Five Travel Tripods Comparison 

This is the best comparison I have ever seen. Amazing. Thank you.

OMG - the best Travel Tripod comparison on the web. So detailed and yet so relatable for any photographer. Additionally - you added your own perceptions, which I agree with totally. So happy to see this video. Ordered the Heipi - it just looks like the best all-around travel Tripod right now. I have a Manfrotto, which I love but is just too big and bulky, so I hardly use it. I want something I will use, and the Heipi looks like something I will travel with and use. Adding a secondary tripod is a great innovation, and I look forward to seeing how I make that work. Thank you so much for all your efforts, and I hope many more people see this video.

This is the best comparison video, on all of these tripods, Really appreciate the details and effort you put in to making this video.

Arikato, I really needed your comparison video. I ordered my Heipi immediately 👌🏾

I'm impressed by how thorough and well thought out this video was! Really good comparison video, thank you for taking the time to make it

Congratulation! It is the best review of tripods I have ever see. I really like that you actually put them under test rather than looking at their specks.

This is the best comparison!!! Been back & forth with what tripod to get for travel.. hands down 👐👏

Thank you for an excellent comparison. I've been looking at 3 of these models and you sealed the deal :). Appreciate the time and effort you put into this and it really helped ALOT.

This is the best product review I've ever seen, period. It should be a benchmark for every reviewer out there. After watching this, I don't need to continue reading and watching any more useless ads pretending to be reviews to decide which tripod I want. You made it crystal clear. Thank you.

Most detailed and honest review. Thank you!

Literally the best review with objective measures as well as some opinions. Thanks!

Fantastic. Very thorough. So helpful. Thank you.

Just what I was looking for. Awesome video!

Most honest and scientific review of tripods.. well done 👍🏻 and i took the Heipi instead of the pd .. thanks a-lot .. all the best

Brilliant review. Very comprehensive and thoughtful. I think you've helped me make my mind up. Thank you.

Excellent comparison! Thank you for your effort and time.

The best review i have ever seen! Keep it up! Thank you!

A very helpful review of travel tripods. Well thought out measurements together with hands-on experience. And really entertaining at the same time, too! Many thanks for this! I immediately subscribed to the channel.

Thank you so much! I am debating between PD, Heipi, and Ulanzi for a travel tripod for nature and astrophotography. I really appreciate the comparison and technical nature of the comparison. This has been so helpful in comparing those 3.

This is the most insanely thorough test/review of anything I’ve ever seen on YT. Not just tripods…anything…ever, lol. Nice work, sir!

Thank you for your thorough comparison and review of these five travel tripods. Your demonstrated tests, weighted scoring, and suggestions are very thoughtful and considered. It is a real standout among many videos which offer opinions but few detailed comparisons. I wish I had seen it before ordering the Peak Design aluminum tripod and additional panning ball head. I would have selected the Heipi instead, which has those features plus more overall features and flexibility.

Thank you for the hard work!

Incredibly thorough analysis. I’ve actually just sold two of my smaller travel tripods in order to get one of these options. I’d planned to get the Ulanzi due to all the positive RU-vid reviews. But i’ll now look into the Heipei model. Thanks!

Thank you so much for your honest and helpful review I've ever seen.

A very well thought out & un-biased review. Well done fella. I've been so, on & off the fence over the Heipi, Ulanzi & Marsace. The latter looks a great little tripod at its price point. However I think the Heipi is winning me over. The fact that the ballhead can be removed, thus making it more compact for travel, the stability & the second tripod feature are killer features. I did read a review when it was being first tested. Reviewer said the finish can rub off easily. Maybe the production models have sorted this small problem now.

Very nice comparison, and innovative tests! Thank you for the review!

Very thorough and informative. Thank you!

Excellent comparison, thank you!!

Really well done review. Thank you!

Absolutely fantastic video. Thank you!

One of the best review I saw. It's more like a nice idea for video courses of tripod evaluation for gear developers or staff, responsible for purchase of eqipment in companies. Great job! I know it was not an easy task.👍 Blue subtitles is a matter of taste. Still big thanks! :)

You deserve a lot of attention. Thanks!

Very well done and useful review, thanks. I can tell it's not driven by marketing.

Thank you for adding all the text for ratings.

fantastic review, thank you!

Great comparison. I was really fed up with all the youtubers recommending Ulanzi, while the build quality leaves a lot of room for improvement. Thank you for that honest opinion.

So many photography RU-vid channels with tons of subs, and none of them have offered as deep a review/comparison for travel tripods. Well done. I appreciate the objective approach to the review. I've liked and subscribed purely out of appreciation for this video, and I look forward to checking out your other videos. My singular criticism would be there was no mention of the leg angles; as I'm sure you know the primary leg angle is one of the single most important factors in how stable a tripod will be in use. Many manufacturers focus on maximum height statistics by simply narrowing their primary leg angles, which inherently lead to lower stability.

