Peak Design Travel Tripod, Carbon Fiber, Compact Design, Quick Setup and Takedown, Pro-Level Stability, Ergonomic Ball Head, Compact and Portable Travel Tripod for Camera and Phone, 20 lb Capacity

Why did you pick this product vs others?:Looking for a lightweight telescope tripod that collapses to a length that will comfortably fit in a standard airline carry-on bag, i.e., not greater than 22 inches in length; with a good reputation.Length:​Not greater than 22 inches collapsed.Adjustment ability:Needed to be expandable to be useful to a person 6 feet in height. Wanted one with folding leg locks rather than twisting leg locks.Sturdiness:Needed to be able to support a telescope weighing 2 kilograms or somewhat over 4 pounds.Tested the tripod in our local camera store but they only had a demonstration version, so purchased through Amazon. Arrived in a timely fashion intact in new condition. Setting it up was trivial -- the scope I have (Swarovski ATX 85mm) came with an inset screw that allowed matching the tripod head (3/8") to the scope mount (1/4").As others have noted: the plate that attaches to the scope to mount to the tripod head needs to be screwed down tight but still tends to loosen over time; I finally got it screwed down tight enough that it remained adequately immobile. As others have noted: you want to keep that hex wrench they provide handy in case you do need to retighten -- it has a little mount on one of the tripod legs, but I found I kept knocking it off in moving the scope around and taking it in and out of the car, so I ended up carrying it in my pocket whenever we used the scope.The scope is adequately sturdy, even in a reasonable wind, but there is definitely some compromise that makes the scope so lightweight -- it feels like it wants to move a little, but it really sits pretty well, especially if you don't extend the centerpiece to its full height. I'm not sure I'd recommend this tripod for someone taller than 6 feet 6 inches or so unless they're comfortable crouching down a little, but for me (5 feet 10 inches-ish and shrinking) the height extent is just fine.You do need to be careful (as with folding leg logs on any tripod) to make sure you clamp them down securely when the legs are extended -- the tripod is so light that it's easy for it to tip over if the legs aren't locked down tight, taking your expensive optics with it.One issue we found, partly peculiar to our use, is that the supplied ball head takes both hands to adjust (simultaneously, really, including locking in place) and is not a particularly good match if you are tracking quickly or frequently moving objects. We use the scope/tripod system for bird watching, and those little stinkers do not like to sit still. As such, the three-dimensional adjustment is troublesome when what we really need is something more in the "pitch-and-rotate-in-plane" (or tilt-and-pan) mode. I contacted Peak Design with this issue and they were quick to reply with suggestions for improvement/replacement. We ended up getting their "universal adapter" (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084Q9PY4S?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title) and purchasing a tilt-and-pan head. Peak Design also pointed us to one of their videos for how to remove the existing ball head and install the new universal adapter and new head -- the video was excellent -- with clear instructions including visually walking through the process; when I did it everything worked as indicated.As others have also noted: the travel bag the tripod comes in is just a wee bit too short to be worthy of five stars; everything else is so well thought out and implemented that it's a bit puzzling that they didn't add that extra half-inch to the bag's length to make it easy to put everything in. Not enough to reduce the overall product score, but a definite shame that this aspect isn't as stellar as the rest.I've communicated with Peak Design a number of times (via their website and then email -- unfortunately I could not find a contact phone number), and their communications have been responsive, understandable, and supportive -- if you've struggled with customer support in modern times you'll appreciate how well they do it.

This is my second Peak Design Travel Tripod. The first one was apparently so nice that an unnamed TSA agent decided it would be better off in his possession than mine. That said, it was such a well designed tripod that I was willing to purchase a replacement immediately, which says a lot considering the price of this thing. It's not cheap, but its worth the cost to me.First, it's important to understand what this thing really is. It's not the most stable tripod in the work. There are much heavier sturdier tripods that are great for studio work, or if you don't mind lugging something four times heavier around with you. However, I have yet to find anything even close to as sturdy as this item is that is as easy to carry with you, or that is so well designed. This extends all the way down to the travel case for the tripod, which is a little padded fabric sleeve that keeps the tripod protected without adding an ounce more weight than necessary, and has handy attachment points for clipping to whatever other gear you have.Collapsed, the tripod is small and maybe more importantly well balanced. Its not overly top heavy or awkward to carry. It fits in water bottle pockets on backpacks (top will extend out, of course, good to have a strap too). Personally I usually clip it to the bottom of whatever pack I'm using using the reinforced loops on the travel pouch.In use the tripod is great. Its sturdy and very adjustable. Stability is greatly enhanced by hanging your backpack or other item from the hook on the center post, but even without that I had no issues and I use some pretty big lenses. Again, there are sturdier tripods, but this is meant for travel and easy carry, and considering how light it is I'm very impressed with the stability.The swivel mount is also well designed, but be aware it's different from a typical ball-mount tripod head. It has a lot of adjustability, and I really like using it once I got comfortable with it. But I'm not sure it's quite as adjustable as my Sirui. It's possible to mount a third party head on this tripod, but that requires the Universal Head Adapter from Peak Design, an additional purchase.Finally, there are a few additional nice touches with this tripod. It has a built-in mobile phone adapter. Yes, I'm guessing most people buying this tripod have "real" cameras to use with it, but it's a nice touch, and there are some uses for being able to easily mount your phone at times. It also has built in storage for the only tool you need for adjustments, a little allen wrench. The head is reversable, so you can actually mount your camera between the legs to get a really low shot.All in all, it's the best portable tripod I've found, and I've looked around a lot.