you can always write it off as a business expense if you’re a pro.

The three-pound unit offers excellent stability, durability, and portability that will pay for itself during your first long hike or voyage.

Get the best deal for it here .

Incredibly small, flexible, and portable, this tripod can go anywhere you can. Add in the surprisingly sturdy ball heads at a reasonable price, and you’ve got a simple option focused on portability.

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Home » Blog » Best Travel Tripods of 2023: For Both Phone and Camera

Best Travel Tripods of 2023: For Both Phone and Camera

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is “ what tripod do you use “ ? I often share travel couple photos that have been taken on a tripod, and occasionally I capture selfies on my own, also using a tripod. There are so many travel tripod options out there and I know it’s confusing to choose the best one… so let me help you!

In this guide, I am sharing the best lightweight travel tripod options, including phone tripods and camera tripods. I am featuring tripods for both everyday travelers and for professionals.

Disclaimer : This blog post may feature some affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you make a purchase (at no extra cost to you). It’s one of the ways I can keep producing free guides and resources for my readers. Learn more about my affiliate policy  here . Thank you for the support!

BEST TRAVEL TRIPODS of 2023

Why use a tripod? There’s nothing wrong with regular selfies where you hold up the phone or camera and snap a close-up photo. These are so fun and make great memories. But they also cut off a lot of the view and only really show your upper body or head.

Using a tripod will allow you to take full body travel selfies as well as regular photos that require stabilization (e.g. long exposures, astrophotography). And when I say travel selfies, I am referring to taking photos solo, as a couple, with friends, with family, with your pets, etc.

In this guide, I am only recommending lightweight travel tripods. The reason being is tripods can get quite heavy and if you plan to travel with one, you really need it to be as lightweight and packable as possible. I also like to hike and backpack with a tripod, so having something small and lightweight is VERY important.

Best Phone Tripods for Travel

I often take photos and videos on my phone ( iPhone 13 Pro ) and find this to be such a quick and easy way to create travel memories. Below are my top options for phone travel tripods.

Cheapest Phone Tripod

The most affordable (yet still highly rated) phone travel tripod on the market is the UBeesize Phone Tripod . Coming in at $16 USD you can get a tripod that allows for capturing both vertical and horizontal photos/videos. It’s also flexible and can be wrapped around things like fences, poles, tree branches, etc.

Smallest Phone Tripod

There are numerous really small phone tripods on the market, but the issue is that a lot of them won’t allow you to shoot both horizontally AND vertically. If you don’t mind only having the option to shoot horizontally, then I recommend the Joby GripTight ONE Micro Stand or the JOBY GorillaPod Mobile Mini .

If you want the ability to shoot vertically as well, I think the smallest option available is the JOBY Handypod Mobile Mini Tripod with GripTight One Mount . Remember that these types of mini-phone tripods will need to be rested on something, e.g. a table, fence, car, rock, etc.

Extendable Phone Tripod

If you want to take full-body images then you should probably invest in an extendable phone tripod. This will allow you to have your phone at hip or face height. My top recommendation is the Aureday 62 inch Selfie Stick Tripod . This tripod can be extended to 62 inches / 5’1 ft, comes with a universal head mount, remote shutter release, and can also be used as a selfie stick. It can also be used with a GoPro or DSLR camera. Note that you may not be able to extend it all the way or use it vertically with a heavy camera.

Most Professional Phone Tripod

Now hear me out… the Peak Design Travel Tripod is expensive but it’s amazing for creating professional content on both mobile and camera! It’s sturdy enough that you can create long exposures and timelapse videos without the tripod shaking or risking falling over. It also extends to be 60 inches, can hold phones/cameras both vertically and horizontally, and can house up to 20 lbs of weight, including large DSLR cameras and telephoto lenses.

Already own a tripod for your DSLR or mirrorless camera? You can very likely buy a mobile attachment and use it with your existing tripod head/ball head. Just be sure to read up on the dimensions and requirements before purchasing. Some attachments to look into are the Peak Design Travel Tripod Phone Mount and the Ruittos Phone Tripod Mount .

Best Lightweight Travel Tripods for Cameras

There is a wide range of tripods on the market for DSLR and mirrorless cameras . I personally believe that if a tripod is lightweight and packable then you are much more likely to actually use it. So these recommendations are best suited for photographers who are on the go and need a travel-friendly tripod (including for activities like hiking and backpacking).

best Overall Travel Tripod

My most used travel tripod is the Peak Design Travel Tripod carbon fiber version. It’s super lightweight for a sturdy tripod that extends to 60 inches and can hold both a camera body & a large lens (e.g. telephoto). It packs down really small and can easily be stored in your luggage or in the side section of your backpack (a total length of 15.4”). The weight of the carbon fiber version is 1.29 kg (2.81 lbs), and the aluminum version is 1.56 kg (3.44 lbs).

The Peak Design Travel Tripod also comes with a built-in ball head and camera mount, so you won’t need to buy that separately. Like to shoot with an L Bracket? Read this article before buying .

Another perk of the Peak Design Travel Tripod is that it comes with a mobile phone clip, making it the perfect hybrid for creators who like to shoot with both their camera and their phone.

Should you choose the aluminum or carbon fiber version? If you don’t need a super lightweight tripod, then I recommend you buy the aluminum version. If you plan to hike or backpack with it then I would consider investing in the carbon fiber version.

Travel Tripod Most Loved By Professionals

If you’ve followed me for the while then you’ve probably seen me use the Gitzo Traveler Series 2 Carbon Fiber Tripod paired with a Really Right Stuff BH-30 Ball Head , and an L Bracket camera attachment. I bought this setup before the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod was released because it used to be the best lightweight professional setup available. I still love this option for the fine-tuning you can do with the Really Right Stuff BH-30 Ball Head and the ability to quickly change between vertical and horizontal compositions when using an L Bracket camera attachment. You can also pair the Peak Design Travel Tripod Phone Mount with this setup, making it functional for both mobile and camera.

The downsides of this setup are that it’s not as packable or as lightweight as the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod . When folded, the tripod packs down to be 17.5 inches and the ball head is a height of 2.9 inches, making it a total of 20.4 inches. This is short compared to a lot of tripod and ball head configurations, but for me as a petite woman, it’s quite tall to fit in the side of a backpack. In saying that, my 6’1 husband has no complaints. This setup comes in at a weight of ~3.71 lbs, which is 0.9 lbs heavier than the Peak Design. It’s also ~$315 more expensive than the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod .

So why would you choose the Gitzo Traveler Series 2 Carbon Fiber Tripod + Really Right Stuff BH-30 Ball Head over the Peak Design Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod ? Right now Peak Design is still working on compatibility issues between the Really Right Stuff Plates and L-Brackets and their Travel Tripod. For example, the L Bracket I am currently using for my Sony a1 is not compatible with the Peak Design Travel Tripod head. And sometimes having that ability to switch between vertical and horizontal quickly is very important to me. So for now I am holding onto my Gitzo and RRS setup until Peak Design has fixed that issue ( which they appear to be working on ).

Best Budget Travel Tripod

I know the last two options are expensive and not everyone has that kind of money to spend. There are definitely more budget-friendly travel tripod options on the market but keep in mind that they are cheaper for a reason. Usually , the more budget-friendly tripod options are heavier, less packable, and/or less sturdy.

The Magnus TR-13 Travel Tripod is a great choice for those looking to invest in a lightweight travel tripod but may not have the budget for something super fancy. The Magnus TR-13 can be extended up to 62.5″, folds down to 18.2″, and weighs only 2.9lbs! But it doesn’t hold as much weight as some of the more expensive options (max of 13.2 lb). So you’re going to find this tripod is less steady and possibly not as conducive to holding bulkier equipment like telephoto lenses.

Some other budget travel tripods to consider:

• Mefoto Roadtrip S Lightweight Aluminum Travel Tripod
• SIRUI T-0S Series Travel Tripod  
• Manfrotto Element MII Aluminum Tripod
• Oben AT-3565 Aluminum Travel Tripod

How To Take Travel Selfies With a Tripod

There are a few different methods to taking selfies with a tripod. And these apply to any type of selfie, including couple photos, solo photoshoots, family snaps, capturing moments with your friends, or maybe even with your pets. These methods apply to both phone photography and DSLR + mirrorless cameras.

Different methods of taking selfies

• Using the self timer function
• Using a remote control
• Utilizing interval shooting / intervalometer

1. Using the Self Timer Function

This is probably the easiest option and works for both mobile and camera. It’s super simple, you just turn on the self timer function (all phones and cameras have this) and run into the frame! For iPhones, you can set the self timer to be 3 or 10 seconds. I recommend 10 seconds because then you will have more time to run into the frame. I often use this method for very quick selfies when I know I can be close to the phone/camera and will only want 1 or 2 takes.

• Pros : free and easy to use
• Cons : you have to stay relatively close to your phone/camera and can only take 1 photo at a time

2. Using a Remote control

Using a remote that connects to your phone is a popular choice for taking selfies. This means you can click a button on the remote and it takes a photo on your phone. This method can also be used with DSLR and mirrorless cameras when the brand has a compatible app (e.g. you download the app on your phone and then use it as a remote to click your camera’s shutter from afar). I have used this method in the past but I find it annoying to have to hide the remote / my phone each time.

• Pros : affordable and easy to use, you can be further away from the camera, you can take multiple images per shoot
• Cons : it’s annoying to hide the remote each time, they often have fairly short ranges so you still can’t go too far away

3. Utilizing Interval Shooting

This is my preferred method for taking selfies on both my phone and camera. When using a phone, you will need to download an Interval Shooting app (e.g. Lens Buddy or Lightning Lens ). If using your camera, you will need to use the inbuilt interval shooting function (or if you camera doesn’t have this you can purchase an external intervalometer).

Choose the speed, how many photos you want it to take, and whether or not you want a delay/timer at the start (so you can get into position). For example, you may choose for it to take a photo every 2 seconds, with 20 photos total, and a 15 second timer at the beginning. I love this method because I can move around freely and pose in all different ways. It’s also great for a group setting because you’re bound to get an option with everyone’s eyes open if you have 20 takes!

I have an Instagram Reel that shows me using this feature on my Sony a1. Click here to watch

• Pros : you can easily take many photos in one go, don’t need to worry about hiding a remote, can get as far away from the camera/phone as you want
• Cons : not an option for all cameras and doing this on the phone requires an additional app

Final Thoughts on the Best Travel Tripods

I want to finish off this guide by saying that you shouldn’t feel embarrassed or worried about using a tripod in front of others. Who cares what they think?! Some of my favorite photos have been taken with a tripod and they make such amazing memories. For example, I wouldn’t have nearly as many photos with my husband and or with my friends if we didn’t travel with a tripod. So put those worries aside and just give it a try 🙂

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Incredible photos and pack of usefull info. Thanks, guys! Still in search of 1.5m height lightweight tripod for artwork process shooting.

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Article updated on April 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM PDT

Best Tripod for Photography and Video in 2024

Our picks of the best tripods to help you capture better photos and videos in 2024.

Our Experts

• Shortlisted for British Photography Awards 2022, Commended in Landscape Photographer of the Year 2022

CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise.

Not all cameras are light enough for handheld shooting. And if you add the weight of telephoto lenses, things can get even more difficult. A good tripod provides stability, eliminating camera shakes and helping you capture better images -- if you want to get the perfect shot, you'll need to invest in a tripod. Getting a tripod also expands your camera's potential by allowing you to shoot in long-exposure modes that you may need for astrophotography and more.

If you're looking to buy a new tripod today, there are a ton of options. You can get a wide variety of features and capabilities. But that can make sorting through them all confusing, time-consuming and, let's face it, dull. This is why I've done the hard work for you and rounded up some of the best camera tripods on the market right now, whether you shoot landscapes, macro, stills, video or whatever. 

I've tested all the models on this best camera tripod list and chosen each one as a great example of its category. I took into consideration factors including maximum height, the folded height, load capacity, the ease of using the tripod mount and so much more to ensure that I'm only including the best of the best. I'll be updating this list over time as new models arrive and manufacturers update their ranges.

Best all-round tripod

3 legged thing bucky.

The 3 Legged Thing Bucky is a super tripod for almost any photography situation. Its carbon-fiber construction means it's light enough to comfortably strap to a backpack, it packs down small but its maximum height of over 6.2 feet (191cm) makes it extremely tall too. I've found it brilliant for landscape photography as it's no trouble to carry out into the hills, but I can still shoot at eye level. 

Its ball head is secure enough to hold even the weightiest DSLRs with a big zoom lens attached, its legs can be detached to use as monopods, and its solid construction means you don't need to worry about it taking a few knocks on the road. It doesn't come cheap, but photography enthusiasts in any genre are well-catered for here.

