Pro Tripod by Peak Design

[lunaticitizen]

New tripod by Peak Design. I hope it's okay to put a Kickstarter link?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...by-peak-design

What do you think? I used to own their Travel tripod. Two of them in fact, although I donated them to a photo club years ago.

I've been looking for a solid-yet-portable-enough tripod. I was thinking about the combination of Gitzo 1545T and Sirui K-30II ball head before I saw PD's latest news.

I liked the claim that the middle end one (Pro) is as stiff as the acclaimed RRS Versa TVC-24 with a cheaper price tag! Still pricey though

[Manfred M]

I am not going to order another Kickstarter product,

I joined up to get the Benro Theta (Max) in early March 2023. I had figured (based on my own experience in introducing new products into manufacturing), it should have taken about 12 months to get the products into my hands. I had a level of comfort that a company that had been in the business for some time would have delivered (I've owned several Benro products).

It is now June 2025 (27 months later) and I still have no product. I was a relatively early supporter, so should have been one of the earliest people to receive the product. Benro did change its shipping policies mid-stream and had said that the first batches should be shipping to Canada in May of this year.

It's possible that my unit is in this batch, but the communications from Benro have been awful, so I don't know. Regardless, something coming from China should take no more than about 6 weeks to get here (2 weeks to load the ship, 2 weeks to unload and get the goods to the warehouse and about 10 days for the crossing. I would add another week for local processing and shipping to me. Middle to end of July is still my expected ETA date....

I would advise against this Leo, given my experience and wait until Peak Design is showing this product as being in stock before ordering.

[lunaticitizen]

I wanted the Pro Tall one. However, when I looked at the page again it appears that this SKU is "all gone".

After a brief comparison with Gitzo 1545T I realized that the Peak Design Pro Tall tripod's weight is twice of the Gitzo's (without head). So I didn't feel that bad ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've never funded a Kickstarter product before, so thanks for the warning.

Back to the hunt for a new tripod

[LenR]

Hi Leo, I have been using Gitzo tripods for years. I have found them to be well made and durable and have not encountered any issues although they do tend to be on the pricey side.
Although I have no experience with a Kickstarter Project I would be skeptical ......

[DanK]

I use an Oben tripod that cost much less than a Gitzo and a Markins head. Very pleased with both, except that the Markins starts to get stiff in cold temperatures. I haven't kept track of the temperatures, but in winters in New England, I swap it for a cheaper one I had earlier.

With modern cameras, the need for a tripod is a lot less because of the phenomenal image stabilization. I still need one for night photography, of course, but I less often carry one in the daytime than I used to. My R6 II has something like 8 stops of IS, so camera motion is much less of an issue than it used to be.

[lunaticitizen]

Hi Leo, I have been using Gitzo tripods for years. I have found them to be well made and durable and have not encountered any issues although they do tend to be on the pricey side.
Although I have no experience with a Kickstarter Project I would be skeptical ......

Yes, I'd have no concern about any of Gitzo's tripods. I've got a Gitzo Systematic on my wish list

PD is an American-based, reputable company with proven track records when talking about Kickstarter projects. I guess they are still very small and lacking capital needed to make a contract with their manufacturer in China. Maybe that's why they always rely on Kickstarter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lunaticitizen]

I use an Oben tripod that cost much less than a Gitzo and a Markins head. Very pleased with both, except that the Markins starts to get stiff in cold temperatures. I haven't kept track of the temperatures, but in winters in New England, I swap it for a cheaper one I had earlier.

With modern cameras, the need for a tripod is a lot less because of the phenomenal image stabilization. I still need one for night photography, of course, but I less often carry one in the daytime than I used to. My R6 II has something like 8 stops of IS, so camera motion is much less of an issue than it used to be.

I use a tripod to take 'selfies' of myself and the missus a lot. In the past I used a selfie stick with my FF camera, but I never seem to be able to make the contraption stable enough, forcing me to use fast shutter speed.

[Manfred M]

I use a tripod all the time in my work, including when I travel. More than anything, I find it useful when I compose an image, especially when I shoot still life, architecture and landscapes. As Dan has pointed out, even with image stabilization and high ISO, some types of photography require long exposures that can only be done when the camera is supported and immobile.

The head is just as important as the legs, when selecting a tripod, especially when shooting in challenging conditions, as Dan has pointed out. For ball heads, a large diameter ball give better grip than a smaller one.

Gitzo has been in the business for a long time, but right now, I would suggest both Really Right Stuff and Novoflex are generally viewed as being superior to Gitzo. When it comes to specialty heads, I would also add Arca-Swiss to the list, but their equipment is extremely expensive.

[DanK]

Benro just released a series of Novoflex designed heads


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[lunaticitizen]

Unfortunately, RRS products are not carried by any of the big stores here (MapCamera, Yodobashi, Kitamura, etc.).

I'll have to order them directly from either B&H or Amazon US, and since we're talking about gear costing north of $1000, I'll have to pay not only intl. shipping fee but also custom fee.

I have some of their L-plates and replacement lens foot for my telephoto lens though.

Not sure about Novoflex.

[Manfred M]

Unfortunately, RRS products are not carried by any of the big stores here (MapCamera, Yodobashi, Kitamura, etc.).

I'll have to order them directly from either B&H or Amazon US, and since we're talking about gear costing north of $1000, I'll have to pay not only intl. shipping fee but also custom fee.

I have some of their L-plates and replacement lens foot for my telephoto lens though.

Not sure about Novoflex.

RRS do ship internationally (that's what I had to do as none of my local camera stores stock their products either). The same goes for Novoflex and Arca-Swiss. Very few, if any stores stock their products either. This is high end gear and the market is limited to high end amateur and pro photographers.

[lunaticitizen]

The thing is that with Amazon (and maybe B&H, I don't remember) I can choose to let them pay the custom fee for me. The detail of the fee is showed even before I place my orders. If the actual fee is actually cheaper than what I paid in advance, they will automatically give me a refund.

Another reason is that without a local presence I will be forced to send the product back to the US if I ever need post-sales support.

The risk is simply too great. For me, of course, I know a lot of people who use RRS products exclusively, so they do understand the risk and still decided to buy them.

Some local retailers carry Arca Swiss tripod heads. In the past I thought about buying the C1 Cube after I saw it displayed at one of their physical stores here.