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By Erin Roberts, Arriana Vasquez and Phil Ryan camera mobile tripod
After a new round of testing, we’ve added the iFootage Cobra 2 A180-II monopod as an Other Good pick.
Many of today’s cameras and lenses come with truly impressive image stabilization built right in, but there are always occasions—such as time-lapse or macro photography—when it makes sense to put your camera on a tripod. After spending 60 hours researching tripods and 30 hours testing 16 of the most promising models, we found the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AB100 kit to be the sturdiest platform for challenging shooting situations. It has the tallest maximum height among the tripods we tested, and it’s very stable. It’s also easy to set up and break down, and built to withstand years of use.
This stable, easy-to-use, and versatile tripod has an angling center column. It gets taller and has more leg-angle positions than the other models we tested.
Smaller and lighter than our top pick, this tripod can also support two devices at once. But it’s a little less stable and slightly more expensive.
This tripod doesn’t have an angled center column, but it’s quite sturdy, designed with a greater load capacity than any of our other picks, and (most important) waterproof.
The Element MII goes from backpack-sized to tall smoothly and quickly, and it provides sturdy support at a price lower than that of our other picks.
This monopod is strong and stable, perfect if you like shooting subjects that require you to stay on the move.
If you need a more specific kind of support for certain shooting situations, we also have picks for people who dual-wield cameras, those who frequently shoot sports or wildlife, photographers who work in wet conditions, and frequent travelers. But all of the picks in this guide are geared toward full-size cameras. If you’re looking for a tripod for a smartphone, try our guide to the best tripod for iPhones and other smartphones.
This stable, easy-to-use, and versatile tripod has an angling center column. It gets taller and has more leg-angle positions than the other models we tested.
The Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AB100 offers the best balance of size and stability of all the tripods we tested. It gets taller than any of our other picks (68.2 inches at maximum height), its legs can splay outward at four angles, and its angling center column lets you position your camera as low to the ground as you want. This combination means you can find a stable shooting position on all kinds of surfaces, whether the camera is up high or down low. The included ball head (the part that connects the camera to the tripod legs and allows adjustments to the camera’s position) is better than what you usually find bundled with tripods in this price range; it adjusts smoothly, locks down solidly, and has a quick-release plate for you to easily attach and detach the camera. With a 15.5-pound weight limit, this tripod is more than strong enough for any of the camera-and-lens combinations we recommend.
Smaller and lighter than our top pick, this tripod can also support two devices at once. But it’s a little less stable and slightly more expensive.
If you’re more of an on-the-go type of shooter, or if you like to shoot with two stabilized cameras at the same time, the Vanguard VEO 3T+ 234AB is the tripod for you. It’s smaller and lighter than our pick and has all the same features, including a multi-angle center column. In addition, it comes with an adapter that lets you mount a second camera to the center column when it’s in the horizontal position, so you can shoot with two devices at once.
This tripod doesn’t have an angled center column, but it’s quite sturdy, designed with a greater load capacity than any of our other picks, and (most important) waterproof.
If you plan to submerge your tripod in water on a regular basis, Sirui’s W-1004K10 Tripod Kit River Runner is worth paying more for, since it’s designed to keep dirt or sand from mucking up any sliding parts. Solidly built and easy to set up, the W-1004K10 has a ball head that adjusts smoothly, and its impressive 33.1-pound load capacity means that even if you rent a huge lens for a once-in-a-lifetime nature vacation, the W-1004K10 can handle it. It doesn’t have a tilting center column like our other picks, but you probably won’t miss that feature when you’re waist deep in a lake.
The Element MII goes from backpack-sized to tall smoothly and quickly, and it provides sturdy support at a price lower than that of our other picks.
Manfrotto’s Element MII is an ideal travel tripod because it offers ample height and support in a highly portable package. Capable of collapsing to just 16.7 inches long and weighing a mere 3.4 pounds, it can nevertheless extend to a maximum height of just over 62.9 inches and support up to 17.6 pounds of gear. It was one of the most stable travel tripods we tested, yet it also costs less than much of the competition. The Element MII has other key features we seek in a travel tripod, such as easy-to-use twist leg locks and smooth and simple control of the ball head. It even has some nifty extras, including two bubble levels to help keep perspectives straight.
