When I first opened the packaging of the Peak Design travel Tripod, I thought there was some heft to this thing made of carbon fibre and aluminum, it felt solid and heavy for its size, but not overly heavy. This is a nice compact and well-made tripod, for photographers like myself who like to hike and carry a minimal amount of camera gear. The Peak Design Travel tripod can fit inside a normal-sized backpack or strapped onto the side, the zippered case it comes in is well-made and can come in handy for additional carrying options. During use, I have found it to be very sturdy and can hold a surprising amount of weight with some of my biggest cameras. I have even tried using the tripod with my 4x5 view camera including a lens that weighs up to 2.7 kg (6 lbs). Mostly though I will be using this tripod with smaller digital and smaller film cameras. During use, I found that the legs are easy to set up and stay locked in place. The ball head works as it should and is uniquely designed to fit into the top part of the tripod and hidden away when the tripod is compacted and closed up. One thing I would point out is when using the Peak Design ball head in the vertical or portrait position there is limited movement because two of the three "clamps" on the bottom of the head come in contact with the centre post. There are a few solutions that users can try, one is to use an Arca-style "L" bracket, the second is to use a folding Arca-Style "L" bracket and the third is to use a panoramic attachment with a built-in Arca-style plate, I got one that only weights 55 grams (2 oz), and with the panoramic attachment it makes it much easier to make adjustments to the top and bottom part of a picture in portrait configuration also in horizontal mode if one wants to swing the camera left or right. All in all a well-made tripod that I will be using for a large portion of my photographic work.
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