Thank you for an excellent review , I can see a Heipi tripod in my future

Well you really raised the bar on level of detail for tripod reviews!! (In fact you raised the bar, hung a tennis ball on it and did a damping test 🙂) Really well done video and very useful. Thank you!!!

Awesome review! Subscribed 😊

Thanks for making this very detailed comparison! I was leaning towards the Ulanzi from the many positive reviews but ended up purchasing the Heipi based on your comparison and some other criticisms of the Ulanzi that I had to search pretty hard to find. I suspect there was a lot of paid promotion for the Ulanzi with the number of videos that directly compared it to the PD tripod and found the Ulanzi vastly superior despite being half the price. Even though weight and size were priorities as a secondary travel tripod, the Heipi ball head looks much more convenient to use while being removable, and your test proved that the tri-center column actually does provide more stability and isn't just a gimmick. Thanks for your hard work.

This RU-vidr surely knows what he's talking about. Great comparison. I have the exact same problems he mentions w.r.t. Ulanzi Coman. Will have to switch to Heipi mostly because Peak Design is beyond what I'm willing to pay for a travel tripod.

Such a great review!

This is the real tripod comparison. thank you.

I picked up the Heipi tripod in the kickstarter and just got it last night. I had deliberately avoided reviews because I was already committed and I wanted to draw my own conclusions without being biased by someone else's opinion. So I spent a couple hours last night with both the Heipi and PD tripods side by side. Comparing them and fiddling with them. Then this morning I looked at a couple reviews and comparisons that included the Heipi and the PD tripods. Turns out my conclusions and personal feelings on the two pretty closely match what you and others have come to. I haven't taken the Heipi out to use anywhere yet, maybe I'll be able to this weekend, but I am reasonably sure I'm going to be selling my PD tripod soon. Thanks for this excellent review.

Fantastic and comprehensive test, must have taken some time. The Helpi is looking pretty good for the price.

good job, yesterday I just saw your chinese video, I didn't expect there was an English version.

The vibration test is outstanding.

Good work, thanks.

Fantastic video, thank you.

Excellent video. Very comprehensive. In the end purchased the RRS Ascend 14L without ball head. Despite interesting new designs that PD and Heipi represent. I have had nothing but excellent experience with RRS over 15 years. I own the TVC 34L and TFC 24L. Felt it the right thing to add 14L to the lineup as a travel tripod. Heads and leveling bases are all by Acratech.

You're greatly appreciated!

Amazing comparison i appreciate the effort you put a true comparison no sponsor ❤

Thank you so much!

I was not interested in buying any travel tripod and I just really enjoyed following your scoring system. I wish more people that do reviews would do more of that and less opinions. Great job... and btw I am a big fan of Planit Pro.

this is some insane content.

Very good information. Thanks. toronto canada.

excellent job.

Well done!!

