3 Legged Thing Jason review

The 3 Legged Thing Jason is, and I’ll say this at the outset, close to absolute perfection. The following points, then, are purely from my perspective on the aesthetics; I’m not keen on the design of the spider mounting plate on top of the canopy. I prefer the plain carbon legs, and I like legs to be 32mm rather than 28mm; none of this has any relevance to the function of this tripod, as everything sits in place and works absolutely perfectly. The 32mm legs are available on the Ethan, which is the bigger sibling to the Jason and James.

In this review, I’m just going to look at the legs and canopy because, really, that’s what this Jason tripod is about. Whilst there are a series of fluid heads and more standard stills heads from 3LT, the Orbit head that’s on the way looks far more interesting. When that comes out, I’ll look at that head with these legs, rather than muddy the water with another head option. All of the heads I tried from 3LT and other manufacturers fit perfectly.

So why do I think the Jason is so good? I’ll sum it up quickly here and then go through it in more depth in the rest of the review.

Essentially, you’ve got two tripods, or at least two boxes with modular parts in them fitted together as a ready kit, that can then build a variety of different tripods for different uses. There are two canopy sizes. You have the Jason-size canopy and three 3-section legs, which are sold together as a kit, and that’s what I’m looking at here. The James is slightly smaller and, again, sold as a kit with the canopy and three 4-section legs, but you can mix the legs from the Jason with the ones from the James, and the ones from the James with the Jason, and essentially build a tripod as you like.

At the end of the day, there are three leg sizes, with 3, 4 or 5 sections and two canopies, and how you mix and match them is totally up to you.

There’s also a range of accessories, including feet and extension arms you can add, and the straps with the QD quick release are fully compatible. What you have here is a tripod that can adapt and convert to your exact use and, at all times, there is no centre column involved, which, if you have read past tripod reviews over the years, you’ll know I’ll be especially pleased about.

In this review, I’m looking at the 3 Legged Thing Jason in Olive Drab Green with three-section legs. During testing, I tried it with a variety of fluid heads, stills heads, and 3 Legged Thing heads to test its full versatility.

Jason 3: Maximum height 154cm / 60.6 inches
minimum height: 15.6cm / 6 inches
folded length: 68cm / 26.7 inches
weight: 1.48kg / 3.26lb
load capability: 40kg / 88lb
material: carbon fibre
leg sections: 3
leg angles: 23°, 55° and 80°.

The three-section Jason I’m reviewing reaches a maximum height of 154cm (60.6 inches) and a minimum height of 15.6cm (6 inches). Its folded length with the legs attached is 68cm or 26.7 inches. The weight is also impressive at 1.48kg or 3.26lb and, as you lift it, it feels pretty light, with a load capacity of 40kg or 88lb.

The legs are made of woven carbon fibre and look very nice, although I must admit I still like 3 Legged Thing’s completely plain carbon fibre.

The system is fully modular, so you have the Jason canopy I’m looking at here with the three-section legs attached; you can swap them for shorter if you need. Those leg options come in three different lengths, with the 3-section legs reaching a max height of 1.59m, 4-section legs, 1.45m and 5-section legs, 1.25m.

As ever, there’s a good range of feet that can be screwed into the base and other options, such as tabletop tripod legs, stilettos, Vanz and flats, to suit almost any need.

The mounting plate is also detachable, so if you want to change it from green to Lava or Darkness at any point in the future, then that’s perfectly possible. Because of the way that it is designed, you could even machine and place your own.

There are also a couple of new features that 3 Legged Thing introduced with Jason, including the Trigger-Pull leg-angle adjusters. These are nice and smooth and a huge improvement on some of the push-pull older versions. They enable the usual leg adjustments from 23° to 55° and 80°, and the movement is smooth and responsive.

Again, because these legs are removable, you can take one off, add a head, and turn it into a monopod, which can be very useful.

Looking around the canopy, you’ll also find a couple of really handy connectors. Not only is there an accessory port so you can quickly bolt in a friction arm, but there is also a QD socket. So, if you have one of 3 Legged Thing’s straps, that just quickly clicks into place and, again, it’s a really handy addition.

Another thing I really like about the build and construction of the Jason is that you can take everything apart, so it’s easy to maintain, clean, and replace any parts if they break.

This is much better than many other tripods, and I have several tripods in the garage that are only repairable in one state or another, normally because I drop them. If I do that with this tripod, I can quickly replace those parts.

Another big feature is that 3 Legged Thing has changed its oversized twist locks. They are still oversized, but the design has changed slightly and, aesthetically, I think they look far better. For grip, they work really well, giving plenty of purchase. They should be grippable even in icy winter conditions.

The main feature here is the modular design. You can choose the Jason 4 four-section legs or the Jason 3 three-section legs, and with each kit you can also buy additional leg lengths. It comes with the standard legs in the box, but you can also buy two shorter legs, and there are tabletop tripod legs as well, giving you plenty of versatility in height.