This monopod is strong and stable, perfect if you like shooting subjects that require you to stay on the move.
If you’re into shooting birds and other wildlife, or if you like to capture fast-moving sports, a tripod might just get in your way. What you need in that situation is a monopod, and the Sirui P-204SR is our favorite monopod because it’s tall, strong, and adaptable. The removable base features three sturdy feet that provide great stability when equipment is mounted, and this monopod can even become a tabletop tripod with an included accessory. With the base attached, the P-204SR stands 63.5 inches tall, and without the base it’s still a respectable 57.9 inches.
Arriana Vasquez has been doing both professional and hobbyist photography for over 10 years and worked for three years as a camera specialist at several camera stores in New York City. Her work ranges from fashion to nature and street photography. She has also contributed to Wirecutter’s guides to instant cameras, tripods for smartphones, and portable document scanners.
Erin Lodi is a photojournalist, writer, and professional photographer, and has a wide range of experience researching, testing, and writing about photography trends, techniques, and tools—including in her role as mobile-imaging editor at DPReview, the most popular camera review site on the web. She has been reporting on travel tripods for this guide since 2014, testing dozens of models and measuring performance in a variety of climates and situations.
Even with the image-stabilization systems built into many modern cameras and lenses, when you’re using slower shutter speeds, the slightest movement of the camera can result in blurry pictures. If you shoot a lot in the following situations, using a tripod will let you get shots that would otherwise be very difficult or even impossible to capture:
We’ve seen plenty of cheap tripods, but in general we’ve found that sub-$100 models are made with poor-quality materials, have less height adjustability, and are more difficult to set up properly. They might seem like a good value if you’re on a tight budget, but in reality your cheap tripod is more likely to break after a year of use (or sooner), meaning you’ll have to spend another $100 for a replacement. Our experience tells us that to get a truly solid, versatile, reliable, and full-featured tripod, you probably should spend around $150 or more.
Even with the image-stabilization systems built into many modern cameras and lenses, when you’re using slower shutter speeds, the slightest movement of the camera can result in blurry pictures.
But there’s also an upper limit to how much most people should spend on a tripod. While carbon-fiber models are slightly lighter than their metal counterparts, they are also far more expensive. Case in point: You’d have to spend an extra $70 to get the carbon-fiber version of our top pick, and doing so would save you only about 9 ounces.
With that in mind, we focused on quality aluminum models. To narrow things further, we looked at the following factors:
Between previous versions of this guide and the most recent 2024 update, we’ve considered approximately 65 tripods and tested 16. The list includes:
We also considered 5 monopods and tested 4. Those include:
Stability is the main objective when you’re using a tripod, so we mounted different camera-and-lens combinations to each tripod model to make sure it stayed steady with various setups and on different surfaces, including hardwood and carpeted floors indoors, as well as cement pavement, grass, and other uneven terrain outdoors. We purposefully used gear that was bulkier and heavier than the cameras and lenses we recommend in our guides, including the Nikon D5 and Z5 and Sony α6600 cameras with various lenses. The longest and heaviest lenses we used were the Nikkor 24–70mm f/4 lens and the Sigma 150–600mm f/5–6.3 lens.
We evaluated how easy it was to operate each tripod by setting up and closing down the legs and checking the leg-lock mechanisms. We checked the stability of the ball head, whether it moved when it was supposed to be locked, and how smoothly and evenly it moved when unlocked. We also examined each tripod’s build quality and made sure that the different parts didn’t get in the way of one another when in use.
Finally, we tested any special features; if a model had a movable center column, for example, we angled it into different positions.
This stable, easy-to-use, and versatile tripod has an angling center column. It gets taller and has more leg-angle positions than the other models we tested.
The Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AB100 offers the best combination of stability and height of the tripods we tested. It has the tallest maximum height (68.2 inches), its legs can angle outward at four angles (most models offer only three) to bring the camera closer to the ground, and its angling center column lets you position the camera in a multitude of ways when you’ve set the tripod at any one of those leg angles. Although it’s a little heavier and longer than some other models when collapsed, its added weight and height increase its stability and versatility, and it’s still small and light enough to carry around for a day’s shooting.
