The best travel tripod for 2024: finest lightweight tripods for your camera
The best travel tripods are super-portable camera platforms
Compact size and lightweight build are the name of the best travel tripod game, persuading you to pack one for outdoor adventures rather than leave it at home or in the studio, unlike the best tripods that can be very heavy and unwieldy. All of the models in this guide stand firm for long exposure photography and sharp photos while being small enough to be stowed in your camera bag.
Most options included here are available in aluminium and pricier carbon fibre versions. Because travel tripods are quite small already, the weight saved by using carbon fibre only tends to be about 7oz / 200g so they might not be worth the extra outlay of their aluminium counterparts.
In 2024 there's the question if you need a tripod in the first place. After all, today's best cameras give plenty of reasons to leave the tripod at home, such as excellent high ISO performance and in-body image stablization. But believe us, there's still plenty of reason to fork out for a decent tripod.
We've tested more than our share of tripods over the years, utilizing them almost always while we're testing cameras and lenses – so we know if one offers an incredibly stable shooting and decent value for money. Within this guide we have gathered best travel tripod options you can buy right now and included further buying advice at the end of the guide.
The best travel tripod for 2024
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1. 3 Legged Thing Punks Travis, AirHed Neo Ballhead
Specifications
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From innovative tripod designer 3 Legged Thing, the Punks travel tripod range also includes the diminutive Corey, which folds down to just 35cm and has five leg sections plus a dual-section extending centre column. We prefer the Travis, though, as it has a loftier maximum operating height and with a single-piece centre column and four sections per leg, the thinnest sections are less spindly. Indeed, it has a beefy maximum load rating of 18kg.
Typical of modern travel tripods, the legs swing up for stowage, reducing the folded length to 45cm. One of the legs can be unscrewed and used in conjunction with the detachable centre column to act as a monopod, with a maximum height of 171cm. Build quality is excellent throughout, extending to the AirHed Neo ball head which is included in the kit. A carbon fibre version of the tripod is available, going by the name of Billy, but it’s only 220g lighter in weight and considerably pricier to buy.
2. Manfrotto Element MII
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Manfrotto aims to spoil you for choice with its Element range of travel tripods, which are available in different sizes and colors. They’re also mostly available in either aluminum or carbon fibre, although the ‘MII’ which replaces the Element Big is so far only available in aluminum.
Fundamental changes from the Big include a reduction from five sections per leg to four, which make the tripod more rigid and quicker to set up. More remarkably, it does this with only a 5cm loss in maximum operating height, and barely any greater folded length. A more disappointing change is that you can no longer remove one leg for monopod duty.
Typical of Manfrotto, the ball head works very well and is both quick and easy to operate, although it lacks an adjustable friction damper. The new kits have eye-catching graphics and are available in blue and red options, as well as more traditional black.
3. Gitzo Traveler Series 0 GK0545T-82TQD
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Despite the legs only extending to 133cm, this pays off when you're on the go, as the 36.5cm closed length is the shortest here, and at 1.29kg only the Befree is lighter. Gitzo's four-section Carbon eXact leg tubes manage to defy their slim diameter and stay amazingly stiff, making the 10kg payload rating entirely credible.
The quality and precision of the other components are just as uncompromising. The bundled ball head features separate pan locking, and its 32mm ball diameter is just about large enough to support a full-frame DSLR.
4. Peak Design Travel Tripod
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We’re big fans of the highly capable but expensive aluminium edition of the Peak Design Travel Tripod. It’s pretty pricey, but the carbon fibre version of the kit is considerably more expensive, making it unaffordable for many. In both cases, the same overall design is highly innovative. Swing-up legs are commonplace but, in this tripod, they’re specially shaped to wrap around the centre column, cutting out wasted space to enable a sleeker build.
The head is integral to the tripod, which is another space-saver. Again, it’s noticeably different to what you’re probably used to, but gives a full range of movement with a quick and easy setup. An optional Universal Head Adapter is available if you’d rather use a different head, with or without the centre column. The centre column itself splits in two for ultra-low-level shooting and contains a neat mobile phone mount that attaches to the head. All but the top section of the five-section legs are removable, for conversion to a table-top tripod. Overall, it’s an amazingly versatile tripod that also delivers excellent performance.