A great budget travel tripod

Manfrotto element ii.

Affordable, lightweight tripods often have a trade off in stability, but not so with Manfrotto's latest Element II tripod. Its twist-locking legs are strong and can be splayed out wide for further stability in strong wind. The ball head had no trouble supporting our Canon 5D MkIV with 24-105mm lens -- those of you with even lighter mirrorless cameras will have no trouble here. 

Its 3.5-pound (1.6kg) weight means it's light enough to comfortably carry on a backpack for a few hours and despite its more affordable price, it has a reassuringly burly feel to it that doesn't give any cause for concern about its longevity. If you're after a lightweight travel tripod with a more wallet-friendly asking price than carbon-fiber models, the Element II is worth a look.

Exceptionally lightweight travel tripod

Benro rhino carbon-fiber tripod with vx20 ball head.

The exceptionally light weight of Benro's Rhino tripod is immediately noticeable as soon as you pick it up. Made from carbon fiber, it weighs only 2.7 pounds (1.2kg), making it the best choice if you're planning all-day photo hikes and you're trying to save every ounce you can. Such a light weight does mean it's more susceptible to being shaken by the wind, but a built-in hook under the center column allows you to hang a weight off it (your kit bag, or a shopping bag full of rocks you've found always works in my experience) to add support in particularly blustery conditions.

Despite its light weight, it's more than capable of holding our Canon 5DMk IV and 24-105mm lens with absolutely zero movements from the ball head. Despite the legs being almost pencil-thin at their ends, the carbon-fiber construction means they're extremely rigid while the burly, rubberized twist-locks keep them solidly locked in place.

Affordable video tripod for budding filmmakers

Manfrotto befree 3-way live.

With its 3-way pan and tilt head, Manfrotto's BeFree 3-Way Live is an excellent choice for both photographers and budding videographers who don't want to splash out on a dedicated video tripod head. Its fluid head makes getting smooth panning shots very easy while the panning and tilting arms fold away to make it easier to transport. 

Its aluminum legs are sturdy and while it's not as light as others on this list, it's perfectly comfortable to carry on a backpack for at least a couple of hours at a time -- and certainly a lot lighter than most dedicated video tripods. My one small complaint is that the knob to tighten the camera plate is very small and can prove quite fiddly, especially if you're wearing gloves. I might be nit-picking here though as the 3-Way Live is a great all-round camera tripod for anyone wanting to add videography into their workflow.

Superb lightweight tripod for travelers

Peak design travel tripod.

Peak Design is best known for its range of stylish camera backpacks, but it recently launched its first tripod. The Travel Tripod, as it's known, is best for exactly what its name suggests: traveling. The carbon-fiber version I tested weighs only 2.8 pounds (1.27kg) and packs down to only 15.4 inches long, making this portable tripod easy to chuck in a backpack or camera bag. The aluminum tripod model weighs 3.4 pounds (1.5kg).

Its ball head is quick and easy to use, it's sturdy enough to hold a Canon 5D MkIV DSLR with a 24-70mm lens and it comes with its own grip so you can mount your phone on the tripod that tucks away inside the central column. It's all extremely well thought-out and feels reassuringly sturdy -- I certainly have no concerns about its ability to handle a rough-and-tumble life on the road.

Best tripod for traveling videographers

3 legged thing jay with cine head.

The Jay's transforming design allows it to convert from a full-size tripod to a monopod in moments. Getting down low? Take each tripod leg off, add the optional feet and it becomes a tiny tabletop tripod. It has a leveling base that makes it quick to get a straight horizon, while its compact carbon-fiber design makes it both exceptionally portable and an extremely lightweight tripod. 

We reviewed the Jay with the Cine video head, which makes the Jay perfectly suited for videographers wanting to shoot smooth panning shots. It happily supports our Canon 5D MkIV DSLR with a 70-200mm lens, while the friction-free motion of the fluid head makes it easy to get buttery-smooth results. 

It doesn't come cheap, but this is a real quality piece of kit that's beautifully put together and will suit traveling pros and enthusiastic amateurs alike.

Best tripod for macro and food photography (Update: Low stock)

Manfrotto befree gt x pro.

This tripod's headline feature is its center column, which can tilt 90 degrees to a horizontal position. This aluminum camera tripod allows you to get your camera to only 9 cm above the ground and lets you shoot directly down, making it a useful tool for macro photographers. Food photographers also will love getting those top-down shots of beautifully presented meals.

Its legs are easy to extend thanks to the twist lock design, the ball head holds a Canon 5D Mk IV and 70-200mm lens without issue and its 4.4-pound (2kg) weight means it's fairly easy to carry attached to a backpack.

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Home » Gear » best travel tripods

The 10 BEST Travel Tripods (Up Your PhotographGame in 2024)

So you just bought your new pride and joy: a travel camera worthy of capturing your epic adventures. But now you’re out shooting and the moment comes when you can’t seem to get a good image. Perhaps there isn’t enough light or maybe it’s too windy; regardless, all of your pictures just look blurry, dark and just don’t seem to capture the epic scene laid out before you.

Other times, you may see some photographers’ work and think: “Wow! How did they get the milky way in their pictures” or wonder “how did they make those waterfalls look so smooth and dreamy?” Well, my friends, the secret is out: A good travel tripod is the reason. 

Admit it, you’ve seen photographers carrying around a tripod or pitching up at a viewpoint and wondered what on earth they need them for. Well, now you know and now you’re taking your travel photography seriously you’re ready to join the pros. When it comes to taking high-quality images, a lightweight travel tripod can be just as important as the camera itself. A great travel tripod might just be the thing that takes your photos to the next level.

Now you’ve decided to take the leap, get ready for a sea of confusing terms, endless options and various different price ranges. When it comes to the best travel tripods, it’s easier said than done to pick the right one for your trip and photography style. Which is why we’ve put together this guide so you can find the perfect travel tripod that fits your style.

Let’s jump into it!

Quick Answers: Best Travel Tripods of 2024

The best travel tripods of 2024, #1 vanguard alta pro, best overall travel tripod, #2 mefoto roadtrip, best travel tripod runner-up, #3 manfrotto befree, best travel tripod for backpacking, #4 zomei z818, best budget travel tripod, #5 gitzo traveler series 1, professional travel tripod, #6 mefoto globetrotter, best professional tripod runner-up, #7 joby gorillapod 5k, best tripod for under $100, #8 benro aero 4 travel angel, best travel tripod for video, #9 3 legged thing punks corey, best budget travel tripod for dslrs, #10 manfrotto 290 carbon fiber monopod, best travel monopod, what to consider when buying the best travel tripod, how we tested the best travel tripods, faq about the best travel tripods, final thoughts.

• Overall Best Tripod –  Vanguard Alta Pro
• Best Budget Travel Tripod –  Zomei Z818
• Best Professional Travel Tripod –  Gitzo Traveler Series 1
• Best Tripod for Under $100  –  Joby Gorillapod 5k
• Best Tripod for Video –  Benro Aero 4 Travel Angel
• Jump to ->   The List of 10 Best Tripods of 2024

Vanguard Alta Pro

• > 15.4 lbs capacity

Gitzo Traveler Series 1

• > 22 lbs capacity

Joby Gorillapod 5K

• > 11 lbs capacity

Benro Aero 4 Travel Angel

• > 8.8 lbs capacity

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• Load Capacity:15.4 lb
• Maximum Height: 68.1?
• Minimum Height: 56? but this is a misleading number
• Folded Length: 28.1?
• Weight: 5.4 lbs
• Leg Sections: 3 – Flip Locks

Though the Vanguard Alta Pro is almost 6 years old by now, it’s still one of the best tripods on the market today! Since the release of an updated version – the less than stellar Alta Pro 2 – the price of the Alta Pro has dropped even further as well, making this already budget-friendly travel tripod even more affordable.

The Vanguard Alta Pro uses an innovative system – referred to as MACC (Multi-Angle Central Column) – where the center column can be rotated on its axis up to 180 degrees, allowing for a horizontal and upside down compositions.

With such flexibility, you can position your camera in ways that would normally be awkward, like near to the ground and poking out to the side. The system is fairly intuitive and setting-up should take no longer than any other tripod.

• Innovative design that is still useful today
• Excellent price these days
• Well equipped to handle most cameras
• 15.4 lb load capacity may be a liberal number
• Will need maintenance
• Fidgety quick release plate

The legs of the Alta Pro are constructed of 3 sections and can be laid out nearly flat. Combined with the MACC, this ensures that you’ll be able to achieve some pretty crazy and unique angles. The legs use flips locks, which are convenient but will require periodic tightening as they are used.

The Vanguard Alta Pro is a little heavy because it’s made from aluminum. It’s rated to a hold up to 15.4 lbs but many users have commented that this number may be skewed as wobble can still be a problem with oversized DSLRs. Avoid using this tripod at its full extension.

The Vanguard Alta comes equipped with an SBH-100 ball head that is fairly sturdy. The quick release plate is not as smooth as other tripods – like the Manfrotto – but this is a minor gripe. Below the ball head, there is a bubble leveler as well.

Is the Vanguard Alta Pro For You?

Do you want one of the most innovative and praised tripods in recent memory? Want to take advantage of its recent price cuts? Then there is no better time to invest in the Vanguard Alta Pro! This tripod is very capable and has become well-loved over the years; in many people’s minds, it still one of the best tripods for backpacking.

The team are massive fans of this tripod and just love its versatility when it comes to positioning, in particular, the ability to adjust the centre column is priceless when you need to get down low. They also felt it was pretty light and its weight was a good compromise between being light and also being stable in windy conditions.

• Load Capacity: 17.6 lbs
• Maximum Height: 61.6”
• Minimum Height: 15.4”
• Folded Length: 15.4”
• Weight: 3.6 lbs
• Leg Sections: 5 – Screw Lock

For those who want a slightly lighter tripod than the Vanguard Alta Pro, the MeFOTO Roadtrip is an excellent alternative. This lightweight travel tripod is very adept and can still handle most photographic situations. It may not be as nifty as the Vanguard but the MeFOTO Roadtrip still has the cuts to get the job done.

Like most tripods, the MeFOTO Roadtrip’s legs can be set to three different positions: wide, standard, and free, the third of which is usually used for folding the legs up for packing.

I find that the second option is usually the most useful as it creates a base that most photographers will find optimal. The first is mostly used for getting the tripod low – though not so low as the Vanguard Alta Pro – to the ground. Changing the position of the legs is simply a matter of pushing and retracting a button.

• Quite light and packable.
• Can still hold larger DSLRs
• Can be converted into a monopod
• Can still suffer from wobble at times
• Legs are not as durable as others

Of note is the MeFOTO’s ability to be converted into a monopod, which is an increasingly popular feature in modern tripods.

By removing one of the legs, detaching the central column, and then connecting the two together (BOOM!) you have a monopod. This arrangement is great when you want to run and gun and don’t want to worry about carrying around a cumbersome three legged monster.

At 3.6 lbs, the MeFOTO is quite light. It’s rated to hold over 17 lbs of equipment though many photographers do complain that the MeFOTO still suffers from wobble especially when fully extended.

This is most likely a consequence of the tripod’s light weight in addition to the fact that the legs are broken into five sections, which is not ideal.

Is the MeFOTO Roadtrip For You?

Do you want a lightweight tripod that can handle a heavier DSLR a bit better? Do you like the idea of using a monopod? Then the MeFOTO Roadtrip may be the travel tripod for you! This sturdy tripod will give you that extra rigidity for your camera that, even though it’s not quite professional yet, should handle most situations.

The team loved how quick and easy this tripod was to deploy and adjust with the screw-able leg locks rather than clips, these are also a lot more durable too. The weight of this tripod though was the real selling point for the team and it made them feel like they were much more likely to want to take it with them on their trips.

• Load Capacity: 8.8 lb
• Maximum Height: 56.7?
• Minimum Height: 13.4?
• Folded Length: 15.75?
• Weight: 3 lbs
• Leg Sections: 4 – Flip Lock

If you’re looking for a conventional tripod that is very light and doesn’t sacrifice too much durability, then I suggest the Manfrotto BeFree. This reliable and lightweight tripod is great for wilderness backpacking in addition to demanding professional shoots. It has the usual bells and whistles that a good travel tripod should have and all at a great price.

The Manfrotto BeFree is very straightforward travel tripod that is not overly complex to use.

The legs can be arranged into the usual positions (wide, normal, and free) though the Manfrotto uses a slightly novel latching system to achieve this; it’s unique though in no way inhibitive.

