Looking for an even more compact tripod for traveling

I haven’t often written about tripods here because you rarely buy them. But in the meantime I was looking for a very compact (travel) tripod

Introduction

I last wrote about tripods in 2015, or rather about the tripods that I own and that I haven’t had for a long time.   In the meantime I bought the Vanguard as a travel tripod, but it turned out to be a bit big compared to my Feisol CT3442. The Feisol was really relatively expensive at the time, especially with the Arca Swiss p0 head on it, but it hasn’t let me down for 10 years.

The Feisol has proven to be quite compact and light, but still stable enough for full-frame cameras. On the WRND bag that I described here, you can open up a compartment in the lower part in which you can store a tripod, but the Feisol doesn’t fit in there because of its relatively large diameter, so I had to start looking.

The candidates

The Peak Design would have been a candidate, but it was out of budget. With the Ulanzi, I was concerned about the head if you remove the center column, which cannot be locked. I then found what I was looking for in the Rollei Easy Traveller

The data

The Rollei Easy Traveller is a tripod that weighs just 1.14 kg, has a pack size of 43 cm and is 130 cm high without the center column.

This means it weighs almost 400 grams less than the Feisol and has a pack size that is 4 cm smaller, although the Feisol is still part of the generation of tripods that achieves the small pack size by folding the legs.

I find the fasteners on the legs very advantageous; they open very quickly, unlike the twist locks. For the ball head, which was specially made so that it still fits a little into the space between the legs, a regular writing fastener would perhaps have been better. This can be a bit tricky at times.

Unfortunately, the design has one small disadvantage: in order to turn the ball head into portrait format, the center column has to be pulled out slightly, otherwise it won’t work. At least not without an L-bracket. But with the L-bracket we have another problem, but more on that later.

Of course, with this small pack size, the last of the leg segments is very thin in diameter. There are 5 segments, by the way, so you might want to avoid pulling out the last segment if you want it to be a bit more stable. The height achieved is usually still sufficient, thanks to the swivel displays.

The center column

The center column on a tripod is always the Achilles heel when it comes to stability. It is no different here with the Rollei Easy Traveller. The recommendation here, especially with such light tripods, is that the center column is at most a makeshift solution and you should avoid using it if you can.

Even with the Lumix S5 and the kit lens, which is actually quite light, it becomes critical. Without wind, it will certainly work if you give the whole structure time to swing out using the self-timer.

Shots close to the ground

This center column can be unscrewed, or it is split so that you can unscrew the lower part (this is also where the smartphone holder is located, by the way). If you then fold the legs down as far as possible, you can reach a very low position for shots close to the ground.

This means you can get very low down to be able to photograph plants or mushrooms, for example.

The counterweight

Like almost all tripods, a bag or something similar can be attached to a hook on the center column as a counterweight to give the whole structure more stability.

Works here too, but the bag should be smaller in windy conditions because otherwise the surface area exposed to the wind increases.

Conclusion

The Rollei Easytravellar has a really compact pack size and is very light. This makes it the ideal resistance tripod, but this always comes with the restriction of lower stability. You should avoid extending the center column here and I even avoid pulling out the last segment if possible.

ciao tuxoche