As we travel we are constantly exposed to amazing things to capture on photo. Whether it be a landscape or something cultural, great photo opportunities are everywhere. To get certain pictures you need to have the right  gear. A huge part of travel photography is carrying a tripod around. You want something stable and light weight that will fold up as small as possible. This is how I got to the MeFoto tripod series.

Before I decided on the tripod that I wanted I did a lot of research. I wanted to make sure that what I was getting was light weight, small and sturdy. I stumbled upon the MeFoto tripod series and after doing my research I decided to go with the Backpacker version, the smallest and lightest.

Stats:

Model: Mefoto Backpacker

Price: $139.00 USD

First Glance:

The tripod is tiny and you start to question how big it actually gets and if it will hold. A little flip here and there, loosen the legs and you have a full sized tripod. It’s small but it feels sturdy, I also like the use of the colors.

Stability:

I tested my heaviest combination on the tripod first which is my 7D with a 70-300mm lens. There are two leg levels, one straight up and one to get very low to the ground. With the legs straight up you have to be careful with what you put on the tripod, because with a zoom lens, it will tilt forward if you don’t have one of the legs under the lens. When the legs are sprawled out there is no problem as the stability is great at this level, the downside is that you don’t get too much height out of your tripod. My 7D with a 28mm lens had no problem. I still put the leg under the lens just to make sure though. Also, on the bottom of the tripod there is a hook to hang your backpack or a weight which gives the tripod the extra stability you sometimes need.

Portability:

Before getting this tripod I used to question whether or not I needed to take my tripod with me wherever I went. Now that I have the Backpacker it actually fits very nicely into the front pocket of my backpack, hence the name =).

Functionality:

Simply judging from the size you would never imagine all of the types of pictures that you would take with this. The legs can be set to stay close so you can get higher or you can sprawl them out for a low shot. Also included is a hook at the center base of the tripod which allows you to add additional weight to the tripod for more stability. For panoramic video the head of this tripod isn’t that great. It works but you need to practice getting it to move without any chops. If you’re doing a fast pan it works great.

Conclusion:

The Mefoto Backpacker is a great travel tripod. Although you have to be a bit careful when using bigger lenses, the size, weight and price combination of this tripod is unbeatable. Also, if you don’t mind going for something a little bigger I would recommend the MeFoto Roadtrip as it comes with a mono pod and other awesome features. As for the durability of it, judging by my couple of weeks with it, it looks like it will hold up. After a fair amount of use and abuse I will update you guys with how durable they are.

*Which travel tripod are you currently using and how do you like it?