The Alta Pro 2+ is rated to support up to 15.4 pounds. In our testing, it was very stable, even when we mounted pro-level gear that was heavier than any of the cameras and lenses we recommend in our guides. Each leg has three extendable segments, and although we experienced some wobbliness in the lowest segment when the legs were fully extended, it wasn’t enough to negatively affect our picture taking and was typical of all the tripods we tested when they were at full height. When the center column is fully extended, the Alta Pro 2+’s height (not including the head) is about 68.2 inches, the tallest of the tripods we tested, so it’s easier for taller photographers (anyone above the average height of 5 feet 6 inches) to use without having to stoop much. (With the center column collapsed, the maximum height is about 57 inches.) Although the center column is relatively stable when extended, keep in mind that all tripods are most stable when you have the center column lowered flush against the top of the legs.
Setting up the Alta Pro 2+ is quick and easy: Just turn the two twist locks on each leg—they unlock with a simple quarter-turn—and then tilt the legs down so that they slide to full extension. You lock the legs with a similar turn in the opposite direction. We like the nice feel of the textured grips on the locks.
Those three-section legs offer four angles relative to the center column: 20, 40, 60, and 80 degrees (most tripods offer only three angles). That gives you more versatility in terms of both lower height and the ability to adapt to uneven surfaces. The angles are marked at the top of the legs, and the legs ratchet into place so you can hear and feel when they’re in position. With the legs at the 80-degree position, the tripod is almost level to the ground; this position is perfect for low-angle and macro shots, especially in combination with the tripod’s multi-angle center column. A bubble level helps you ensure that the tripod is level even if the legs are extended to different angles.
It’s easy to put the Alta Pro 2+’s center column into multiple positions: You just turn a couple of knobs, lift the center column (it automatically stops when fully extended, so it won’t come all the way out in your hand), and angle it to whatever position you want. The hexagonal column won’t twist when extending or retracting, making angled work easier. However, although this column is generally stable in its angled position, even when horizontal, be sure to check the balance: If the center column is positioned too far to one side, the weight of the camera and lens can cause the entire tripod to tilt over and fall—a law of physics that applies to any tripod with a multi-angle center column.
The included ball head and quick-release plate also work well. The ball head moved smoothly when we adjusted it, and it locked solidly into place. It has its own bubble level (to supplement the one on the legs), as well as a rotation gauge at the base of the head to help you duplicate panning positions when you’re shooting multiple images to stitch into a panorama later.
We also like the overall build quality of the tripod—none of the pieces seemed to be straining substantially even when we subjected them to heavy camera-and-lens combinations. The smoothness of the sliding parts was impressive, too. The Alta Pro 2+ feels like it will last a long time, and it comes with a two-year warranty.
In addition to the ball head and the quick-release plate, the Alta Pro 2+ 263AB100 kit comes with Allen wrenches in case you need to swap out the head or replace a broken leg, as well as a carry bag with a shoulder strap. The bag isn’t as well made as those that accompany some other tripods we’ve tested, but it’s good enough for moving your tripod from one place to another.
Of the tripods we tested, the Alta Pro 2+ is one of the heaviest, at 5.3 pounds, and one of the longest, at 29 inches, when fully collapsed. If you’re hiking in the woods or traveling on a plane or train, you have smaller and lighter options (including our pick for travel tripods, or even our also-great pick). But this Vanguard model’s weight helps provide stability, and its added height makes it more versatile—we think these are reasonable trade-offs for a full-size tripod.
Unlike the previous Alta Pro model, our former top pick, the Alta Pro 2+ has angled rubber feet instead of round rubber feet with retractable spikes; spiked feet are now an optional purchase. The rubber feet of the Alta Pro 2+ work well on uneven terrain, but we felt them slide a few times when we were shooting indoors on wooden floors.
Unlike some tripods, the Alta Pro 2+ has no hook at the bottom of the center column to hang a camera bag or other weight to stabilize the tripod. Instead it has a small canopy-suspension loop on the bubble level. The loop is very small, and we wouldn’t trust it to hold anything of measurable weight, but Vanguard makes a stone bag accessory that you can attach to the legs to add weight.
