It’s been just over a year since I looked at the superb Punks Billy 2.0, and now, 3LT has launched the Punks Billy 2.0 Darkness edition. The Darkness edition isn’t a new tripod, and a simple new colour option isn’t something we would usually cover, but here this colour change is far more than just an aesthetic update, it also enhances the tripod’s features.
Specification
- Leg sections: 4
- Load capacity: 18kg
- Colours: Black with blue accents & Blue AirHed or Black with Copper accents with Black AirHed
- leg angles: 23 ̊, 55 ̊, 80 ̊
Essentially 3LT has once again listened to its user base and produced this understated colour option on a variety of their tripods and L-Brackets. While the design of the units remains exactly the same, the new all-black look is more than just aesthetic.
Users have noted that some of the bright colours used in the tripods can reflect back from certain surfaces, and a pure black tripod is far easier to mask and hide in the shadows than their brighter and more cheerful-looking counterparts.
Now you may be thinking that while 3LT’s USP has always been the bright anodised parts that break away from the usual muted colour tones of most tripods, most tripods, by their very nature, are dark in colour. However, look at almost any tripod, and you’ll notice silver leg adjusters, red or blue bands of colour and bright white logos that are ready to reflect off glass, water and all manner of shiny objects. In contrast, the Darkness is all black; there’s nothing shiny to reflect back and haunt your images in the digital darkroom.
The lengths that 3LT has gone to mask and hide the presence of anything other than black in the 3LT Punks Billy 2.0 is quite extraordinary; sure enough, putting the tripod to the test and the new colour option certainly does the job.
At a recent shoot in a museum and with the Punks Billy 2.0 matched with the LEE FILTERS Elements Circular Polariser and a large black sheet, the tripod vanished from the reflection of protective plexiglass and reflective surfaces. Compared with the usual use of gaffa tape to hide and mask anything on the supports that is light in colour, the neat and tidy form of the Punks Billy 2.0 Darkness edition did the job. Once again in use, the Billy 2.0 reinforces itself as one of the best tripods on the market.
Now, all I need is the same design with 32mm tubes and an accessories thread with stops!
Really this is an outstanding tripod and one of the best investments you make now, for more details check out 3leggedthing.com