ah, an actual objective test. Lovely thing you set up here

When you brought up David (TheCenterColumn), I knew your review was in a league above all other RU-vid tripod reviews I have seen. Your test approach sacrifices some technical rigour for widespread repeatability, and I appreciate that! My feedback/question below will be lengthy, but I hope you will enjoy the banter. I will mostly ignore Marsace because I do not have first-hand experience and English info on their series is still limited. 1. Overall feeling: I have already backed Heipi before watching this video. Aesthetic-wise, I actually love PD and Ulanzi more. Still, Heipi was developed by wildlife photographers, which I shoot even more than landscape, and is clearly more stable and feature-rich than its competitors. Hopefully, someone can test it with a wildlife gimbal head soon. I applaud that you did not knock the PD tripod down its peg. It lacks some features, being the first of its kind in the market, but I still rate it highly for its creativity - an aspect we both share. Looking forward to its Mark 2 version whenever that arrives. 2. Stability: how did you do the damping test for the RRS, since you have the 14L version? At any given height, without some extra considerations, the 14L will be more stable than the regular one because you do not need to fully extend the legs or use as much of the center column. 3. QR Locking Platform: why exactly does PD’s QR locking platform get a lower score? I find it much faster than either Ulanzi or RRS. 4. Panning: what is your recommendation to improve Heipi’s panning? A panning platform or a levelling base? I am partial to the latter since it can be used with other tripod heads. 5. Head replacement: This is one feature where I find the 3-grade scale is limiting. PD is undoubtedly the 2nd best one, just behind the traditional method (that Heipi uses): the head adapter is tiny, hence very portable - you only have to remove a small section of the proprietary ball head to replace it. Ulanzi is probably the *worst*: they force you to replace an entire center column to use a different head: extra carry space, and no way to get low on the ground without reversing the column. Furthermore, Dan Carr found out that their head replacement column uses a ¼” 20 stud instead of the standard 3/8 16” stud - almost no commercial tripod head, not even Ulanzi’s own tripod head, uses that stud! You are forced to buy a separate converted/reducer bushing before placing a tripod head on that “adapter.” 6. Leg disassembly: This is a big minus for landscape/wildlife users on Heipi. I am still looking for tripod sleeves/covers that work well on Heipi for those sandy and seascape environments. Let me know if you have any suggestions on that. 7. Hook: Shouldn’t Heipi be a 0.5? Yes, its hook is identical to others, but the 3-pillar column will get in the way of using it when not extended, requiring an extra accessory like a carabiner. 8. Dual tripod: should PD at least gets a 0.5? While it does not have the unique 2-in-1 feature Heipi has, the ultralight conversion kit does allow it to become an extremely compact and stable tabletop tripod. 9. Clarifications: I am not exactly sure what you meant by a “center column stopper”? Is it something that blocks the center column from being pulled out entirely by accident? And can you elaborate on how you rated the accessory holes? 10. Other categories: I wish you had mentioned Arca cross-compatibility. Heipi almost got this problem until mounting pressure from backers forced them to accommodate other Arca-Swiss plates (such as PD’s). Heipi also got a favourable matchup in the feature breakdown because it has 2 exclusive categories for itself. I find the unique ability to mount a carrying strap directly on PD with the anchor links extremely helpful, especially when I use a 3rd-party head that does not fit into the provided tripod bag. RRS has accessory padding that can be added to their knobs for cold-weather operation or for people with large hands.

I have had the Heipi for a couple of months and it's brilliant. I use it for long exposures and panoramas and I never have 2nd thoughts about taking it on every trip.

All reviews on this internet should be like this Period.

Great technical review of these tripods. I think the Heipi does need to take away 0.5 points for the hook though - the unfortunate problem with their innovative column design is that if you don't raise the column up all the way, they actually end up blocking access to the weight hook.

Thanks for the video, very educational! Where can I buy a Heipi tripod? Has the company launched the sale? Thanks you!

do you know if the concerns you had about the Ulanzi have been addressed in the latest update, the F38 gen2?

Why don't you have affiliate links? I would gladly buy from them and support you! This has been the most helpful tripod comparison i've seen

I don’t have any flip lock issues on the Ulanzi F38 maybe they resolved them on the newer model

💥🙏

What about the Ulanzi F38 tripod? The newer version of the zero y

I wil still go for the Ulanzi.

does the heipi fit the swiss arca plate?

You got that plug for that coupon for the ulanzi? Lol let me get it

You made a video for an 85’ inches TV

there no benro?

I beg to differ about the RRS Ascent. First, comparing the wrong model to the other tripods is just bad form. I don't know how the shorter version would really have performed and neither do you. If you are a designer, as you say you are, you should know better. All that aside. You seem not to have noticed the build quality of the RRS or how the design and close tolerances make it function. The legs open/close with brass bushings set it the CNC machined head. Did you notice how the adjustors for the angle of the legs have inset magnetic detents that make them work as smoothly as they do? Did you notice how the adjustment levers for post height, ball head, and clamp are also CNC machined and work easily and solidly? Comparing build quality of the RRS to my PD (which I just sold because of its flimsiness under modest weight) is like comparing Swarovski crystal to Walmart Christmas tree ornaments. They don't belong in the same review. You criticized the RRS for not being able to keep the camera from flopping around using partial tension on the ball. This concerned me last night when I watched your video. When I received my RRS from UPS today I was ready t send it back. If your criticism had been true I would have sent it back today. It works perfectly. This is an important feature and a glaring mistake in your video. Oh well. You know what they say about the internet. Anyone can post anything.

It is UNACCEPTABLE to put up a "review" without revealing the fact that you have collaboration with the brand, otherwise, it's a great video and maybe a great tripod.

Honestly, if we don’t talk about money, just go for rrs for any tripods.

Thank you for this exhaustive comparison. While I think the Heipi looks like a good tripod, it has several shortcomings making it less appealing as a travel tripod: the company is relatively new and could disappear, this tripod weighs almost a pound more than the PD or the Ulanzi, the head is very heavy making it top heavy, a source of possible imbalance in the wind, it cost a 100$ more than the Ulanzi. I feel that for travelling light, the Ulanzi is the best value for the price as for me weight is a very important factor.

Why do youtubers love the ulanzi so much... Everyone is saying that ulanzi is much better than peak design, but i dont agree