Some reviews on Amazon refer to issues with the Alta Pro 2+’s center column either coming off entirely when the owner is trying to angle it or not being able to tighten in place completely, but we didn’t encounter this problem in our testing. When we reached out to Vanguard, representatives explained that this happened because some units that were meant as photo samples accidentally ended up distributed for sale; the reps said it shouldn’t be a problem going forward, and we will be keeping an eye on this issue in long-term testing.
Smaller and lighter than our top pick, this tripod can also support two devices at once. But it’s a little less stable and slightly more expensive.
Whereas the Alta Pro 2+ is a great all-around tripod for most photographers in most situations, we think the Vanguard VEO 3T+ 234AB is a good alternative for people who like to shoot with multiple cameras or are frequently on the move. That’s because while the VEO 3T+ 234AB shares all the features we enjoy about the Alta Pro 2+, it's also lighter, smaller, designed with more flexible legs, and packaged with an additional accessory (the VEO+ MA1 adapter) that lets you mount an extra device, such as a second camera or a smartphone, to the center column. If you can live with its sole con—a shorter maximum height—those are some compelling pros.
At its maximum height, the VEO 3T+ 234AB stands 57.48 inches tall, about 10 inches shorter than our top pick but still tall enough to keep most people from hunching over when shooting. Each leg has three sections that extend easily yet feel solid once you tighten the twist locks. The legs have three easy-set angles, but they can also invert up to 108 degrees. This represents a notable advantage over the Alta Pro 2+, whose legs can adjust only up to 80 degrees. And when fully collapsed, the VEO 3T+ 234AB measures 18 inches long, some 11 inches less than the Alta Pro 2+; in other words, what you lose in maximum height you gain in portability.
The VEO 3T+ 234AB offers a multi-angle center column that allows you to position the column (and the ball head) at various horizontal and tilted angles. Again, this design is great for otherwise challenging overhead and low-angle shots, and it’s especially helpful for capturing macro images. In addition to offering the multi-angle column, the VEO 3T+ 234AB can convert to a monopod—you simply remove one of the legs and mount the center column on top of it. The tripod includes spiked feet, though you have to switch them out with the default rubber feet whenever you want to use them.
This tripod can handle loads of up to 22 pounds, or about 6.5 pounds more than our top pick. As with all the other tripods we tested, we saw a slight bit of movement when we mounted a Sony α6600 with a Sigma 100–400mm zoom lens and fully extended the center column. There is an optional hook you can screw into the bottom of the center column that lets you hang a camera bag or other weight to help stabilize the unit (though you’ll need to remove this piece if you want to use the VEO 3T+ 234AB as a monopod).
The VEO 3T+ 234AB comes with the Arca-Swiss–compatible VEO BH-110S dual-axis ball head, which we found to be stable and secure during testing. The BH-110S also worked great with our Peak Design plate, locking in just as solidly as it did with the plate that comes with the ball head. Additionally, the VEO 3T+ 234AB includes a second mounting adapter, the VEO+ MA1, that you can use when you’ve set the center column to a horizontal position. It easily slides onto the other end of the center column and locks into place with a quick-release lever. The VEO+ MA1 offers a standard ¼-inch tripod screw to mount a second camera, a smartphone (using a smartphone tripod mount), or an action camera such as a GoPro.
This tripod doesn’t have an angled center column, but it’s quite sturdy, designed with a greater load capacity than any of our other picks, and (most important) waterproof.
If you plan to shoot with your tripod partially submerged in water or mud, the Sirui W-1004K10 Tripod Kit River Runner is worth spending more on for the peace of mind it can provide. Although all our tripod picks can stand up to the rain, waterproof tripods do a better job of keeping the dirt and sand from rivers and lakes out of the joints, which can destroy any sliding or moving parts. This waterproof tripod from Sirui (pronounced “sue-ray”) has comfortable controls and is well built and stable. It can’t match the height of the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+, and it doesn’t have the angling center column of either of our Vanguard picks, but it is the best tripod for fans of aquatic subjects.
