SiruiCarbon Fiber Tripod Lightweight 2lbs with Panoramic Fluid Head, 59.8” Compact Camera Tripod Quick Release Leg Setup, Reversible Center Column, Reverse Folding Legs, Max Load 11lbs - Traveler X

So far so good. Extremely light weight. Great stability for my Vortex 20x60x80 spotting scope. Highly adjustable.

Honestly I didn't expect this to be much of a tripod, just needed something last minute to use on a gig after my tried and true tripod broke unexpectedly. Let me tell you this tripod is pretty awesome. It collapses down so much and was so easy to expand. Held my camera equipment well on set and just performed. I really thought this was gonna be a return item but I still use it and very happy with the purchase.

I bought a different tripod when I first started photography. It was heavy and I gave up on owning tripods in general because I couldn't see myself hiking with that much added weight. This one by contrast is amazingly light. I can easily move it around with one hand. Some reviews mentioned the head isn't entirely smooth. That does seem to be the case. I can feel something clicking if I try to aim up. However, while that may affect pano and video, the clicking is extremely subtle and doesn't affect positioning camera for still shots at all. Amazing tripod all around. If you're dissuaded from owning tripods because of bad experiences with other tripods, I'd highly recommend trying this out before giving up.

This tripod comes with two, actually 3, different head choices. My review is for the traveler X tripod with AT-10 fluid video head.The first thing I noticed is the arm has to be unscrewed and rotated to position. Unlike the heads I had with the arm, the arm does not used to loosen or tighten the motion. Also, in position, the arm prevents the legs from folding completely as it was received. But it does fold enough to barely for the carry case.The next thing I realized is there is no way to flip the camera to the portrait orientation. When the information mentions vertical, it means the ability to aim upwards.If you want this tripod with the ability to aim the camera in portrait orientation, get the Traveler X-III. It has a ball head and you can orient the camera in any position.I happen to have a small ball head for my monopod which works on this tripod. The one I have made this tripod assembly even more lighter.I have not decided which head I will be using on this. I rarely take portrait photos with a tripod when traveling. I will carry the small ball head just in case. I personally do no like the ball heads.As for the tripod, I really like the light weight and small package. The twist lock seem easy to use if you are extending the tripod completely since it takes four audible clicks when turning the foot to unlock all 4 sections. If you want to set the tripod less than full extension, it is not as easy since you don’t know which section gets unlocked with less than 4 clicks. When I tried 2 clicks, one legs unlocked different section and results in the tripod being unlevel. You have to always unlock all sections.I really do not know how durable this tripod locking mechanism would be in the long term. To make it last, I will only use this when traveling since I have other heavier and durable tripods.I believe to make a perfect tripod, it would definitely be much more heavier and expensive than this. Life is full of compromises.If your main priority is light and compact tripod for traveling, choose this model with the head you prefer.

If you, like me, are shopping lightweight tripods for backpacking or other weight-critical uses, you might be interested to know how close this comes to the claimed 750g weight. It weighs 950g on my scale. Replacing the fluid head with a small ball head gets it down to 865g. ditch the center column extension and you can get it down further to 825g with a 51" working height. This is lighter than my older Sirui T-005KX travel tripod, which weighs in at 925g with the same ball head and also with a center column deletion. That tripod also had a working height of only 40" with the center column removed.This one is faster to deploy/pack up than the older one with a twist lock on each leg segment. I hope the mechanism holds up in time. Two of the twist locks on my T-005KX are broken.If you really want to prioritize light weight, the ultra-cheap Amazon Basics tripod weighs 585g on the same scale. But that tripod feels MUCH flimsier and poorer build quality.In the end, this is my favorite option for a travel or backpacking tripod. Even if it doesn't quite meet the claimed weight goal, it does strike a good balance of weight, working height, and build quality.

As with my other SIRUI carbon tri- & mono- pods, well made. Nice light weight damped head. But the bracket is designed for a SIRUI ARCA sort of plate so some of my standard ARCA plates fit and others don't. The bracket has a unique pressure clamping mechanism. The factory quickly responded to my email to say that it is designed only for the included SIRUI plate TY-70A, not standard ARCA plates. Seems to me to be pretty dumb!UPDATE: In addition to very well manufactured tri- & mono- pods, this is one heck of a responsible and customer oriented company. A couple of days after my review, Sirui reached out to me to rectify this situation. Also I took a closer look at my many "ARCA" plates. Although they all have a 45 degree 'wedge' to engage the complementary inverse wedge of the bracket, the height of the 'vertical' segment from the base to the start of the wedge is not consistent between manufacturers. This does not matter when the bracket has a thumb-screw for tightening, but with a "self adjusting" or unadjustable lever mechanism, those ARCA compatible plates with a short height (~1mm) might be loose whereas the seems to be more common height (~3mm) might be too tight.

This is a great tripod. Everything about it rocks. I used it on a mule deer hunt in Idaho and the only complaint is that I wish it was a little taller for standing and glassing up hill. Downhill was fine (in a shorter guy) and sitting was fine too. Other than that. No problems 👍