The legs are composed of 4 sections and are locked via flip mechanisms. Like the Alta Pro, you’ll have to periodically tighten these locks. The feet of the tripod are made of rubber, which is good for gripping most surfaces. In my personal experiences, I find the feet like to fall off quite often, which easily fixed via replaced parts though still a little irritating.

• One of the lightest (aluminum) tripods available
• Very quick and easy to use
• Probably not suitable for larger DSLRs
• Can be unstable when fully extended – lack of a hook doesn’t help
• Feet like to fall off

The BeFree is remarkably light given that’s made of aluminum – ultralight photographers can upgrade to a carbon fiber version , which cuts about a half pound as well. The BeFree is rated to hold nearly 9 lbs, which makes it most ideal for mirrorless shooters.

Full frame DSLR shooters who use this travel tripod notice some wobbling in the frame especially and complain further that the lack of a hook on the central column, which is used to weight the tripod, leaves much to be desired.

For videographers, the Manfrotto BeFree can also be converted into a great travel video tripod via special video head sold separately. This accessory, the Manfrotto 502 Video Head , is very effective and does a great job panning.

Is the Manfrotto BeFree For You?

Do you want a lightweight travel tripod without sacrificing too much stability? Are you still looking for something affordable? Then check out the Manfrotto BeFree Travel Tripod! This tripod is easy-to-use, very packable, and won’t break your back or the bank at all. It has been my go-to for many years and I have no problem saying that it’s one of the best backpacking tripods out there!

Personally, this has been my go-to tripod of choice for the past few years and I’ve been super happy with its versatility, durability and weight. It easily fits inside my big backpack and honestly still keeps the weight down to a reasonable level for backpacking or short trips. I use this with my Sony A7III and 24-105 f4 lens and I have always found it super stable even in windy conditions.

• Load Capacity: ?
• Maximum Height: 65?
• Minimum Height: 22?
• Folded Length: 18?
• Weight: 3.7 lbs
• Leg Sections: 4 – Twist Locks

At around $100, the Zomei Z818 is a screaming deal. With a solid build quality, useful features, and the ability to convert into a monopod, this baby can compete with every comparable tripod out there.

I’m going to cut to chase here and say that the Zomei Z818 is very similar to the MeFOTO Roadtrip – shockingly so actually.

Many of the features found in the MeFOTO are also found in the Zomei like the screws locks, the hook in the center column, and the ability to be converted into a monopod. Even the locking mechanism for the Zomei’s legs is eerily similar in mechanics to the MeFOTO.

The Zomei Z818 is a slightly larger travel tripod than the MeFOTO Roadtrip. The Zomei’s maximum height is about 4 inches greater than the MeFOTO and the minimum height is about 7 inches difference. The Zomei is consequently heavier than the MeFOTO but only just barely.

The team felt this was their best backpacking tripod for a DSLR on a budget. They loved that for the price it was all made from high-quality aluminium rather than cheap plastic which made it feel much more durable. The fact that it can be turned into a monopod too really impressed them for such a well priced tripod.

• Cheaper than the competition
• Very similar to the MeFOTO Roadtrip
• No official load capacity?
• Suffers from some wobble with heavier loads
• Can’t be commended for being very original (I guess)

Oddly enough, I couldn’t find any official numbers for the Zomei’s load capacity anywhere on the web. Since it is so similar to the Roadtrip though, I imagine that the load capacity for the Zomei would be around 17 lbs.

I would also guess that it suffers from the same wobble as the MeFOTO does when using a heavier camera but this part I’ve yet to actually test.

Long story short, the Zomei Z818 is a great travel tripod, one that is comparable to the already impressive MeFOTO Roadtrip. The fact that it is $50 cheaper than the MeFOTO is the most alurring factor though. Those in the market for the best budget travel tripod will have to consider the Zomei Z818.

Is the Zomei Z818 For You?

Do you want a great tripod for an amazing price? Did you like what you saw with MeFOTO Roadtrip? Then give the Zomei Z818 a chance! Considering its functionality and low price, this guy takes the award for best budget travel tripod currently on the market.

• Load Capacity: 22 lb
• Maximum Height: 60.2?
• Minimum Height: 8.6?
• Folded Length: 16.7?
• Weight: 2.3 lbs
• Leg Sections: 4 – G Lock System

If money isn’t an issue for you, then the Gitzo Traveler Series 1 is the best tripod, period. It’s one of the lightest, sturdiest, most intuitive, and most attractive photographic accessories that you can own.

There is no special, groundbreaking technology involved with the Gitzo Traveler Series 1 – it will not blow you away with new or futuristic features. No, the Gitzo does so well because of the quality of its parts and manufacturing. Like the best Italian food that you ever had, it’s all about the ingredients.

The Gitzo Traveler Series 1 is made from high-grade carbon fiber materials, the quality of which the company insists is cut above the competition. Unlike many other tripods in this guide, the Gitzo Traveler is actually quite good-looking, fashionable even, thanks to the stylish finish on the carbon fiber.

• The best that money can buy
• Very light and very sturdy
• Just all around easy-to-use
• Very, very expensive

The legs are made from 4 sections and are locked in place by the company’s own patented “G Lock System.” This system is very efficient and quite inconspicuous, which only adds to the tripod’s already gorgeous appearance.

The Gitzo weighs a paltry 2.3 lbs and is rated to hold 22 lbs. It’s minimum height of 8.6” is one of the lowest on this list not including the GorillaPod.

I’d go further into the Gitzo’s construction but it’d be futile. I can only say that this is simply one the best tripods that one can buy. You will pay (a lot) for it but, in time, you’ll probably forget about the price. Note that the standard version of this Gitzo doesn’t include a ballhead – if you’re willing to spend the extra cash, you can buy a full set here .

Is the Gitzo Traveler Series 1 For You?

Do you want the absolute best possible travel tripod? Is money no issue? Then go buy the Gitzo Traveler Series 1. With near-perfect engineering and materials, this tripod is, in many photographer’s eyes, not just great for travelling, but everything.

I mean, the team were of course, very impressed by this tripod. But did they feel it was worth almost 500 quid, well, some of them did! The members of the crew who were photography aficionados felt that if your budget stretches this far, then you won’t be disappointed. The carbon fibre construction, twist lock extendable legs, and versatile positioning just make it feel like a real premium product and on top of that, it’s light AF and super compact… what’s not to like. Oohh, yeah, the price!

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• Load Capacity: 26.4 lb
• Maximum Height: 64.2?
• Minimum Height: 16.1?
• Folded Length: 16.5?
• Weight: 3.7 lb
• Leg Sections: 5 – Twist Locks

The MeFOTO Globetrotter is the larger, more capable version of the MeFOTO Roadtrip and is meant for professional photographers with heavier equipment. Made of carbon fiber and rated to hold a staggering 26.4 lbs, the MeFOTO Globetrotter can handle just about anything you or mother nature can throw at it.

When considering the MeFOTO Roadtrip vs the Globetrotter, the two function in many similar ways. Both have twist locks on the legs, three different orientations, and use the same button-like mechanism to set the legs.

Due to its carbon fiber construction, the MeFOTO Globetrotter suffers less from the wobble that the Roadtrip reportedly does while still remaining light. The MeFOTO Globetrotter retains the ability to turn into a monopod and, thanks to sturdier build, may even be used as trekking pole if you’re so inclined.

• Light for how sturdy it is
• Very cheap compared to the competition
• Can handle heavier loads and more adverse conditions
• Still $300+
• Little heavy for a carbon fiber tripod

The MeFOTO Globetrotter still uses the twist lock system as the Roadtrip. Again, whether or not you like twist locks or not – as opposed to flip – is a matter of preference. Granted, the Globetrotter’s weather sealing seems to be very effective and its joints do not appear to loosen as quickly as the Roadtrip. This travel tripod is built to last.

The most impressive part about the Globetrotter is the price though – at nearly half the cost of several of its competitors, the Globetrotter performs near equally as well.

At 3.7 lbs too it’s still reasonably light but this is where it falls short compared to the competition. Many carbon fiber tripods will come in at less than 3 lbs, which is why you buy the premium material in the first place and, thus, kinda defeats the purpose.

Is the MeFOTO Globetrotter For You?

Do you want a professional-grade tripod for a good price? Mind if it’s a little heavier than other carbon fiber ones? Then head come on down and get yourself a MeFOTO Globetrotter! This upgraded version of the Roadtrip will stand up to whatever you throw at it and won’t cost too much.

The team were pretty happy with this tripod for the price, it had that feel of a premium product without the extortionate costs in all honesty. The price vs weight vs stability made this tripod feel like it has really hit the sweet spot. The team also felt the red accents the tripod is available in was also a nice touch that made it stand out against the rest.

• Load Capacity: 11 lb
• Maximum Height: 15.2?
• Minimum Height: N/A
• Folded Length: N/A
• Weight: 17 oz
• Leg Sections: N/A

The Gorillapod 5K is Joby’s newest addition to its lineup and maybe its best yet! The 5K is a streamlined version of their previous Focus edition and expands upon its predecessor’s prowess.

With a very sturdy build, unbeatable lightness, the ability to get into otherwise hard-to-reach places, and great price, the Joby GorillaPod 5k is not only the best tripod for under $100 but also the best ultralight tripod.

Gorillapods have been around for a while. I’m sure that you’ve seen them wrapped around a railing or clinging to some tree at least once in your travels. Over the years, they’ve had a bit of a mixed reputation – though novel in their design, they just couldn’t hold up under harsh conditions or heavier loads; neither could they excel in composition because of their short stature.

• Remarkably sturdy
• Eminently light
• Very flexible
• Maximum sturdiness requires just the right leg setup, which can be tedious
• Limited to low angle shots
• Expensive if you’re buying the Joby ballhead too

The Gorillapod Focus and its current iteration, the Gorillapod 5K, have changed that. Built with high end plastics, rubber, machined aluminum, and stainless steel, the Gorillapod 5K is not the cute little tripod that you saw before. This thing can hold a serious amount of weight for its size – 11 lbs – and can support many high-end travel cameras.

The legs of the Gorillapod 5K are their usual flexible selves – being able to wrap many objects for stabilization – though these feel very rigid, perhaps too rigid much for some. You may find it a little tedious to adjust the legs, a process that was already frustrating enough in past models. Tediousness aside, this rigidity is a good thing though as that’s how the Gorillapod is able to hold more weight.

I’ve used the Gorillapod 5K several times while backpacking and feel very happy with it. I was still able to get good shots with my Fujifilm XT2 and certainly didn’t mind the lack of weightiness.

Is the Joby Gorillapod 5k For You?

Do you want the lightest possible tripod that can still handle your heavy equipment? Are you okay with using a tripod that’s only a little over a foot tall? Well then maybe it’s time to give Gorillapods a chance. The Gorillapod 5K is one of the best models ever produced by Joby and is devoid of many of the inherent flaws that has plagued its precursors.

Despite being Scottish slang for poop, the Joby was a roaring success across the team. The tiny, light and compact design meant it was suitable across the board for those using their phone to others using mirrorless cameras. What is also a massive selling point is of course how it can grip on pretty much anything, which the team felt in practice actually worked well, especially on lighter cameras.

• Maximum Height: 65.2?
• Minimum Height: 21.9?
• Folded Length: 21.7?
• Weight: 5.8 lbs
• Leg Sections: 3 – Flip Lock

Dedicated travel vloggers will need a specialized tripod to create the highest quality videos. One of the most useful tripods specifically for video right now is the Benro Aero 4. With a well designed video head and a sturdy set of legs underneath it, the Benro Aero 4 is more than capable of helping to create gorgeous videos.

The body of the Benro Aero 4 is designed very similarly to many other tripods in this guide. The legs and central column are made of tough aluminum.

The tripod is quite steady and doesn’t have much jitter too so long as your camera is no more than 9lbs. At almost 6 lbs, the Benro Aero 4 is a bit on the heavy side though not as heavy as some other professional grade cinematography tripods.

• Well-performing tripod head
• Still has the functions of a normal tripod
• Easy to set up and pack away
• Videographers are probably limited to shooting Micro Four Thirds and APS-C
• Some users report that the screws of the quick release plate are a little wonky
• Quite heavy

The legs are made from 3 sections and can be locked into fixed positions via a flipping mechanism. The legs can be arranged into the usual angular distances. Note that the widest angle that the Benro Aero 4’s legs can be set-up to is not as wide as other tripods though, thus the relatively high minimum height.

Like many other tripods these days, the Benro can be converted into a monopod as well. Simply remove one of the legs and attach it to the central shaft; easy as that!

The most important part of a good travel video tripod is the head though. The Aero 4’s flat video head is excellently designed and very efficient. Using the built-in handle, which is essential to capturing good video, the head pans very smoothly. There are several other knobs to control resistance further. There’s a quick release plate as well so you can mount your camera and start shooting in a single quick motion.

