While there are those that argue that nearly any photo will be sharper if shot from a tripod, I know that I’ll never be one of those guys that shoots from a tripod all the time. It’s just not feasible with the kind of shooting I do where I’m moving fast and trying to gather a variety of compositions quickly.
Whenever I try to explain what it’s like to make photos within the confines of a press trip, I hear in my ear the voice of my guide on my first trip to China. After several days of moving fast from temple to museum, restaurant to ancient street market, etc., etc., he said to me that our experience was like the old Chinese saying, “to enjoy the flowers from a galloping horse.” I’ll never forget that and don’t know that I’ve heard truer words. We seldom get to take our time and are nearly always on a tight schedule.
That said, there are times I need a tripod. A few examples can be seen in the image gallery below and include:
- dark places where I’d rather not introduce noise by increasing my ISO
- astrophotography (stars and star trails)
- waterfalls and other situations with moving water where I want that “silky” look
- long exposures for moving clouds
- long exposures to blur people or make them disappear entirely
- long exposures to stream traffic headlights/tailights
- timelapses
Sure, you can sometimes find a rock or a fence post to rest your camera on, but what’s the chance that it will be in the right place and right height for your composition?
Left: MeFoto's photo of the Globetrotter. Center & Right: my comparisons with the Hakuba.
I’ve been traveling with a Hakuba carbon fiber tripod (right, in both pics above) that weighs around 6 pounds and is almost 27″ long when folded up. It has been starting to show signs of age (and of the miles I’ve put on it), so I ordered a new MeFoto carbon fiber Globetrotter (left, both pics and in the promo shot from their website on the far left). It weighs only 3.7 pounds and is a mere 16″ long when folded. (update: I see MeFoto has now added an “S” series so some info may have changed regarding weight, etc.)
Honestly, the two tripods feel very similar in weight when you hold them, but I think it may just be a trick of the mind. The MeFoto just folds up so compactly that there’s very little “space in-between” and it feels super rugged and solid. It feels surprisingly heavy “for its size” but, honestly, it is about 38% lighter than what I’ve been used to carrying, if I’ve done the math correctly.
Extended, the MeFoto isn’t quite as tall as the Hakuba, but I seldom ever extend the center column all the way anyway or else I feel I’m losing some stability. The legs have 4 section locks rather than the 2 I’m used to so it takes a bit longer to set up, but not much. If that’s the price to pay for a more compact travel tripod, I’ll gladly pay it.
I can now travel with a smaller bag, as I tend to put my tripod in checked luggage and it dictates the size of the case. I also used to have to disassemble my tripod to get it to fit in the suitcase, the MeFoto is plenty small enough already.
Now that I’ve carted the MeFoto through the US, Europe and Asia, I can say that it is working out quite nicely. For studio work, I still tend to fall back on my super-heavy studio tripods, but the MeFoto is very convenient on the road and still feels quite sturdy when set up sensibly. The ball head is useable, but probably not something you would want if you shot a lot of video. The control knobs and be a bit small and I prefer a long arm to help smooth out movements when panning, etc.
I did have one little hiccup with the MeFoto. I came back to the hotel after a sunrise shoot on the Charles Bridge in Prague to find that one of the feet was missing from the tripod. I could still use if for the rest of the trip, but the one “raw” foot was a bit like fingernails on a chalkboard. When I got home, I contacted MeFoto and they pointed me to a set of replacement parts that I could order through B&H. That worked fine, but I thought it was a missed opportunity for them to make some service points had they handled the replacement themselves. No worry. At least now I have a couple extras in my bag should another go missing someday.
For a lightweight travel solution, I’d definitely recommend a MeFoto. If nothing else, it increases my odds of having a tripod with me since it adds little to the weight of my bag.
The gallery below shows just a few of the shots that would have been nearly impossible had I not had a tripod with me. They weren’t all shot on the MeFoto, but they serve to make the point of how a tripod can expand your image repertoire.
