DPReviewTV Travel Tripod Comparison: Peak Design, Sirui, Manfrotto and Gitzo – Which One is Your Favorite? (POLL)

DPReview TV has published their travel tripod shootout.

They selected carbon fiber tripods that can bring the camera up to eye level (no table tripods, etc.). The comparison is between:

Down below you can vote also your favorite amongst these tripods.

the Peak Design win the compactness battle. It’s the shortest and thinnest
with center column down, the Peak Design falls behind the others, whereas the others are more or less on similar hight
with the columns extended, the Peak Design has still a disadvantage in height. For higher persons, not good for eye level shooting
the Sirui goes up the highest
Weight (from heaviest to lightest): Sirui, Manfrotto, Peak Design, Gitzo
Hook device on the bottom: Sirui and Peak Design. With Gitzo you can add a hook to the bottom, but you have to buy it extra
offset ring on the side: Manfrotto and Gitzo
Operation speed (extending legs and center column), they are all very close, with 1 or 2 second variation
Chris prefers twist locks
the Peak Design level locks are spaced next to each other, so, like with twist locks, you can grab them with one hand and unlock them all at once
They are all 4 section tripods, except for the Peak Design, which is a 5 section tripod, which slows you down a bit
They made a vibration test, using a particular device that vibrates (you got it ;) )
Vibration test (from best to worst): Manfrotto and Sirui were best. Slightly below you find the Peak Design. Gitzo was by far the worst with center column raised
the heavier the tripod, the better it handles vibrations
Recommendation: with any tripod, put some weight on the hooks for fantastic results with all 4 tripods

Gitzo:

they finally have Arca Swiss plate (no more the proprietary plate)
ball head was smooth, and once locked, you frame does not shift afterwards a little bit
despite the expensive price, you don’t get extras like a spiked feet, hook, bag
great technology and best build quality by far
lightest tripod, and still comparable height of Sirui and Manfrotto
it’s not good value for the dollar

Manfrotto

You get metal where needed, but still plastic parts at centre column lock and plastic ball head lock. In cold weather and long-term use, it can crack
clipping mechanism is still proprietary, however the plate on top is Arca Swiss. But since Manfrotto uses still their own locking system you can’t put long Arca Plates into the ballhead
locking mechanism can hit the battery grip of camera, so you must reverse it
center column sliding is rather stiff (slow to move)
good compromise between weight and features
lowest price point of the 4 tripods tested

Peak Design

Chris likes the locking levers and switches
lever locks are metal and seem pretty solid
lever locks can get stuff it, hence more maintenance
you depend on an Allen key to attach your Arca Swiss plate, which is a really stupid idea, because if you lose the allen key you are screwed
it would have been smarter to have coin locks or finger locks
very innovative, very compact, very easy to carry, very lightweight
not same working height of other tripods

Sirui

Great value for the dollar
you can screw out one leg and use it as monopod
you get a carry strap
you get spiked feet
you can split center column down shorter to cut weight off
bubble levels on the side so you can always see it, as opposed to the other tripods that have it on top hence hard to reference it once you have your camera mounted
Even at its heaviest torque, Chris can still grab the head and move it. Might not be an issue if you have a camera on there, but you really want to torque it very strong to have that stability
it’s the heaviest. You can make a lighter tripod heavier, but not a heavier tripod lighter

So, after watching the video, which one of these tripods would you get? Feel free to vote the poll down below:

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