The W-1004K10 provides very good stability, with a load capacity up to 33.1 pounds. The tripod weighs just 4.2 pounds and folds up to a compact 19.3 inches for travel. With the center column fully extended (which, as we noted above, sacrifices some stability), it reaches a height of 65 inches; with the column lowered, 53.5 inches.
From its four-section legs to the bundled ball head, the W-1004K10 looks and feels solidly constructed. Whether you’re extending the legs after releasing the twist locks or adjusting the angle of the ball head, the movements are smooth. This is especially true of the excellent ball head, which has separate controls for panning and locking, as well as a friction knob to adjust the tension on the control movement. It also has three bubble levels—in addition to the bubble level on the tripod itself—for photographers who need extremely accurate placement.
The tripod is waterproof up to the top of its foam grips, so you can step right into a river, lake, or ocean to get a shot. Those waterproof seals also mean that the W-1004K10 is protected from the dirt and sand you might encounter on your outdoor adventure. You can easily swap the stock rubber feet with the bundled spiked feet, and you can remove one of the tripod’s legs to convert it into a waterproof monopod. As with the VEO 3T+ 234AB, a hook on the center column lets you hang a camera bag or other weights to help stabilize the tripod. The bundled carry bag is well constructed, just like the rest of the kit.
Unlike our other picks from Vanguard, this Sirui tripod does not offer a multi-angle center column. This omission can make macro work more difficult, but it’s an acceptable trade-off if you need the W-1004K10’s waterproof design.
Because the W-1004K10 has four-segment legs, the last section of each leg is a little thin, so you give up a bit of stability when you fully extend all the legs. This drawback is common for four-segment legs, but it’s still something to be aware of.
The Element MII goes from backpack-sized to tall smoothly and quickly, and it provides sturdy support at a price lower than that of our other picks.
If you plan to bring a tripod with you when you go hiking or on a vacation, you should consider a travel tripod that packs down small and won’t weigh you down too much. The moderately priced Manfrotto Element MII is both small and tall—able to unfold from a collapsed height of 16.7 inches to a maximum height of just over 62.9 inches. The Element MII was one of the most stable travel models we tested; although its three leg sections end in a narrow circumference, overall it felt just as stable as the Vanguard VEO 3T+ 234AB.
At 3.4 pounds, the Element MII weighs almost 2 pounds less than the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+ 263AB100, but it can handle even more load with a rating of 17.6 pounds—equivalent to far more gear than most people would ever need to support at once while traveling.
The Element MII features smooth twist leg locks with plenty of grip, as well as three leg-angle locks that snap into place and release with a simple push. Two knobs control panning and ball head rotation, and they work smoothly with secure tension. Two bubble levels help keep both your horizon level and your vertical alignment correct. You can also remove one leg and attach it to the ball head for use as a monopod.
The Arca-Swiss–style mount looks small, but in our tests it easily accommodated a Nikon Z5 camera with a 24–70mm f/4 lens. The mount includes a tiny handle that works great in a pinch if you don’t have an Allen wrench or a coin handy to tighten the plate to the camera.
The Element MII’s slightly spiked small rubber feet offer plenty of grip, as well. Optional rubber spikes are included in the bag with the tripod. Thankfully, the entire package is small enough to tuck into most backpacks or large bags.
Like many tripods, the Element MII uses twist leg locks. Although we prefer these to the flip kind for travel tripods—because they help keep the overall aesthetic sleek and are less likely to snag—they come with potential problems, too. Resist the temptation to over-loosen twist locks. It takes only a slight turn to loosen them; much more than that, and you may unintentionally discover that the legs are a bit tricky to put back together. Once they’re extended, also be sure to firmly tighten the twist leg locks. Unlike with flip leg locks, with twist leg locks it’s harder to tell whether they’re completely secured; use your hand to double-check.
Like most tripods in this category, the Element MII comes with a drawstring bag that you’ll likely end up discarding. There’s not much advantage to using a dedicated bag, as opposed to just tucking the tripod into a backpack or attaching it to a bag you’re already using in your travels.
This monopod is strong and stable, perfect if you like shooting subjects that require you to stay on the move.
