As is traditional with a tripod review, my first test of the Peak Design Travel Tripod was to extend the three legs to their maximum length and settle it on the ground before trying to wiggle and wobble the legs. Naturally, there is a bit of give, but I was surprised by how stable it is. The carbon fibre and aluminium versions are indistinguishable in this respect – although naturally the aluminium legs feel colder to the touch.
After that, I started to use the tripod routinely for my photography and it coped well with everything.
Wanting to give it a bit more of a challenge, I took it with me to the coast and mounted the Nikon Z7 on it with the Nikon Nikkor Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S fitted. Wanting to give the tripod a fair chance and to keep everything balanced, I used the lens’ tripod foot and collar as the mounting point.
As the tripod coped with ‘normal’ exposures, I mounted a neutral density filter on the lens to take the exposure to 15 seconds in length. There was a pretty stiff breeze blowing, but the shots are completely sharp.
I was shooting with the centre column down and at the 110mm point on the lens, but it’s a very impressive performance, especially for a such a lightweight tripod.
I’ve also used the Peak Design Travel Tripod to support the Fujifilm GFX100S. As digital medium format cameras go, the Fuji GFX100S is pretty small and light, but it’s body still weighs 900g with a battery and memory card and the lenses are substantial. Nevertheless, the tripod was able to hold the camera steady enough to capture images of blurred moving water with exposures of between 1/3-1.8sec with a breeze that caused foliage to blur. I didn’t get a 100% hit rate, but it wasn’t bad. I even managed a few sharp images in portrait orientation, but this is more of a challenge as it tests your ability to tighten the quick release plate on the camera.
In fact, the only situation in which I’ve found the carbon fibre Peak Design Tripod wanting is when the feet are on a slick surface such as a tiled or wooden floor. If you press hard on the tripod’s shoulders, the feet slip and the legs start to splay slightly. Obviously, that’s not really a problem for photography because the camera weight is constant, but it’s something to bear in mind when you’re setting the tripod up. If you push down, you need to allow for the legs to creep back together before you take any shots.
The aluminium tripod fairs better in this regard and I couldn’t get the legs to slip.
Which version of Peak Design Travel Tripod should I buy, Carbon Fiber or Aluminum?
I’ve often been asked if I think the carbon fibre Peak Design Travel Tripod is worth the extra expense over the aluminium version. It’s a very fair question as the carbon fibre version is close to twice the price of the aluminium one. In terms of support, I don’t think there is much, if any, difference between the two – or not that I have been able to detect.
Weight-wise, however, the aluminium tripod weighs 290g more. That’s a difference of around 23%, but it’s less than a 500ml bottle of water weighs (500ml water weighs 500g). Picking up the tripods, the extra weight of the aluminium version is apparent, but what’s more interesting, is whether you can detect the difference in the weight when you’re carrying the tripod with other kit.
To test this, I loaded a backpack (the Wandrd Prvke21) with three cameras and four lenses and a few other bits. The combined weight of the gear and backpack camera to around 13lbs / 5.9Kg.
With the pack on my back, I then asked my parter to put one of the Peak Design Travel tripods into the tripod holder before removing it and swapping it for the other one to see if I could detect the difference in weight. To my surprise, I could instantly tell which of the tripods he had put in the pocket. So yes, the extra weight of the aluminium tripod is noticeable.
Whether you are prepared to pay the extra cost for the weight reduction, however, is another matter.
If you want the Peak Design Travel Tripod for its compact size and performance, and you don’t plan to carry it far on foot, then the aluminium version is the obvious choice. If however, you’re looking for a tripod that you can carry when you’re walking for long periods of time, or over long distances, then the carbon fibre version is the more appealing of the two if you can bear the cost.