Is the Benro Aero 4 Travel Angel For You?

Are you a videographer who needs a specialized tripod? Do you use a smaller camera for video? If these sound right to you, then check out the Benro Aero 4! This is one of the best travel video tripods right now thanks to its compact design and superb flat video head.

The team felt this camera was a little niche but for those wanting to produce good-quality videos on their trip, this is the perfect solution. Often video tripods can be pretty heavy and sure, this one is compared to others on our list, but at the same time, compared to other video tripods, it’s not! The larger than normal ball head also neatly tucks away which the team were pretty impressed by.

• Load Capacity: 30 lbs
• Maximum Height: 58?
• Minimum Height: 4?
• Folded Length:13.7?
• Weight: 3.4 lb

The 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey is a brawler of a tripod that swings way above its weight class. At 3.4 lbs this travel tripod is rated to hold up to 30 lbs, which is a huge number. With a robust design and atypical central column that can be converted into a monopod, the 3 Legged Punks Corey is a real contender.

The Punks Corey is made from rubber, aluminum, and titanium materials. The legs are composed of 5 sections and are locked via a twisting mechanism. The rubber grip for the twists feel good in your hands and looks pretty cool too with a gator-skin like pattern. The legs can be locked into three positions: 23 degrees, 55 degrees, and 80 degrees.

• Very strong
• Unique central column design
• Some may really like cosmetics of this tripod
• Tripod must still be set up properly to hold 30 lbs
• Removing central column can take some time
• Some may really not like cosmetics of this tripod

At its greatest extension, the Punks Corey is 58” high. Note that a tripod will always be more subject to shake as maximum extension is reached.

The Punks Corey’s central column can be removed, which can then be converted into a monopod – in conjunction with one of the legs – or to allow the tripod itself to get as low to the ground as possible. Without the central column, the ball head is rescrewed directly onto the tripod and the minimum height becomes 4”.

To be able to hold such a great weight, the ball head must be strong. The Punks Corey is AirHed Neo ballhead is just that.

Is the 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey For You?

Do you want a beast of a tripod that can handle heavy loads? Want something that is functional as well as convertible? Then look no further than the 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey! It’s better equipped to handle heavy DSLRs and is still able to perform all the usual duties that befit a great travel tripod.

The team felt this was a winner for their best budget travel tripod award (DSLR category of course!). The rubberised twist lock system was particularly appreciated especially when it came to shooting in inclement weather. The ability also to switch the central column to shoot underneath the tripod without any real fuss was also a huge selling point.

• Maximum Height: 59.4?
• Minimum Height: 19.3?
• Weight:1.1 lb

To be honest, this one kinda feels like cheating because this isn’t a tripod at all; it’s purely a monopod – a tool that only uses one leg instead of three. Don’t think that it’s inferior though; in the right hands, the Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Monopod can compete with any tripod. Trekkers can pack it away easily or even use it as a trekking pole, making it one of the best tools for wilderness photographers.

A few tripods already mentioned in this guide have had the ability to convert into monopods – let’s look at now why monopods are just as convenient as their three-legged compatriots.

With three legs, tripods offer near complete stabilization across two planes – a monopod only covers one. For many photographers, that single plane of stabilization is all that is required for getting good pictures. For those who are more active shooters, like hikers, sports photographers, and wedding photographer, a monopod is perfect.

• The lightest tripod/monopod in this guide
• Very, very sturdy
• Very packable
• Not as much stabilization as a conventional tripod
• May or may not save your hide
• Long exposures will be very difficult

The Manfrotto 290 is an exceptional monopod. Built from high-end carbon fiber, it would take a lot to break this thing. Its 4 sections are locked by flipping latches that are equally as reliable.

So strong is the Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Tripod that some photographers may even use it as a trekking pole – there’s even a loop for your wrist.

Note that while the frame is secure, there’s always a chance that it may break should you take a nasty fall. It is, at the end of the day, meant to steady your camera and not save your life. Whether or not you choose to use it as a walking stick or hide it in your bag, the Manfrotto 290 Monopod will integrate seamlessly into your backpacking and camera kit.

Is the Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Monopod For You?

Do you hate the idea of lugging around a tripod? Think you have the steady hand to manage with just one leg? Then give the Manfrotto 290 Carbon Fiber Monopod a shot. It’s a very well-made piece of equipment that monopod enthusiasts will approve of and it’s a great deal.

The team acknowledged how a monopod is maybe a little more niche and of course, has different uses, but they felt this was an awesome option for those wanting to go super light. They did however feel that it was light, stable and quick to adjust on the fly.

Now, you  could spend a fat chunk of $$$ on the WRONG present for someone. Wrong size hiking boots, wrong fit backpack, wrong shape sleeping bag… As any adventurer will tell you, gear is a personal choice.

So give the adventurer in your life the gift of convenience: buy them an REI Co-op gift card!  REI is The Broke Backpacker’s retailer of choice for ALL things outdoors, and an REI gift card is the perfect present you can buy from them. And then you won’t have to keep the receipt. 😉

Why Invest in a Travel Tripod?

To me it’s a no-brainer: why buy an expensive travel camera if you can’t get the most out of it? With a tripod, you can do just this – unlock the full potential of your camera and get the best pictures possible.

With a tripod, you can shoot photos in conditions that would be near impossible if you were simply holding the camera in your hand. Selfies, light trails, long exposures; all of these and more are possible while using a tripod.

A good tripod will create maximum stability for your camera. Granted, some photographers get away with using features like image stabilization and lens stabilization – but these will only get you so far. At a minimum, you should at least have a small, lightweight travel tripod that will allow some sort of rigidity in certain circumstances.

With maximum stabilization comes maximum image quality. Where some novices may struggle in the wind, the dark or when trying to get that artistic composition, you will succeed. With the best possible travel tripod, you will take some of the best photos of your life.

As you dive further into the photographic world, you may even discover whole new ways of taking photos thanks to your travel tripod. Advanced techniques like HDR, focus stacking, and nightscapes will all be available to you thanks to your new travel tripod.

With this guide, you’ll receive lots of tips on what to look for in a great tripod and what constitutes a good investment. This guide has a ton of options, but I’ve made it easy to navigate so you’ll easily be able to identify a tripod that best fits your style.

So, first thing is first… what is your style?

What are you looking for in a travel tripod?

Are you looking for something small and easy? Maybe you are in need of something a little taller and sturdy?

Let’s dive deeper…

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There are many factors to take into consideration when looking for the right tripod.

But the good news? It doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

A good tripod will be sturdy, reliable, flexible, and not weigh too much or be too big at the same time.

Sounds easy, right?

Ha, not always.

Most tripods will only be able to do a few of these things well; to have the perfect tripod would mean spending a lot of money, which many of us broke backpackers don’t have.

You obviously can’t have everything when choosing a tripod so you’ll have to be picky. Maybe you need something light or maybe you need something rock solid. Perhaps you’ll want a tripod that can bend in unheard of ways or perhaps you just want something simple.

Take into consideration the following points when looking for a tripod. Pick and choose which features are most important for you and then go for it!

Size and Weight

These are perhaps the most important aspects to consider when choosing a tripod for traveling as both have far-reaching repercussions. How you pack your tripod and how much of a burden it is are dependent on its size and weight.

Generally speaking, a larger tripod will be more able to handle heavier loads and adverse conditions. With size comes weight though and carrying around those extras pounds will fatigue you after a while.

If you want to cut weight, a smaller tripod will have the benefit of being lighter in addition to being less expensive. With a smaller tripod comes other compromises though: you will not have as much freedom when it comes to composing your shot and stability can sometimes be an issue.

You can have your cake and eat it too but it’ll cost quite a bit of cash. There are several professional-grade travel tripods that are physically large enough to be effective yet still weigh very little at the same time. These will be much more expensive though as they are almost always made of premium materials.

I personally think about these issues all the time and it’s a constant battle between preparedness and minimal weight. I have actually invested in two tripods – a Manfrotto BeFree and Gorillapod 4K – and alternate between the two depending on the shoot.

Material and Durability

As previously mentioned, material will play an important part in weight and price as well as overall durability. To put it simply: more expensive materials will be lighter, stronger, and more expensive while cheaper ones will be heavier, weaker, and less expensive. So unfortunately a cheap travel tripod might just weigh you down significantly!

Aluminum is the most common alloy used in the construction of tripods. It is a cheap, ubiquitous material that handles the elements well. Even though it’s technically weaker than carbon fiber, it’s still very durable. Most of the best budget travel tripods will be made of aluminum.

Carbon fiber is a stronger composite that is lighter and stronger than aluminum. It is a very reliable material that is used to manufacture all sorts of products that require the utmost durability like cars, safety vests, and even spaceships. Because it is hard to produce though, carbon fiber is markedly more expensive than aluminum.

Unless you are very adamant about cutting weight and are willing to pay the price, aluminum is a perfectly fine material . When used properly – as is the case with all of the tripods on this list – it’s very reliable. I’ve personally taken aluminum tripods into some very hairy situations and they’ve never failed me.

Load Capacity

Certain travel tripods can hold certain amounts of weight depending on their size, build, and overall quality. Lighter tripods may be less able to hold heavier weights but, then again, heavier tripods will be a burden on your back.

It is important to have a travel tripod that can properly hold your camera as it will ensure maximum image quality. A tripod that is struggling under the weight of a heavy camera will start to shake and sharpness will be affected. The tripod may even fall over, in which case you have a serious problem – fallen tripods can mean broken cameras.

Most travel tripods can handle a standard DSLR. Only in extreme situations do you need to worry about load capacity i.e. if you’re using a really bulky DSLR with a hefty lens or if you know you’ll be shooting in very windy conditions. In these cases, it would be wise to a travel tripod that is rated to carry more.

But especially if you’re looking for the best budget tripod for a DSLR, the weight of your equipment has to be a consideration.

Ergonomics and Ease of Use

Tripod technology really has come a long way. I remember using my parent’s old video camera tripod and thinking how rudimentary it was – the range of the leg’s motion was barely 45 degrees, the ball head was fitted with quark, and the metal construction felt like a bleacher seat.

How shocked was I when I bought a modern travel tripod and found out that it could do things like fold up and even be turned upside for extremely low perspective shots!

A good modern tripod will be malleable and have the ability to be set up in numerous configurations. Thanks to a system of adjustable legs and flexible hinges, travel tripod can do just this.

A tripod must be easy to use as well. All of those tricky motions and creative setups will mean nothing if it takes too long to get ready. Thankfully, most travel tripods do not suffer from such shortcomings. Only in special circumstances can a tripod be forgiven for being unwieldy.

Another important point: a tripod needs to be able to packed down to fit in your bag. If it’s too large or too cumbersome, you’re going to have problems traveling with. Thankfully most camera bags have special loop that can accommodate most tripods. Check out our guide on the best camera bags for good examples!

Tripod Head

Finding the best tripod head is just as important as finding a great travel tripod. A tripod head will enable even more customizable compositions and contribute to aspects such as weight, ergonomics, and load capacity.

A good tripod head will have a full 360-degree range of motion. Most modern-day ball heads allow for this. Ball heads will be free floating until locked into place by several clamps. Clamps come in the form of nobs or larger winged screws. Some photographers will prefer one of the other but I find this distinction to be negligible.

Other signs of a good travel tripod head will be features like a quick release plate, panoramic markings, and bubble leveler. Quick release places allow for optimal mounting of a camera and I always prefer having one. Panoramic marking will help guide you and maintain even composition while making panoramas. Finally, a bubble leveler will help make sure that an image is level to the ground.

Legs play an important part in tripod stability. Generally speaking, the more sections that a tripod leg has, the lesser the sturdiness. Try to find a tripod with as few leg sections as possible – around 3-4. Should you find that the legs are often shaking – for whatever reason – try investing in a stone bag , which will weigh down the tripod and limit shakiness.

The length of a tripod leg can be adjusted via a series of locking mechanisms. Most of these mechanisms come in two styles: screw and flip locks. Screws locks require a twisting motion to adjust while flip locks require, as the name implies, a flipping action.

In terms of usability, the difference between screw locks and flip locks is a matter of preference; some photographers find twisting to be a natural motion while others prefer flipping. Really, it’s up to you.

There a couple of disadvantages to take into consideration when choosing between locks. Flip locks will loosen over time and so will require periodic tightening. Twist locks will need to be used appropriately; if you twist the leg too loose, it may fall apart.

In the end, cash rules everything around us. How much are you willing to spend on a tripod? You get what you pay for, as they say, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get what you need and for a good price. Weigh all of the aspects highlighting in this section and then figure out what it’ll take to get the best possible travel tripod for you.

