New Page 1

Welcome to my travel tripod survey page.
I decided I needed a travel tripod for digital photography, and found that there is a HUGE selection of tripods out there. I also found that the inexpensive (under around $65) video tripods -- the Wal-Mart specials-- were either too flimsy, or too restrictive in capabilities. My 2.7 lb video Wal-Mart special is a huge pain. Like most tripods in this category, it has a center brace and a video pan head. The center brace will not allow the tripod to go low to the ground like the better photo tripods, and the video pan head forces me to take a lot of time to set the tripod up perfectly level every time, which decreases my chances of getting the shot, especially if the photo op is temporary.
	Just Say NO to cheapo tripods

A ball head would allow me to level my digital SLR camera without forcing me to level the tripod itself, every time I set it up. I also do not care for the leaking grease of my cheapo. This is the grease that dampens (yes, correct spelling) the movement of the head. VERY MESSY!

After doing some Google searches for "Travel Tripod" I came across a couple of surveys that listed decent quality travel tripods for photography. The original (as far as I know) survey done by Robert Segal. It was last updated June of 2002.

You should also review Robert's notes first as his nomenclature and notes apply to my survey.

Another survey was done by Wohlberg (I don't know his first name) in March 2005.

As of this writing (March 2007), I created a new survey. My survey picks up where Robert's left off, as I was not aware of Wohlberg's survey until I was about 75% done with mine, so mine overlaps a little with Wohlberg.

Keep checking back here, especially if it is still March and April 2007. I am still adding additional tripods and additional brands of tripods. If you want to contact me to add more tripods, or correct some information I have posted, please post to this free discussion forum at Digital Photography Review (DPReview.com): http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1018&message=22339866

Please note the following about my survey:

I used Segal's criteria for acceptance/rejection. Please see his original survey notes. This is why ultra-compact table-top tripods have not been included. I have not yet included tripods that would almost meet the criteria.

I slightly modified his LTG (Low to Ground) column. If the tripod does go LTG, I put "LTG" in the column, and I specified the inches height the tripod goes down to in LTG mode.

I would appreciate if you find any errors or omissions that you feel should be included, to contact me. Please provide the make/model and ALL specifications of the tripod you found, and try to find a reasonable price for it (i.e., not some used item eBay price that was absurdly low because the seller had -1 feedback).

No effort was made to determine the QUALITY of the tripod and how it is made. I simply do not have access to the tripods in question to look at them. This survey should not be confused with a REVIEW of the tripod.

I do not and cannot warrantee the accuracy of the information provided. Please double check the specs on the tripod you are buying before buying it.

Please do not take credit for my survey. All information on my website is copyrighted material. You can link from your site (or any site you post on) back to my page here, but do not take credit for my work. I spent many hours putting this survey together and trying to make sure it is accurate.

If you would like to help me keep this website up, and help me keep this survey available in the future, please make a donation to me via PayPal's secure system:

Any donations you make of any size will help me as I am a lone individual who took the time and pay my web host to make this survey available. If I am able to keep this page up, I will be able to add future surveys (such as a ball head survey), and make other information available as time goes on.