Ultraportable tripod recommendations?

We hike around a lot with our Miller arrow 25 and sprinter 2. It's around 20 pounds and it's a pain to haul through the woods.

After a bunch of research I ended up getting the miller compass 15 with the solo DV legs. All told it's about 10.5 pounds and very easy to haul around. Yes there is some flex in the legs with high drag, but I hear it's pretty much par for the course with carbon legs and it's not bad. The other legs that work are the glitzo's at four pounds with a 75mm ball, and the manfrotto 535 at five pounds.

We ended up going miller because of local support and service plus they are apparently weather protected which is a huge deal for us. Also in the end, I figured go single system throughout because I figured they are probably made to work best together.
 
Barry I have a friend who uses this with his SLR's when shooting video by the river. He swears by it. I haven't used it myself, but I trust his judgment.
 
I'm using a Sachtler SOOM FSB 8 System....which is actually 3 tripods in one system. http://www.sachtler.com/us/xl-system-soom.html I find myself using the baby tripod a lot. This system supports up to 19 pounds... so I can also use for my HPX 300 too. The Soom tube is also pretty cool for a mono pod that tilts, pans and extends 98". Its priced at $3500.00.
 
Barry,

I've had good luck with a Benro Travel Angel tripod, Acratech leveling base, and Manfrotto 700RC2 head. Total weight 3.5lb. An HMC40, 7D, or TM700 have worked well with the setup.

The Acratech is genius at .5lb. The 700RC2 works better with HMC40 or 7D, isn't great but is light at 1.1lb.
 
Sorry I guess I mis-interpretted the original ask for Ultra Portable.

This is ultra portable and can be taken anywhere; even as carry on.



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Not as good as the other heads / legs in the studio...
 
Okay, on the MDeVe legs -- I actually have a set of the aluminum legs and I do agree with all the fans -- probably the cleverest legs design ever. And I continually, to this day, kick myself for cheaping out and getting the aluminum version instead of the carbon fibers. "Buy the best, and you only cry once" and all. Maybe that's half the solution -- sell off the aluminum version and put the proceeds towards some carbon fibers.

However...
Barry I have a friend who uses this with his SLR's when shooting video by the river. He swears by it. I haven't used it myself, but I trust his judgment.
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I am liking this Steddiepod idea! The whole thing, including a fluid head, weighs 5 pounds? Crazy. And it can be used as a flyer, or as a tripod? Interesting. Is it any good whatsoever? It's dirt cheap, flyweight, and I've heard about the Eddie Barber stuff through the years. If it's halfway decent that seems like a steal. I've got enough good tripods, I just want something serviceable and very lightweight, sort of an emergency-always-have-it-with-you tripod. (those who saw my Osaka footage will understand why -- ANY tripod beats any not-tripod!) As an ex-events shooter I would have loved to have something like this... especially for places where tripods are just not allowed. The body-brace mode looks ideal for uses like that... although it does look generally like it wouldn't be much use as a real tripod, certainly not on uneven terrain.

Interesting -- so many choices... thanks for all the responses! Keep 'em coming...
 
I agree the Steddiepod looks promising though it doesn't appear to be a setup that I would walk far from, meaning -- I think the operator needs to be close -- to catch it. Looks top heavy compared to the base support. The good part is the versatility and compactness. Personally I need to walk away from the camera without fear of tipplng, so I can take care of other things.
 
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Barry_Green said:
Okay, on the MDeVe legs -- I actually have a set of the aluminum legs and I do agree with all the fans -- probably the cleverest legs design ever. And I continually, to this day, kick myself for cheaping out and getting the aluminum version instead of the carbon fibers. "Buy the best, and you only cry once" and all. Maybe that's half the solution -- sell off the aluminum version and put the proceeds towards some carbon fibers.

However...

I am liking this Steddiepod idea! The whole thing, including a fluid head, weighs 5 pounds? Crazy. And it can be used as a flyer, or as a tripod? Interesting. Is it any good whatsoever? It's dirt cheap, flyweight, and I've heard about the Eddie Barber stuff through the years. If it's halfway decent that seems like a steal. I've got enough good tripods, I just want something serviceable and very lightweight, sort of an emergency-always-have-it-with-you tripod. (those who saw my Osaka footage will understand why -- ANY tripod beats any not-tripod!) As an ex-events shooter I would have loved to have something like this... especially for places where tripods are just not allowed. The body-brace mode looks ideal for uses like that... although it does look generally like it wouldn't be much use as a real tripod, certainly not on uneven terrain.

Interesting -- so many choices... thanks for all the responses! Keep 'em coming...
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My friend swears by the tripod version. I saw it once and it looked pretty solid, but like I said I haven't actually used it.
 
Don't know if already mentioned.
Sachtler Speedlock 75 cf
Maybe more than what you're looking for, but I used to carry it on (not in) backpack. very light and well made. 75 bowl (Manfrotto 505 head for me, that I preferred to Sachtler 4 to 6. 8 was better but not that much)
 
Barry_Green said:
Anybody have any recommendations for a tiny, ultraportable halfway decent tripod with a halfway decent fluid head? Something that might extend up to maybe four feet, with a head weight rating of like six pounds, but small enough that you could fit it in or on a backpack? And, to add ridiculous onto the list of requirements -- ideally it'd have a ball leveler too?

Not really looking for a gorillapod type of device, but a hyperportable real tripod, with a fluid head that could actually pull off a decent pan or tilt with an AF100 sitting on it.
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You'll have to define "portable". Max weight, load? AF100 will be too heavy for rigs I am using.
 