There is no perfect or exact science when it comes to testing out the best travel gear. But when it comes to finding a good travel tripod for your next trip, you’ve come to the right place. Here we’ve got a team of folks with various different experiences that have tested these 3 legged beasts out all over the world!

So each member of the team took each tripod out for a proper test drive over the course of a few weeks and on various trips across the entire bloody globe yo! They paid attention to things like how heavy each one was, durability, packability, size (both when fully extended and also when packed away).

We also looked at how it fulfilled its primary purpose, which is, of course, holding your camera! So that includes stability, manoeuvrability, ease of deployments and things like how many positions it can put your camera in … get your mind out of the gutter guys!

Finally, we also take into account how an item is priced – It’s alright wanting to find the best cheap travel tripod, but we’ve got to still way up whether it offers good value for money! The more expensive gear was scrutinised to a higher level given its price tag.

Still have some questions? No problem! We’ve listed and answered the most commonly asked questions below. Here’s what people usually want to know:

What is the best packable travel tripod?

While you can simply strap all travel tripods to the side of your backpack, the MeFOTO Roadtrip is the lightest and easiest to pack.

What makes a good travel tripod?

That depends on your personal need. These are the key features you need to think about: 1. Size and weight 2. Material and durability 3. Load capacity, ergonomics and easy use 4. Cost

What is the overall best travel tripod?

We’re very impressed with the quality and value of the Vanguard Alta Pro . It’s one of the most affordable tripods and ticks off all of the important key features.

Which travel tripod should professionals buy?

A professional tripod needs to be a bit higher in quality and offer great value. That’s why the Gitzo Traveler Series 1 is the ideal tripod for pros.

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A tripod should be the first piece of equipment that you buy after purchasing a camera (then a camera backpack – check out the WANDRD PRVKE 31 ). They are perhaps the most useful tool in a photographer’s arsenal. As such, you must think wisely about what kind of tripod you buy for your travels.

Each travel tripod will appeal to a certain type of photographer. Mirrorless shooters who want something portable and inexpensive may want to invest in a Manfrotto BeFree. Perhaps you want something a little more suitable for a DSLR? In that case, maybe the MeFOTO Globetrotter is best. There really is a travel tripod for everyone out there.

Hopefully, we’ve covered all aspects so you can make an informed decision, whether that’s to pick one of the best cheap travel tripods or one of the more expensive numbers.

Figure out your needs and choose a travel tripod accordingly. With this guide, you’ll gain the necessary info to understanding what is best for you. Study it well and then waste no time in finding the best tripod for your travel needs! This is the beginning of your illustrious photographic adventures.

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If you have one of these cameras or have decided you’re you get one, there’s not really a need for a tripod. Pipe clamps for fitting and aligning stainless-steel pipe and fittings are just about every one of the same. Camera bags appear in lot of different size and shapes, so finding one ideal for you guessed it-your camera isn’t a struggle to accomplish, and receiving a good video tripod can be a breeze to perform, so anybody who desires to shoot professional videos just like the professionals do, they’re able to get a tripod that will assist them do it.

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10 Best Tripods for Photographers in 2024 (Best Camera Tripods)

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Some photography tasks are impossible without a good camera tripod. Image stabilization and high ISOs don’t solve everything. From landscape to product photography, a good tripod is essential.

We’ve selected some of the best tripods available at various prices. That range is from very affordable to extremely expensive. Our top pick is the Manfrotto BeFree Advanced . It is super-compact but has an impressive load capacity and a tall, maximum height.

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As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

What Is the Best Camera Tripod?

We think the best tripod for photographers is the Manfrotto BeFree Advanced . But there is always a payoff when choosing a tripod. The most stable ones, used by TV news crews, are absurdly heavy and bulky. The smallest, lightest ones will struggle to keep your camera steady.

We’ve chosen tripods that balance those two ends of the spectrum. Before we examine each of them in detail, here is a summary of our recommendations.

• Easy setup and transport
• Innovative leg angle selector
• Quick power lock lever
• Lightweight and compact
• Supports up to 8.8 lb / 4 kg
• 360-degree panorama head with bubble level
• Durable aluminum alloy legs
• Quick-release leg locks
• Lightweight and portable
• Maximum load of 17.6 lb / 8 kg
• Quick-release plate for easy mounting
• Durable aluminum construction
• Easy-to-adjust locking mechanisms
• Compact and lightweight
• Supports cameras up to 8.5 lb / 3.9 kg

• Adjustable legs, reversible center column
• Sturdy construction for various environments
• Quick-release leg locks, built-in bubble level
• Very lightweight and compact for travel
• Converts to a monopod

• Adjustable torso length
• Durable aluminum frame
• Full-size comfort and support
• Compatible with TQC-14 Quick-Change Camera Plate

• Lightweight and durable carbon fiber construction
• Easy to set up and dismantle
• 360-degree panorama, ball head for max flexibility
• Includes phone and camera mount attachments
• Supports up to 11 lb / 5 kg of equipment

• Includes ball head and carrying case
• 4-section legs for easy adjustment
• Supports up to 22 lb / 10 kg

• 63.4” / 163 cm max hieght and 19.7” / 50 cm minimum
• 4-section legs and adjustable head angle
• Includes carrying bag and quick release plate
• Load capacity of 17.6 lb / 8 kg

• Quick setup
• Adjustable height
• 360-degree ball head
• Lightweight and durable

• Sturdy aluminum construction
• Adjustable legs and center column
• Bubble level indicator
• Supports up to 15.4 lb / 39 kg

10 Best Tripods for Photographers

Let’s examine what we’ve chosen in more detail. Then, you can decide which has the perfect features for your needs.

1. Manfrotto Befree Advanced Tripod

The Manfrotto BeFree Advanced is one of their most popular tripods. Manfrotto is a quality tripod brand with offerings in all price ranges. The tripod is lightweight and quick to set up.

The legs are in four sections. And you can twist or lever locks. The locking levers are Manfrotto’s QPL Lever Lock system used on their professional-level tripods. You can adjust the legs independently at different angles, and the tripod converts to a monopod.

The tripod comes with a Manfrotto 494 Center Ball Head. It has easy adjustments with ergonomic and independent controls. The one thing missing from this model is a bubble level. The tripod plate is compatible with both Arca-Swiss and Manfrotto quick-release plates.

This camera tripod includes a “spider” feature that lets you add accessories like lights or reflectors to the tripod.

The BeFree tripod is made of carbon fiber or aluminum. It has a limited load capacity but easily supports mirrorless and smaller DSLR camera systems. The black tripod has red or blue accents and a light carrying case.

2. K&F Concept 64-Inch Tripod

The K&F Concept 64″ is a popular lightweight budget aluminum tripod. It is one of the lightest and least expensive tripods on our list. Despite the price, it has a quality feel and works well.

The legs are in three sections with quick flip leg locks. The legs can be angled independently for uneven terrain.

The camera tripod has a 1.1-inch (28-mm) large ball head designed for stability. It holds 10 kg, which is okay for most cameras and lenses. But it may struggle with a weighty telephoto lens.

For telephoto lenses, buy a tripod mount ring or a telephoto lens bracket for better balance. It has an Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release plate and a bubble level.

The tripod is black with gold accents and comes with a high-quality bag. If you are on a budget or need an occasional travel tripod, this K&F Concept is a practical place to start.

3. Peak Design Lightweight Aluminum Camera Tripod

A lot of thought has gone into the Peak Design Aluminum Travel Tripod . It is svelte and sleek with a matte black finish. This aluminum Peak Design travel tripod is one of the highest-rated tripods on Amazon. The more expensive carbon fiber version closely follows this.

The tripod legs have four telescoping sections with lever locks and two lockable angles. This lets you work as low as 5.5 inches (14 cm) off the ground. It’s fast to set up and take down.

It has Peak Design’s unique ergonomic ball head and an Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release plate. A small bubble level built into the head helps you level the tripod.

The ball head swivels freely and is quick and easy to use. But there is no way to lock it to sweep only horizontally, making panoramas difficult. You can switch out the ball head with a universal head adapter. I often change to a gimbal when shooting wildlife.

It is not just that this Peak Design Tripod folds up to one of the smallest on the list, but the diameter is also compact. The entire tripod is about the same size as a water bottle. Everything is streamlined with no protruding knobs.

The tripod also comes in a waterproof soft case of the same quality as Peak Design’s coveted bags.

4. MeFoto RoadTrip Classic Lightweight Aluminum Travel Tripod

The MeFoto RoadTrip Classic Lightweight tripod is one of the brand’s most popular. There is also a regular carbon fiber version . (You can also get a Pro aluminum version or a cheaper, regular aluminum tripod ).

The classic tripod is compact and lightweight enough for traveling or hiking. And it sets up quickly and folds away into a carrying case.

The tripod has five leg sections and an anti-rotation twist lock system. This design lets you set up the tripod fast in all weather conditions.

The legs can be angled independently for flexibility and locked into place at two different angles. You can detach one leg and remount the center column to turn it into a monopod.

The MeFoto has a triple-action Q-series ball head and an Arca-Swiss compatible plate. The head has 360-degree panning and separate knobs controlling tension.

The MeFoto tripods are an antidote to the boring black metal tripods. They come in a host of fun metallic colors. The hardest part about ordering this tripod may be choosing a color.

Some professional photographers use a MeFoto because it does not look like a typical tripod. And you can always find it in a crowd! It looks like a fashion accessory but functions like a pro.

The tripod legs flip up for storage. And it comes with a nice carrying case.

If you’re buying your first tripod, the MeFoto Roadtrip Classic is a great place to start. If you want a slightly heavier camera tripod, go with a MeFoto GlobeTrotter Classic .

5. Really Right Stuff Ascend 14

The Really Right Stuff (RRS) Ascend 14 is an all-in-one carbon fiber travel tripod. The long version provides extra working height yet still compacts into a backpack.

The legs have four sections and twisting lock mechanisms. Four angle-stop positions let you independently position the legs for the most flexibility.

The head is an integrated Arca-Swiss ball head. It is recessed into the legs and tucks away for the smallest profile. The head can be removed and replaced with a universal adapter. This lets you mount a different head on the tripod. (There is also an Ascend 14 that comes with a ball head )

You can remove part of the center column to lower the tripod to the ground. The minimum working height is only 5.1 inches (13 cm).

RRS is the gold standard for camera tripods and accessories for many professional photographers. But quality comes at a price. The Ascend 14 is the most expensive offering on our list, which is the only detail I don’t like.

6. 3 Legged Thing Leo Kit 2.0 Carbon Fiber Tripod System

The 3 Legged Thing Leo 2.0 is a mid-priced ultra-compact professional-level travel tripod. If you are looking for a tripod, you cannot go wrong with one from 3 Legged Thing. You can find a 3 Legged Thing tripod in all price ranges.

It is incredibly modular and flexible. This carbon fiber tripod is one of the lightest on our list but has the most load capacity at 66 lb (30 kg). You can mount any piece of photography equipment to this tripod!

The center column is telescopic, like the legs. You can expand it vertically when you need extra height and compact it down again when you don’t. You can detach all three legs, making this a handy tabletop tripod. The legs can also be used as a monopod or a boom arm.

It includes six one-quarter-inch and one three-inch threaded holes for mounting many accessories. It comes with a ball head. But you can order the Leo tripod legs separately.

The Leo is in the mid-price range. But 3 Legged Thing has less expensive tripods. If you are buying your first camera tripod, try the popular Patti .

You can order the Leo in metallic slate grey or earth bronze color, and it comes with a nice carrying bag. The build quality on this tripod is exceptional. Amazingly, something so small and compact can handle a heavy camera system.

7. Benro Mach3 Carbon Fiber Tripod

The popular Benro Mach3 Tripod is only the legs. But pair it with Benro’s top-selling GD3WH 3-way geared head, and you have a winner. This is for photographers who need stability and precision adjustments.

The tripod is solid and sturdy with a quality feel. The Mach3 comes in carbon fiber or the less expensive aluminum versions . You have the option of ordering the tripod with three or four sections. The four-section version is more stable. There is even an extra-long option if you need a taller tripod.

The tripod comes with both a long and a short center column. The short column is just 2.5 inches (6.35 cm). This lets you get very low to the ground when you splay the legs wide. The legs can be adjusted independently and have twist locks with magnesium castings.

The head has 3-way independent movement and individual release controls. It has an Arca-Swiss compatible plate and three bubble levels for precise leveling.

This head moves slower than a ball head, but you get precision. If you’re looking for a ball head instead of a geared head, try the Benro Triple-Action Ball Head with PU60 Quick-Release Plate.