Essentially, it can go from 154cm all the way down to just 15.6cm, something that few other tripods can boast.

Now, there are two versions of the tripod: there’s the Jason, which I’m looking at here, and the James. The James is the smaller version, with a smaller canopy for smaller stills heads, whilst the Jason has the larger canopy and mounting plate, which is better suited to fluid heads. Both compatible with a range of 28mm diameter legs

It is also worth pointing out, and you’ll see this in the promotional video, that the Orbit heads are also on the way. To me, these look of real interest and genuinely look like something completely new.

While we’ve seen similar heads in the past, 3 Legged Thing has actually gone for complete usability here, so rather than rotating around the head to lock and unlock it for rotation, you have a large handle. It’s a little bit more simplistic, but actually, out in the field, that gives you a little bit more control over the positioning of the camera. I really like how robust it looks, but I don’t have one to review, so l’ll pass on that for now and come back to it when one arrives.

Otherwise, I think we’ve covered the features in the build and handling section, so let’s move on to performance.

At the heart of this new tripod is a fairly complex thought process. It’s a modular system that consists of the canopy at the top, your three carbon legs, which you can get in a variety of different leg lengths, and then at the base you have the feet.

This is really an evolution of the idea that 3 Legged Thing has been using for quite a few years, although here they’ve approached it with a modular design. Actually, when you start to look at what’s going to be available with the Jason 4 and Jason 3, and also let’s not forget the James, which is the smaller version, I can’t really see why you’d ever need another tripod.

It starts to make me question why 3 Legged Thing would bother with the rest of its range, even, dare I say it, the Punks Billy.

Anyway, going out in the field with the 3 Legged Thing, Jason, it instantly proves to be a superb tripod. Again, I do like 32mm diameter legs, but at 28mm they provide a good, firm and steady base, if like me your like 32mm then check out the Ethan.

What I will say is that, as I was walking to the first location, and this is something that I find with all tripods of this style, I was getting a little bit of leg crossover. This is partly why they include a bag with the kit; however, I left it at home, preferring to carry the tripod without the bag.

What I have done is 3D-print a little leg holder that clips onto one leg and holds the other two neatly. I’ll post the design for a variety of diameters, as I’ve found it useful myself and several other people are using them now. They’re a great addition.

One thing I will say about the 28mm-diameter legs is that they make a good lightweight tripod and, despite their size and height, they’re really nice and lightweight, even with a large stills ball head or fluid head on top.

Through the initial few weeks of using the Jason 3, I’ve used it at a variety of different locations, a lot for stills and quite a bit for shooting video as well. What really stood out was its versatility.

I like, for instance, the new Trigger-Pull leg-angle adjusters. They’re quick, easy and agile to use. Likewise, having the QD socket works really well with 3 Legged Thing’s straps and, whilst I need to have a bit of a think about how that’s actually useful for carrying the tripod, after making a little clip and using the standard strap, I quickly found it made a very good way of carrying the 3 Legged Thing tripod over your shoulder.

For filming, I also really like that it has the quarter-inch thread on the canopy, so I can bolt in some friction arms. Here, the 3 Legged Thing options are absolutely superb because you can tighten them with that securing bolt really nicely into the canopy side.

But then, after a couple of weeks, I had a job that involved quite a bit of travel, and I didn’t want to take a tripod of this size with me. Thankfully, 3 Legged Thing had popped two sets of smaller 4-section legs into the box with the review sample, and I unbolted the long legs, replaced them with the shorter ones and bunged them into my backpack.

To be honest, I was just equally impressed. Whereas I would normally swap from one tripod to another, here I still had the same setup, just with those shorter legs, and it worked really well.

By the end of the test, functionally, this new tripod really does just hit it perfectly. It works really well, it’s fully adaptable and the modular design just really makes sense.

As for any issues or flaws I have with it, most are purely aesthetic. First, I prefer 3 Legged Thing’s plain carbon legs over the carbon weave, but that has no relevance to functionality.

Then I’m not too keen on the spider mounting plate, but it’s covered by the head, so does it really matter?

And finally, the diameter is 28mm, not 32mm; that’s why the Ethan exists, and again that’s more personal preference than anything else. I’m looking for the perfect tripod in my eyes and, to be honest, functionally this tripod is just superb.

The 3 Legged Thing Jason is close to tripod perfection, with its modular design letting you quickly adapt it to your exact needs.

Any issues or flaws that I had with it through my extensive testing are, to be honest, only aesthetic and probably a little bit more personal to me than to anyone else, because what you have here is one of the most functional tripods now available on the market, adaptable to almost any situation and exceptionally well built.

It’s also aesthetically pleasing and fully compatible not only with 3 Legged Thing’s own accessories, but also with a wide range from other manufacturers.

If you’re in the market for a full-height, mid-height, tabletop tripod or monopod, then can I introduce you to the 3 Legged Thing Jason, probably one of the best tripods that’s been made yet.