Remember though, this is about ultra portable. While the tripod might last 15 years, my agility and strength probably wont! :P So when I am doing more remote shooting where a car is impossible to get back there, I too look for light but effective options. There are always trade-offs so balancing them seems to be the real work.
 
Barry_Green said:
Anybody have any recommendations for a tiny, ultraportable halfway decent tripod with a halfway decent fluid head? Something that might extend up to maybe four feet, with a head weight rating of like six pounds, but small enough that you could fit it in or on a backpack? And, to add ridiculous onto the list of requirements -- ideally it'd have a ball leveler too?

Not really looking for a gorillapod type of device, but a hyperportable real tripod, with a fluid head that could actually pull off a decent pan or tilt with an AF100 sitting on it.
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I have been communicating a little bit with Sachtler to help redevelop their CineDSLR head. They have been very responsive. There is a reason why they are the reference for so many folks.
Basically I received their first incarnation in order to review it and I recommended that that they drop the minimum payload to accomodate DSLR style shooting with a barebones GH1 and a small lens all the way up to what I refer to as the "Christmas tree effect" - tons of stuff ridiculously extending off the camera. In this manner the issues of DSLR users are fairly unique. Never has such a great need for a varied payload range been so necessary at the lighter end of the professional spectrum. As a result, not only did Sachtler stop production of version 1, but they redesigned the minimum weight capacity of one of the springs in the head to accomodate from 0.6 kg all the way up 7.3 kg. I know of no other true fluid head from any other manufacturer that can deal properly with this weight range without using drag. Simply the best. (OK, I wouldn't kick O'Connor out of the bed either, but that's a VERY expensive mistress.)

One of the things I said to them was this:


As the newer and slightly heavier Panasonic AF100 camcorder is about to hit the market, with a more traditional profile, many DSLR users will own both and switch between them, thus requiring a maximum payload closer to the FSB8 of 9kg, while still having the need to use the head for lightweight DSLR's on other occasions. Many users will buy this more classical camcorder to compensate for certain shortcomings of their DSLR's, and thus benefiting from their complementary qualities. The CineDSLR fluid head probably needs to be positioned to accommodate both of these needs given the profile of the typical professional working in this category. Switching from a tiny DSLR like the GH1 to a more classical Video camera or accessorized rig means that greater polyvalence is needed than ever before. - yoclay
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A good fluid head will stay put wherever you place it, be it for the shot of marching ants or the airplane overhead. It should not rebound or drop based on it's springs alone, without the need of ever using drag. Most heads traditionally are designed for very specific weight ranges. Outside of the sweetspot they cannot perform these movements without drag. The CineDSLR will, even for cameras which are very light, which is the hardest test of them all (they usually rebound). I honestly think this single head could replace their FSB4, FSB6 and FSB8, and I also think that they now have a huge corner on the market as a result.

If the Sachtler head with carbon fiber speedlock legs is not to your liking, because it is still too large for you, I would say go with a Libec, believe it or not! They are designed for a much narrow weight range, which the AGF100 happens to fall into and for a cheap, lightweight knockaround tripod, they are surprisingly good with smooth movements. Something like an LS-22. I know it's hard to believe but as long as you stay within the sweetspot, you might be as surprised as I was at how smooth the movements are. I believe there is also a leveling ball on this head.
 
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yoclay said:
If the Sachtler head with carbon fiber speedlock legs is not to your liking, because it is still too large for you, I would say go with a Libec, believe it or not! They are designed for a much narrow weight range, which the AGF100 happens to fall into and for a cheap, lightweight knockaround tripod, they are surprisingly good with smooth movements. Something like an LS-22. I know it's hard to believe but as long as you stay within the sweetspot, you might be as surprised as I was at how smooth the movements are. I believe there is also a leveling ball on this head.
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Libec LS-22 is a good tripod, but it's not portable or light. It's a hog which will brake your back, I know I have one. Libec makes the best tripod on the planet, but even their 650 model being the lightest is way to heavy to carry for a long day (7 lbs). I carried cameras to top of Rainier twice, on Denali (20 300 ft elevation), Canadian Rockies, Cascades, Costal Range B.C., where you might have to gain 6000 feet in a day. I also use lighter camera JVC GY-HM100 and EX1. I usually have to carry also full climbing rack, jumars, extra locking carabiners, so I start counting grams, not kilograms.
Anyway, what my philosophy is that the worst shot is one you don't get, so my approach is make things work. I use my backpack as tripod very frequently. Put the backpack on a pair of skis, fix the camera with a bit of webbing and it works great as a slider. As far as tripod goes something like Slick Video Spirit II works in a pinch. Pan/tilt sucks, but you will get some decent steady shots and this tripod is cheap, so when it brakes it won't hurt as much. This tripod is weighs about 2 lbs and the payload is about 4 lbs max, so for something like AF100 with a pancake lens it might work.
 
I've had the carbon fiber Manfrotto 190CX3 with the 701HDV head. It's 4.7lbs altogether. The head is nice and fluid. Max weight for the legs is 11lbs and 8.8lbs for the head. I often put more than 8.8lbs and i've been happy with its operation.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/548529-REG/Manfrotto_190CX3_190CX3_Carbon_Fiber_Tripod.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/556159-REG/Manfrotto_701HDV_701HDV_Pro_Fluid_Video.html

I like to travel with this, and have done quite a bit of shooting. I think it's a nice light weight solution.
 
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