This is one of the heavier camera tripods on the list, especially with the geared head. Combined, the system weighs 6.4 lb (2.86 kg). But that is a plus when you need extra stability. If you want a lightweight travel tripod, check out Benro’s MeFoto options.

The Mach3 is black with blue accents and has a dust cover and case. This combination is one of the more expensive options on our list. But you can rest assured that you have one of the best tripod combinations on the market.

8. Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod Kit

The Gitzo Mountaineer is a winner if you want a quality tripod with more weight and stability. This is a professional tripod for landscape photographers who value stability over everything.

Gitzo is a high-end tripod company with a large selection. Some are priced in the thousands for the legs only. But many photographers swear by the brand.

The Mountaineer has carbon fiber legs. You can buy the tripod legs only or as a kit. The legs have a choice of three or four sections. They have twist locks and a leg angle selector for quick and easy setup.

The Mountaineer comes in Series 1, 2, or 3. It is of different heights and can carry a variety of loads. If you need a taller camera tripod to handle heavier equipment, try the Mountaineer series 3 .

This Gitzo Tripod Kit has a three-way fluid head of ultra-lightweight magnesium for precise shots. It has an independent fluid cartridge for each axis that smooths the movements. The kit also has an Arca-Swiss-compatible rubberized plate with a quick-release mount.

Gitzo tripods are not cheap. But you pay for the brand and the quality of the design.

9. Neewer 66-Inch Carbon Fiber Tripod With 360 Ball Head

If you want a carbon fiber tripod on a budget, look at this Neewer 66″ Carbon Fiber Tripod/Monopod . Neewer is a well-known third-party camera accessories brand. This is one of the best tripods for beginners.

This camera tripod is surprisingly solid and well-built for the price. It has four segments with smooth twisting locks. And you can independently reposition the legs for flexible shooting.

Remove the rubber feet to expose spikes for more stability on sandy or icy terrain. You can also detach one leg as a monopod or a hiking pole.

It has a 360-degree ball head and an Arca-Swiss compatible plate with a bubble level. But the tripod is not as light as other carbon fiber tripods. This is partly because the head is aluminum.

The company recently released an upgraded version of its popular tripod. It is a little heavier than the older version but has more load capacity. The upgraded version is slightly shorter but folds up more compactly.

The black tripod has red accents and a lightweight nylon carrying bag. This Neewer carbon fiber tripod is one of the best you can buy at this price.

10. Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB 100 Tripod

The Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB is one of the taller camera tripods on our list at 68 inches (172.7 cm). But it is not the most compact when folded.

This tripod has an extremely flexible center column. You can move the hexagon-shaped center column through various vertical and horizontal positions. Then, lock it into place with a swivel and lock system. This is great for studio and macro photography, where you may work with awkward angles.

It has three aluminum alloy legs with flip locks that adjust independently at three angles. The tripod feet have retractable spikes under the non-slip rubber feet.

This version of the tripod comes with an SBH-100 ball head. The head comes with an Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release plate and bubble levels. You can order the legs with different heads, including a pan head and one with a grip.

The Vanguard Alta Pro aluminum tripod is one of the heaviest on our list. But you can order it in a lightweight carbon fiber version . The tripod is black with orange accents and comes with a carrying case.

Best Tripod Buyer’s Guide

I cannot tell you how confused I was when I started looking for a tripod. Experienced photographers around me swore by major brands like Manfrotto , Gitzo , and 3 Legged Thing . But each brand makes dozens of different tripods.

Even looking at tripods from one company did not narrow down my search. I bought my first tripod almost randomly. It ended up being a good buy, but that was sheer luck.

Choosing a Camera Tripod

Choosing the best tripod is daunting. There are so many options, and they vary drastically in price. Some photographers use inexpensive tripods. Others pay thousands!

Let’s look at the features that distinguish tripods. The best camera tripod is the one that works for you. No matter your budget or gear, you will find the best tripod.

Do You Need a Tripod?

First, do you need a tripod? Many photojournalists, travel photographers, and street photographers do not use a tripod. But for landscape photographers, a tripod is a constant companion . It goes with them everywhere.

You need a tripod if you photograph at slow shutter speeds. Landscape photographers use longer shutter speeds to take photos in low light, like at night or when the sun is below the horizon. They also sometimes use long shutter speeds to blur water or clouds.

Camera tripods are also essential when taking time-lapse videos and panoramas. Studio photographers may also need a tripod to lock in a composition.

Macro photographers may need a tripod to take many shots of their subjects with different focus points. Later, the images are blended or focus stacked in post-processing. The subject mustn’t move between exposures.

The best camera tripod depends on the type of photography you do. The best travel tripod is light and compact . But the best tripod for video may be heavier and allow the camera to pan and move smoothly.

Main Features of a Tripod

Like people, tripods come in different heights and weights and have different strengths. The best tripod is largely a matter of personal preference and based on your type of photography. To help you narrow down the choices, let’s look at the features of a tripod from head to foot.

Of all the camera accessories , tripods vary the most with price. You can buy a mini phone tripod for a couple of bucks. At the other end are top-of-the-line tripods priced well into the thousands.

You can get a good tripod at different price points. Some photographers are happy to spend more if it means having more stability. Others would rather put their money into a camera body or lenses. We’ve included a selection of expensive, mid-price, and more budget tripods .

Height, Weight, and Strength

Tripods can be small tabletop affairs , but we focused on tripods set up on the ground for this review. They can reach at least 48 inches (122 cm) tall. The best tripod height brings your camera to eye level when you stand.

If you are tall, you will want to consider a taller tripod. But you also want a tripod that will go low. Some tripods do not have a center column, or the center can be removed. This allows the tripod to be almost at ground level.

Photographers who travel and hike with their camera gear value lightweight tripods that fit in a backpack or camera bag. But lighter is not always better. A tripod with extra weight is more stable if you work in windy conditions.

Studio photographers do not move their tripods far. They may prefer the more stable, heavier tripods . The weight of a tripod somewhat depends on the materials used to make it.

Carbon fiber tripods are lighter and stronger  than standard aluminum. But they are also more expensive.

Load capacity is how much weight the camera tripod can support. This is important if you have heavy camera gear. A big DSLR and fast telephoto lens can add up in weight.

Make sure you get a sturdy tripod that can carry the load. If you work with lighter mirrorless systems, load capacity isn’t as much of an issue. Travel photographers and hikers also want to know how small a tripod folds for packing into backpacks or suitcases.

Camera Tripod Head

In this review, I focus on tripod kits. A kit includes both the legs and the head. Most budget and mid-priced tripods only come as kits. Some higher-end tripods sell legs and heads separately.

On all the tripods reviewed here, the head detaches from the legs. You can easily change or upgrade to a different tripod head.

A good camera tripod head should move easily, but hold your camera in place firmly. You do not want a head that is difficult to adjust or one that slowly moves with the weight of your camera. And you do not want one that drops your camera!

A ball head is the most common type of tripod head . Ball heads hold the mounting plate and swivel freely when you release the tension. Many photographers find this type of head the most flexible. Ball heads let you quickly move your camera in any direction.

There are other tripod head options, though. For instance, a three-way head gives more precise movements but is slower to adjust. There are also panoramic tripod heads . Wildlife photographers often use a camera gimbal .

Quick-Release Mounting Plate

When searching for camera tripods, you will probably run across the term “Arca-Swiss.” Arca-Swiss is a system that allows you to quickly mount your camera on a tripod. It’s two pieces. There is a plate with side grooves that screws into the bottom of your camera.

The plate fits into a clamp on the tripod, holding it in place. Tripods that are Arca-Swiss compatible fit any Arca-Swiss plate.

Arca-Swiss is the most common type of quick-release mounting system, but it is not the only one. Manfrotto tripods have a quick-release system.

Photographers who use tripods a lot often mount an L-bracket to their cameras. This has Arca-Swiss grooves on both the side and the bottom. This lets you easily switch from landscape to portrait orientation. L-brackets are specifically made to fit your camera body.

Center Column

Most tripods also have a center column that holds the tripod head and can be extended for extra height. This makes the tripod less stable, so most photographers only extend the center column in a pinch.

The best tripods tighten the center column with a twisting lock. Avoid camera tripods that raise the center column with a crank mechanism. Cranks are slow, and the mechanics can fail.

Many tripods let you reverse the center column and mount the head underneath. This hangs your camera upside down, letting you shoot at a low angle.

On other tripods, you can remove the center column for low-angle shots. Sometimes, you can insert the center column at an angle to the tripod. This works more like a boom.

Center columns sometimes have a hook underneath to hang photography sandbags or a camera case . This adds more weight and stability to the tripod.

Camera Tripod Legs

Tripods, by definition, have three legs. Usually, these are in three, four, or five telescopic sections that give you control over the tripod’s height. You can extend all the sections or just one or two.

The legs lock into place with either a lever or a twist lock. Many photographers find lever locks faster to set up.

With the twist-lock system, you release the leg by twisting the lock. Then, you twist them in the opposite direction to tighten them. Twist locks are fine if they do not need more than a half turn to loosen and retighten the legs.

The best tripods let you independently adjust the legs at different angles. This lets you stabilize your camera on uneven surfaces. For instance, you can have two legs in the regular position, and one splayed out, supported by a wall or fence.

Some camera tripods have support structures between the legs. These structures add stability but limit flexibility. When collapsed, the legs may swing up over the head to save space. Some have a detachable tripod leg that can be used as a monopod .

Camera Tripod Feet

At the tip of the legs are rubber or plastic feet. Sometimes, the material is non-slip to keep your tripod from slipping on wet or icy surfaces.

The camera tripod may have metal spikes under the rubber, or you may be able to attach optional spikes. Use spikes to keep your tripod stable on wet or soft surfaces.

Conclusion: Choosing the Best Tripod for Your Needs

Whatever your main need for a camera tripod is, there’s one for you. Let’s say you want to make money from food photography. You will need a sturdy tripod . But it probably won’t need to be as stable as if you’re outdoors in the wind taking long-exposure landscapes. 

Our top pick is a great compromise between value and features. The Manfrotto BeFree Advanced copes with most situations very well. And because it is so portable, you are more likely to carry it.

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The Best Tripod for iPhones and Other Smartphones

By Arriana Vasquez , Erin Roberts and Signe Brewster

If you’ve ever compared who has the longest arms to take a group selfie or struggled to keep your smartphone stable while shooting video, a tripod and mount made specifically for phones might make your life easier. We recommend using the Joby GorillaPod 1K Kit and the Square Jellyfish Metal Spring Tripod Mount together as the best smartphone tripod and mount, after testing dozens of options along the trails of the Pacific Northwest, in the urban forests of Minnesota, and on the streets of Seattle and New York City.

Joby GorillaPod 1K Kit

Best smartphone tripod.

This is light enough to take anywhere but strong enough for the heaviest smartphone and even some cameras.

Buying Options

Square Jellyfish Metal Spring Tripod Mount

Best smartphone tripod mount.

This rotating mount holds any size phone comfortably and can serve as a stand on its own.

If you use your smartphone for low-light photography, time-lapses, selfies, or slow-motion video—or if you just like putting your phone in places that you can’t easily reach by hand—the GorillaPod and Square Jellyfish combo holds any smartphone steady at any angle, yet this pair is still small enough to toss into your shoulder bag.

Joby’s GorillaPod 1K Kit is stronger and more flexible than anything else out there for the price. The ball-head mount moves smoothly and the long, articulated legs wrap around most anything, such as a tree branch or street signpost. At 10.24 inches from mount to foot, it’s about 4 inches longer than most of the no-name, cheaper options; this gives it more reach for selfies and helps it wrap around thicker branches and posts. Additionally, its 2.2-pound weight limit is enough to support most compact cameras and even some mirrorless setups.

Unlike other models we looked at, the Square Jellyfish mount can hold a large smartphone stable in portrait or landscape orientation even without a stand. As small as a set of keys, the Square Jellyfish mount easily holds an iPhone 11 Pro Max and is stable enough to stand on its own in both vertical and horizontal orientations, even without a tripod. Just make sure you get the metal mount version—there are user reports of the threads, which let you attach the mount to any standard tripod screw, wearing out over time on the cheaper plastic one. We chose to pair the Square Jellyfish with the GorillaPod 1K Kit because it is more secure than the mount that Joby pairs with its other kits.

Yoozon Selfie Stick

A selfie stick/tripod combo.

A telescoping selfie stick with a tripod and Bluetooth trigger built into its handle.

If you need both a selfie stick and a tripod, the Yoozon Selfie Stick is an affordable two-in-one that quickly transforms from a telescoping arm extender to a tabletop tripod. It can’t grip a tree branch or street sign like the GorillaPod 1K, but it does come with a stick-of-gum-sized Bluetooth trigger—pair it with your phone and press its button to grab shots from afar.