5. Vanguard VEO 2 GO 235CB
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With twist clamps aplenty, this new-generation Vanguard travel tripod has five sections in each leg and a dual-section telescopic centre column. Suffice it to say, there’s quite a lot of twisting to be done if you need to elevate the tripod to its maximum operating height of 143cm. On the plus side, it shrinks down to a compact folded length of just 33cm and, helped by its carbon fibre construction, is refreshingly lightweight at a smidge over one kilogram.
For low-level shooting, the tripod shrinks to 33cm but the kit also includes a low-angle adapter which you can swap for the centre column, reducing the minimum height further to 21cm. Although the centre column is detachable, there’s no removable leg for monopod duty. The maximum load rating is a fairly meagre 4kg but the tripod remains fairly rigid even at full stretch, despite the bottom leg sections having a diameter of just 11mm.
6. Manfrotto Befree 3-Way Live Advanced
Specifications
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The vast majority of current travel tripod kits come with a ball head, which makes this Manfrotto something of a rarity, with its more conventional three-way head. It, therefore, has independent locking handles for both tilt and swivel functions, along with a locking knob for panning. You’d normally expect protruding handles that spoil the streamlined form factor for compact stowage, but they fold in nice and tight, and the legs still swing up so that the feet encircle the head.
Unlike most three-way heads, this one is designed with both photographers and videographers in mind. The head features Manfrotto’s ‘fluid drag system’, which enables smooth control for both panning and tilt movements. The inclusion of three spirit levels helps to keep everything on the level. The tripod itself has four-section legs with flip locks, and a single-section centre column but none of the legs can be removed for use as a monopod. Resistance to flexing and vibration is also pretty impressive, especially for a lightweight aluminum tripod.
How to choose
What to look for in a travel tripod
Choosing the best travel tripod isn't just about selecting the smallest and lightest model. Indeed, picking the lightest legs isn't always the best plan. Marginally heavier alternatives won't be a noticeable burden, but they can provide much more rigidity and versatility.
Most of these tripods use a carbon fiber construction to save weight, but this ups the price. Some models also have aluminum counterparts. Each includes a compact ball head, but check carefully: a ball that's too small for a larger DSLR will become a precarious balancing act.
What makes a travel tripod
A neat trick shared by the vast majority of current tripods is that the legs swing fully upwards for stowage. The idea is that you first extend the centre column, then swing the legs up, so that the tripod’s feet end up encircling the head. This reduces the overall carrying length by up to 10cm or 4 inches. Indeed, many of the best travel tripods shrink down to about 30-40cm, making them small enough to fit inside a camera bag or rucksack, rather than needing to be tethered to the outside causing your bag to be unbalanced.
To give them a useful operating height, despite their small carrying size, most travel tripods feature four or even five telescopic sections per leg. Some go further still, with a two-section extending centre column. This naturally enables a greater maximum operating height, so you can be sure no matter how high your camera needs to be it will be able to get the shot you want.
The drawbacks are that each telescoping joint is an area of potential weakness, reducing rigidity, and the bottom leg sections are likely to be quite thin and spindly. A large number of twist or clip locks for all the sections also demands more time for setting up the tripod and folding it down again.
Do I even need a tripod?
Today's very best mirrorless cameras and computational photography modes especially in smartphones and the OM System OM-1 that go a long way to eliminating the need for a tripod. We list 5 reasons why photographers no longer need a tripod that includes super-effective in-body image stablization for handheld shooting even with professional high-resolution cameras, in-camera HDR modes so you no longer need to do multi-shot exposure stacking, plus improved image quality at high ISOs.
However, there are times and photography effects that still require a tripod. Tripods can be crucial for studio photography and for video work in general where you can lock off the camera in position for long periods and free up your hands. The same goes for long exposure photography, staging group photos, plus the times you need free hands to attach or remove accessories from your camera, like lens filters and mics.
Significant advances in camera tech have put the once necessary photography accessory under threat, but there will still be a place for tripods for a long time yet.
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Tim is the Cameras editor at TechRadar. He has enjoyed more than 15 years in the photo video industry with most of those in the world of tech journalism. During his time as Deputy Technical Editor with Amateur Photographer, as a freelancer and consequently editor at Tech Radar, Tim has developed a deeply technical knowledge and practical experience with cameras, educating others through news, reviews and features. He’s also worked in video production for Studio 44 with clients including Canon, and volunteers his spare time to consult a non-profit, diverse stories team based in Nairobi. Tim is curious, a keen creative, avid footballer and runner, and moderate flat white drinker who has lived in Kenya and believes we have much to enjoy and learn from each other.
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