The research

Why you should trust us, who should use a smartphone mount and tripod, how we picked and tested, our pick for best smartphone tripod: joby gorillapod 1k kit, the best smartphone tripod mount: square jellyfish metal spring tripod mount, a great tripod/selfie-stick combo: yoozon selfie stick, other good tripods and mounts, the competition.

Updates writer Arriana Vasquez has been pursuing photography as both a professional and hobbyist for over 10 years. Before joining Wirecutter, she worked as a camera specialist at several camera stores in New York City. She has also contributed to Wirecutter’s guides to instant cameras , full-sized tripods , and portable document scanners .

Erin Lodi is a photojournalist, writer, and professional photographer with a wide range of experience researching, testing, and writing about photography trends, techniques, and tools, including her role as mobile-imaging editor at DPReview , the most popular camera site on the web.

Editor Signe Brewster is a photography enthusiast who wrote Wirecutter’s guides to photography drones and gimbals before moving on to edit some of our guides to computers. When she isn’t capturing videos from the sky, she likes to photograph Minnesota’s Victorian architecture.

Anyone who likes to use the timer function in their phone’s camera app, stabilize their video, or shoot videos hands-free can benefit from a smartphone mount.

Most tripods are made for cameras, with no way to securely attach a smartphone. A smartphone mount, which usually takes the form of a clamp that grabs onto the sides of a phone, is an adapter that changes that.

The pool of people who will benefit from a smartphone-specific tripod is smaller. A regular tripod, which we cover in our guides to tripods , will work for a phone in most situations. However, the tripods we cover in this guide are uniquely built to function as selfie sticks or grab onto structures like signposts or trees. They’re also smaller than traditional tripods, which means you can casually throw one into a backpack instead of lugging around a gadget the size of a baseball bat. But they aren’t nearly as long as traditional tripods, which means you must attach them to another tall object to grab an eye-height shot; you’re out of luck in an open field. As a result, you should treat a smartphone tripod as a portable alternative, but understand that a traditional tripod is useful in more scenarios.

We spent 30 hours researching more than 80 smartphone-stabilization systems before testing 22 sets of legs and 18 tripod mounts to determine what you really need to keep your smartphone snaps and videos steady. We filmed waterfalls while hiking in the Pacific Northwest and snapped images of the Space Needle in Seattle in an initial round of testing. In a second round of testing in 2019, we went on a photo walk in the woods of St. Paul, Minnesota, and filmed hands-free videos indoors. In 2022, we brought them to New York City street festivals and concerts to test stability and ease of use.

As with standard-size tripods , we considered legs and mounts separately (in this case, looking at phone mounts rather than the ball heads intended for full-size cameras). We tested legs to confirm that they were sturdy enough to support the weight of the smartphone and mount, and we tested the grippiness of their feet on a variety of surfaces.

We examined mounts to make sure they could securely hold smartphones as large as a cased iPhone 11 Pro Max, and as small as a Samsung Galaxy S7 without a case. We tested how easily we could make positional adjustments, giving extra credit to smartphone mounts that were able to serve on their own as makeshift stands. We also considered several all-in-one units, those with legs and an integrated mount. Ultimately, we realized we wanted a mount that could slip into a pocket easily, securely mount a smartphone to most tripod legs, and work alone to keep the phone upright in landscape or portrait position.

Portability was a primary consideration for both, because the best accessories for your most portable camera should also slip into a pocket or small bag.

If you find yourself taking tons of time-lapses, videos, and low-light photos, we recommend investing in the Joby GorillaPod 1K Kit flexible tripod legs paired with a mount, like our Square Jellyfish pick, for your smartphone. You can find many copycat versions of these legs online (Joby itself offers variants, including mini and magnetic models), but after comparing them with the real thing, we think the Joby GorillaPod 1K Kit will hold up better over time and be more practical in a wider variety of conditions, because it’s sturdier and designed with more useful features.

The GorillaPod 1K’s signature flexible, jointed legs can bend into just about any position, and once you place them, they stay put. In our tests, cheaper models slipped a bit when nudged lightly. You can even wrap the Joby’s legs around a pole or branch so that you can get in the shot by using a timer or a remote. And because they’re so long (about 8 inches), they can grip a wider variety of poles and branches compared with smaller tripods with legs less than 5 inches long.

Most important, the sturdy GorillaPod 1K’s 2.2-pound weight capacity has no problem keeping larger smartphones like the iPhone 11 Pro Max steady—something a number of other tested stands, such as the wobbly MonoShot, couldn’t do. It’s even strong enough to hold up a compact or mirrorless camera.

Beyond nailing the basics, the GorillaPod 1K Kit also features a removable ball-head mount. The rotating ball head lets you make small, incremental camera-position changes without moving the legs, a feature that came in handy when we switched between portrait and landscape orientation. Rubbery material on the oversize feet provided a better grip on slippery surfaces compared with the smaller feet found on the cheaper legs we tested.

Paired, the Joby legs and the Square Jellyfish mount collapse to the size of a small water bottle and weigh about as much as a navel orange. The resulting combo is easy to tote along in your bag or a larger coat pocket.

As a bonus, the Joby model is strong enough to serve as an especially small tripod for a large point-and-shoot, superzoom, or small mirrorless camera, whereas cheaper competitors struggle to deal with even a large tablet.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Joby’s multi-jointed GorillaPod 1K legs are a little unwieldy at times, making you feel as if you’re playing with a toy rather than using a tripod—but then again, you can’t wrap your normal tripod around a tree branch. The GorillaPod 1K is also bigger than some of Joby’s other leg systems, but we think the extra stability is worth the trade-off.

Like all of the multi-jointed tripod legs we tested, the GorillaPod 1K has its limits. Heavy jostling or hits cause it to slide down slick surfaces such as poles; don’t attach it to the handles of your four-wheeler and expect it to stay secure.

Whether you want a great mount to pair with our top smartphone tripod pick or you already have a tripod you’d like to use with your smartphone, we recommend the Square Jellyfish Metal Spring Tripod Mount . Roughly the size and weight of a set of keys, this spring-loaded, universal-screw mount is small enough to slip into a pocket but sturdy enough to hold your phone tightly. It was the most secure of the mounts we tested, including those from Joby.

When attached to a tripod, the mount lets you easily rotate your phone 360 degrees; alternatively, for those spur-of-the-moment times when you need to take a photo or video hands-free, use the mount on its own to keep your smartphone standing upright in either portrait or landscape position. It even works if you’re using a weighty smartphone lens attachment . We’ve seen a few other products that serve a similar function, but of the models we tested, the Square Jellyfish mount holds phones the most securely, is the easiest to attach, and allows for a quick flip from landscape to portrait orientation. Other models we looked at, like the DaVoice Cell Phone Tripod Adapter , can support a phone only propped up at an angle when used without legs—not perpendicular to whatever surface you have them on—making them hard to use on their own.

The Square Jellyfish mount holds phones from 2.25 to 3.625 inches wide, a range that covers the majority of currently available phones but doesn’t account for some notably large tablets. A Samsung Galaxy S21 or iPhone 11 Pro Max will be fine, but you will run into problems with anything that has a screen size of 6.5 inches or larger.

Although Amazon reviews are for the most part very positive, a small number of owners have run into quality problems—primarily stripped threads from overtightening—but these seem to have cropped up with the basic black-plastic version. We recommend you get the silver-colored metal version of the mount.

The Yoozon Selfie Stick impressed us with its ability to quickly transform from a 2-foot-tall tripod to a selfie stick, with the bonus of a Bluetooth trigger button that slides out of the handle to become a remote. If you’re more likely to take selfies or tabletop pictures than attach a tripod to a tree branch, a selfie stick could be a better option than the GorillaPod 1K.

In its collapsed form, the Yoozon Selfie Stick is about the size of a banana—small enough to be at home in a purse or sticking out of a back pocket. Grabbing and pulling on its top extends it to just over 2 feet, which makes it possible to fit a group of people into a selfie picture. Three legs pop out from its handle if you choose to place the tripod on a table for an eye-level shot.

The selfie stick’s mount felt the third-most secure of any of the mounts we tested; only the Square Jellyfish mount and Vastar Smartphone Mount held smartphones tighter. It held a large iPhone XS Max without issue. We also like that you can take photos by pressing the Bluetooth button on its handle. If you’d like to take photos from up to 33 feet away, you can slide the button out to make it a remote.

It’s worth noting that the selfie stick, like almost all selfie sticks, does wobble slightly in the wind. If you’re planning on using it for video stabilization, you’ll have better luck on days without high wind.

If you want a slightly more portable version of the Joby GorillaPod 1K Kit: Consider the Joby Podzilla . It’s nearly identical to our pick in height and weight, but thanks to skinny flexible aluminum legs (instead of the bulkier ball joints on our pick), the Podzilla can bend in half more easily, making it easier to stash in a small bag (along with a small mount ). The ball head is less versatile than our pick, though—there’s only one cutout for vertical positioning and the legs are firmly attached, as opposed to our pick, which offers two ways to achieve vertical positions and lets you spin the camera 365 degrees independently of the legs. We also found that, while the ball head is very, very secure when locked, the push-button locking mechanism needed considerable single-hand strength to press in order to release the ball head.

For simpler mounting of a MagSafe-compatible smartphone: The Moment Tripod Mount for MagSafe has a lightning-fast setup time, is extremely portable, and provides a secure hold. The Moment mount is essentially a strong magnet wrapped in a textured circle attached to a slender stick, with a tripod screw hole at the bottom. It can’t stand on its own, but when paired with our pick for tripod legs it held any phone we put on it firmly in place. Moment offers the mount with or without a cold shoe mount. To test this mount, we used an iPhone 13 without a case and an iPhone 11 Pro Max with a Magsafe-compatible case and in both instances, the Moment mount gripped the MagSafe ring securely. While you save a few seconds mounting and unmounting the phone (since you don’t have to mess with the tension arms of our pick), it’s typically three times the price of the Square Jellyfish, and works only with iPhone 12, 13, and 14 phones directly . We did test it with a third-party case on the 11 Pro Max and it worked just fine, but we can’t speak to other off-brand cases.

That said, we plan to do further testing to see if the Moment mount could be helpful for people who experience dexterity issues, or those with limited use of their hands. We’ll update this recommendation depending on the results of those tests.

The MOFT Phone Tripod Stand is a slim stand that uses Apple’s MagSafe system to stick to the back of any compatible phone (including Android phones with MagSafe-compatible cases). But while it looks good and feels solidly built, it consistently slipped off our phones in testing, making it unreliable for its main purpose and therefore hard to recommend. If you’re looking to add accessories like a stand or wallet to the back of your phone, we recommend this case instead .

The Pocket Tripod is more of a phone stand than a tripod. With a few quick, origami-like folds, it can go from the size and shape of a credit card to a phone support, with the phone sitting inside two small, c-shaped cutouts. We really liked this phone stand for its extreme portability, but we’re concerned about the somewhat high number of negative Amazon reviews . We plan to continue testing it to see how well it holds up over time.

The Benro MeVIDEO Sidekick Pocket is a sturdy mount that’s adaptable to a variety of needs. There are ¼″-20 and ⅜″-16 threaded mounting holes throughout, plus a built-in cold shoe mount so you can mount an extra light and/or a mic; the base plate is Arca-Style and RC2-compatible for quick-release tripod heads ; and it folds down to be nearly as small as our pick. However, we can’t recommend it because the arms that hold the phone allowed for more slip along the length of the device than all the mounts we tested (in 2022), and the tension screw that holds the phone requires extreme tightening or the mount can still move around with minimal pressure.

A former runner-up pick, the Joby GripTight One Mount , comes standard on many Joby smartphone tripods. The simple spring-release design folds to the size of a large car key and is fast to use. But we found it didn’t hold phones as securely as the Square Jellyfish mount; we had to be careful about installing the phone or risk it twisting out and falling.

The Vastar One mount tied the Square Jellyfish mount for stability and security. It’s also cheaper, so it’s a great option if you’re trying to spend as little as possible. However, it’s much larger and clunkier, and it takes longer to attach it to a phone.

We found that the RetiCam mount offered the functionality we wanted but was much bulkier than the Square Jellyfish model we picked.

The newest version of the Glif is far better than the first, but we still can’t justify this nifty mount’s price.

The Apexel Gorillas Tripod is a nifty alternative to the Joby GorillaPod Mobile Rig , but the features that set it apart also keep it from being a possible pick. It’s designed so that each leg can unscrew from the phone base. While the bendable legs are stiff enough that they don’t unbend on their own, they also sometimes unscrew from the base as you position them. Also, the joints where the legs connect to the base have limited range and there’s no way to adjust the tension, so you can’t open it far enough to lay it flat or lock the legs in place.

The Joby HandyPod Mobile pairs a short tripod with a Joby GripTight One Mount . Its legs fold together to form a smooth handle that’s more comfortable to use as a selfie stick than the jointed legs of a GorillaPod, but its lack of flexible legs also means it can’t grip tree branches or sign poles. We decided to dismiss it because the Square Jellyfish mount is more secure than the GripTight One Mount. We dismissed the Manfrotto Pixi Mini for similar reasons.

Joby makes many tripods with bendy legs, but their mounts aren’t as secure or easy to use as the Square Jellyfish mount. As a result, we think it’s a better idea to buy the GorillaPod 1K and pair it with the Square Jellyfish mount. The Joby GripTight GorillaPod Pro 2 is large and strong like the GorillaPod 1K and has the added feature of a cold shoe adapter for accessories like mics or lights, but it lacks a ball mount. The Joby GripTight One Magnetic Impulse , the Joby GripTight Action Kit , and Joby’s GorillaPod 325 have shorter legs, which means they aren’t as strong and can’t grip as many objects.

The ChargerCity MegaGrab2 Selfie Kit , which used to be our budget pick, provides plenty of support, collapses easily into a small carrying bag, and costs less than half the price of the Joby legs and Square Jellyfish mount combined. But it’s less supportive and not as well built. It also squeaks horribly during adjustment.

The MonoShot (the brand-name model we tested, though many nearly identical versions are available on Amazon) extends to nearly 6 feet but sways in the slightest wind at that height—just what you don’t want for your time-lapse.

Kenu’s Stance smartphone tripods are the only kind we’ve seen that use either your iPhone’s Lightning port or the Micro-USB or USB-C port of your Android or Windows phone as a mount. Though interestingly designed, the Stance models are less stable and work in fewer positions than our main picks.

The UBeesize tripod and mount combo is an Amazon best seller and even cheaper than our budget pick, but it’s far flimsier.

This article was edited by Phil Ryan and Erica Ogg.

Meet your guides

Arriana Vasquez

Arriana Vasquez is a senior updates writer for powering, home office, cameras, and hobbies at Wirecutter. Her hobbies include reading and photography. Her photos have won several awards in various online competitions, and she is the producer and co-host of Old Books Podcast .

Erin Roberts

Erin Roberts is a freelance writer reporting on cameras and camera accessories at Wirecutter. She started her career as a photojournalist working in newspapers—shooting film—and was the mobile-imaging editor at DPReview. She is also a professional photographer who has made her living photographing everything from rock stars to humpback whales.

Signe Brewster

Signe Brewster is an editor on Wirecutter's PC team. She also writes about virtual reality. She previously reported on emerging technology and science for publications like Wirecutter, MIT Technology Review, Wired, Science, and Symmetry Magazine. She spends her free time quilting and pursuing an MFA in creative writing.

Further reading

The Best Bike Phone Mount

by Amy Roberts and Christine Ryan

After riding with 27 smartphone bike mounts over 120 miles’ worth of smooth and rough roads, we’d trust our phones to the mounts from Quad Lock .

The Best Tripod

by Erin Roberts, Arriana Vasquez, and Phil Ryan

If you want to shoot sharp photos while using a slow shutter speed, we think the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AB100 tripod is the best choice.

The Best Android and iPhone Gimbal

by Geoffrey Morrison and Signe Brewster

If you want smoother, more professional-looking video from your smartphone, the Insta360 Flow is the best gimbal.

The Best iPhone Case for iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro, and 13 Pro Max

by Nick Guy

Apple’s iPhone 13 models are here, and with them a deluge of new case options to keep them safe. These are our favorite cases for almost any scenario.

Best phone tripods: top mobile picks for photography, vlogging and more

For steady shots and smooth video, the best phone tripods are a must

The best phone tripods can help you take your smartphone photography to the next level. 

For a start, they can give even the best cameraphones new abilities in low light, allowing them to get the sharpest shot in murky conditions. They can also give your smartphone photos a new perspective, allowing them to shoot from right down on the ground, or in some cases from awkward angles. And they're also useful for arty compositions, such as giving water a dreamy appearance by slowing the shutter speed right down, and for time-lapses too.

But there's more. The best phone tripods are also essential for vloggers and YouTubers, and can be helpful for anyone who wants to hands free on a video call. And of course they can allow you to take a great group shot that you're actually in, rather than lurking behind the screen.  

There are hundreds of tripods for phones on the market, in all different shapes and sizes. Many are small and designed for phones, while some are regular tripods with smartphone-specific attachment. Some are even built into a phone case.

Most of the tripods in this guide work with any brand (and size) of smartphone, but before you hit the buy button, check the grip's maximum width. That's even more important if you're carrying around one of the best big phones around. 

Although we are recommending the products in this guide below, not all of them have been through our test labs. Based on our experts’ opinion and knowledge of the most reputable brands around, we think these are worth considering. The selection takes into account online reviews, brand reputation, product capability or unique features, which should help you wade through the vast selection of products out there.

Best phone tripods 2022

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

1. Joby GripTight ONE Micro Stand for Smartphones

Reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

If you’re looking for something small, light and extremely handy, then you can’t go far wrong with the Joby GripTight ONE Micro stand. With a foldable design you can slip it into your pocket or bag ready for exactly when you need it. 

The holder part expands to fit a variety of smartphones, though it’s not ideal for very large or particularly heavy devices, which may cause it to overbalance. You can use the stand on its own for balancing on other surfaces, but it also has a tripod mount so if you need extra height, you can attach to it a standard tripod too. 

Useful for group shots, low light and even presenting to camera, this is a stand which is ideal for a wide variety of content creators.  

2. Manfrotto Pixi Mini Tripod + MClamp

The Manfrotto Pixi is an excellent little tabletop tripod. It’s chunkily built, feeling sturdy and steady, but also folds down for easy transportation. It can’t quite fit in your pocket, but a small bag will do the trick. 

On its own, the Pixi can be used as a tripod for any device with a tripod mount, but for your phone, you’ll also need the MClamp, which you can buy with it as part of a bundle. 

The clamp uses silicone rubber pads and expands to fit any phone up to 8.4cm / 3.2inches wide. The clamp can also be used a stand on its own, which is useful for watching videos and the like without having to hold your phone. The clamp can also be used with other standard tripods if you need more height, too. 

3. Manfrotto Compact Light Aluminium Tripod with Ball Head and MClamp

This tripod kit uses the same MClamp as the listing above, but this time pairs it with a full-sized tripod for even greater flexibility. It gives you better scope for framing your shots - or videos - from a variety of different heights and positions. 

The ball head at the top of the tripod allows you to position your phone in whatever orientation you need as well. When you are using heavy devices such as cameras, you’ll want the sturdiest tripod possible. 

But, with smartphones which are much lighter, you can get away with a nicely light tripod such as Manfrotto Compact Light, making it ideal for travel and transportation, too.  

This device is particularly well-suited to video-content creators, especially those who want to create the smoothest footage possible. 

Lightweight and small, the OM4 is ideal for chucking in a bag when you know you’ll be heading somewhere exciting. Your phone is attached via the innovative magnetic quick release plate, so there’s minimal faffing around. 

To keep your phone footage as smooth as possible, you get a range of stabilization options - but you can also use it as a simple tabletop tripod too thanks to the small feet that can be screwed onto the bottom. 

5. Joby JB01533-BWW GorillaPod Mobile Rig

 Vloggers and content creators will love the flexibility that the GorillaPod Mobile Rig provides. With it, you can adjust your phone to a huge variety of different positions - so whether you’re filming for YouTube , TikTok or Instagram, you’ll be able to orient it correctly. 

You can also use the flexible Gorillapod legs to attach the tripod to a variety of different surfaces, or just place it somewhere flat. What makes the Mobile Rig particularly interesting however is the ability to add other useful accessories such as lights, microphones or even a second camera via the additional arms and connectors. 

6. Adonit PhotoGrip

You can use the Adonit to give a little extra bulk to your phone to make it more comfortable for taking pictures (you know, like a ‘real’ camera). With Bluetooth connectivity you can fire off the camera’s shutter using a button on the top of the grip (again, like a real camera). 

Aside from that, the grip can also be used as a stand, while a mini tripod attachment comes in the box too. 

A wireless charger also gives you a power boost, too. Overall, this is a little bit of a gimmicky product, but if you like the idea of making your phone feel a little more authentic when taking pictures it’s worth a look.

7. Joby Standpoint Phone Case

If you - understandably - don’t want the hassle of taking a phone tripod everywhere with you, then this could be the ideal solution for you. 

The Joby Standpoint integrates a miniature tripod within a phone case, so you’ll never be without it. The legs fold out from the back of the case to give you stability whenever you need it, and you can even attach accessories to it if need be too. T

he major downside here is that it’s only available for a limited number of smartphones, and it’ll also become redundant should you switch phones - so it’s probably not one for frequent upgraders. 

8. Peheshe Ring Selfie LED Light with Phone Holder

Another dream device for vloggers, you could also use this to simply up your FaceTime and Zoom call game too. The tripod can be used as a normal tripod, but its stand out feature is the integrated ring light which is designed to produce a flattering effect on your face. 

The ring light can be adjusted to produce different settings and tones, while the phone holder expands to fit a variety of different models. It also can be rotated, giving you options to stream in whichever orientation you desire. 

The tripod folds down relatively neatly, and you can also use it as a selfie stick - the ring light can be removed when not in use. 

• Our ranking of the very best camera phones

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Amy has been writing about cameras, photography and associated tech since 2009. Amy was once part of the photography testing team for Future Publishing working across TechRadar, Digital Camera, PhotoPlus, N Photo and Photography Week. For her photography, she has won awards and has been exhibited. She often partakes in unusual projects - including one intense year where she used a different camera every single day. Amy is currently the Features Editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, and in her increasingly little spare time works across a number of high-profile publications including Wired, Stuff, Digital Camera World, Expert Reviews, and just a little off-tangent, PetsRadar. 

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Aurora borealis could put on a show in Ohio this weekend. How to watch, weather forecast

Watch the skies this weekend -- the northern lights could be visible across Ohio due to a strong solar storm heading toward earth.

The Space Weather Prediction Center , a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch, level G4 out of 5 . According to the center, at least five coronal mass ejections (explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun) are expected to arrive around midday today.

Thanks to the geomagnetic storm caused by those ejections, the aurora borealis might be seen across the northern half of the United States, as far south as Alabama and Northern California, this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Here's what to know.

What is the aurora borealis?

Auroras are ribbons of light weaving across Earth's northern or southern polar regions,  according to NASA . They are caused by magnetic storms that have been triggered by solar activity, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections. Energetic charged particles from these events are carried away from the Sun by the solar wind.

These energized particles hit the atmosphere at 45 million mph and are redirected to the poles by the earth's magnetic field, according to Space.com , creating the light show.

During major geomagnetic storms, they expand away from the poles and can be seen over some parts of the United States,  according to the NOAA .

What is a coronal mass ejection?

NASA  describes coronal mass ejections  as "huge bubbles of coronal plasma threaded by intense magnetic field lines that are ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours." The  Akron Beacon Journal reports  that the space agency says they often look like "huge, twisted rope" and can occur with solar flares, or explosions on the sun's surface.

How to view the aurora borealis

During times of high geomagnetic activity, which pushes the northern lights further south, the aurora will be visible directly overhead in the northern United States, according to the prediction center .

For the best viewing, the center recommends that it be very dark. Get away from city lights and avoid trying to see them on the night of a full moon. The best time to view the aurora is within an hour or two of midnight, or 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Ohio weather forecast for the northern lights

According to the National Weather Service, Friday night looks good for aurora watching, if it appears. The forecast calls for mostly clear skies tonight for the Akron , Columbus and Cincinnati areas.

Saturday night, however, is expected to be rainy in Akron. In Columbus, the night will start out wet, but then clear. And mostly clear skies are in the forecast for Cincinnati.

Sunday night returns to mostly clear skies across the state.

Want to see the northern lights? Good news: Experts predict years of awesome aurora viewing.

How to photograph the northern lights

If you're looking to photograph the aurora, National Geographic has some advice.

The article recommends using a tripod to keep the camera stable. Shooting at night means keeping the camera shutter open longer. That could create a blurry image if the camera is bumped or you aren't holding it steady. Also, use a wide-angle lens to capture as much of the sky as possible. And, don't just take a photo of the sky. Compose a better photograph by getting the horizon, or a tree or building, into the image with the aurora.

If you're using a smartphone, the article still recommends a tripod. Use a remote or set the camera's timer so you won't have to tap the screen to take a photo. Also, turn off the flash and set the camera to night mode.