If you often shoot subjects that keep you on the move—such as wildlife or sports that require a lot of panning—you may prefer the lightweight freedom of a monopod over a tripod. The Sirui P-204SR is tall, strong, and adaptable to almost any situation, which makes it our favorite general-purpose monopod. It has large, comfortable, rubberized twist locks for extending and retracting its three sections. It weighs just 3.3 pounds but can hold up to 17.6 pounds of equipment—more than our top tripod pick. In testing, it handled everything we mounted on it with ease, including a 4.5-pound Sony α6600 camera with a Sigma 100–400mm zoom lens.
The P-204SR features a removable base that can tilt up to 20 degrees. With the base, the monopod stands 63.5 inches tall; without the base, it reaches 57.9 inches. The base of the P-204SR had the largest feet of any of the monopods we tested, which gave it extra stability. Even when fully extended, it stood solidly with a Nikon Z5 camera and 24–70mm f/4 lens attached. Both rubber and spiked feet are included. One additional feature we love about this monopod is that the base, once you remove it from the body, can double as a small tripod (similar to the Manfrotto Pixi) with the help of an included accessory.
This monopod doesn't come with a ball head, but the screw mount is reversible, meaning it has two thread sizes—one for cameras and one for tripod heads, so you can mount one if you want. In our testing we found that the tilting base gave us enough leeway to get most shots but not all. We definitely recommend a ball head if you’re into bird photography, since it’s much easier to angle only the camera upward instead of leaning the whole monopod backward. We tried the Benro BH00 ball head (which we discuss below) with the P-204SR, and it worked great.
The best way to live a sustainable lifestyle is to create less waste, and a great way to create less waste is to invest in equipment that is made to last, repairable, and covered by a dependable warranty. As we state in How we picked, a solid warranty was one thing we looked for when deciding which tripods to test. All of the picks in this guide also come with an Allen key so you can retighten the legs as they come loose from use.
Although it might be tempting to pick up a cheaper tripod, such models are often made from low-grade plastic that you cannot tighten over time, and that you cannot repair if a part should break or crack. If you need a tripod and don’t have the budget to invest in one that’ll last, try searching sites such as Craigslist, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace to see if other photographers are selling used but high-quality tripods at a discount.
If you currently own a tripod but are looking to upgrade, selling or giving away your old equipment is a great way to help others and keep excess materials out of landfills. If you have a tripod that’s not in good-enough condition to pass along, consider upcycling it.
If you need a cheaper tripod and don’t mind giving up a little stability and usability: The Benro SystemGo Plus FGP18A is simple to set up, solidly built, and only 3.9 pounds. It’s significantly lighter than our 5.3-pound top pick, and in its most compact configuration, it’s also noticeably smaller—18 inches versus the Vanguard Alta Pro 2+’s 29 inches. Despite its lightweight design, this tripod is well made and sturdy-feeling. And like the Alta Pro 2+, the FGP18A offers a multi-angle center column that you can position at various horizontal and tilted angles.
However, Benro doesn’t offer a package with a ball head, so you have to pick one up separately if you don’t already own one. We tested and recommend the company’s BH00 single-action ball head as a solid, inexpensive option. It has a snap-in quick-release plate that’s comparable to what you get with other tripods at this price.
The combination of the Benro SystemGo Plus FGP18A and BH00 ball head isn’t quite as stable as our top pick, especially when extended to maximum height, and this tripod’s adjustment knobs aren’t as easy to use. We found that the FGP18A’s center-column angle-adjustment knob was tight and difficult to move into position. And the knobs—including the center column’s height and pan-control locking knobs—could end up blocking each other depending on how we positioned them. But if you can live with those quirks, it’s a fine all-around choice.
If you want a monopod with its own quick-release plate: The iFootage Cobra 2 A180-II monopod uses a spring-loaded sliding collar to hold a quick-release plate on top. A similar mechanism lets you detach the feet at the bottom so you can turn them into a table-top style tripod like you can with the bottom of our monopod pick. You can also stack a second A180-II on top if you want to approximately double the height of the monopod.
While we found that the A180-II was comparable to our pick in terms of stability, maximum height (71 inches), minimum length (27.8 inches) and weight (3.1 pounds), we feel that the sliding collar may pose a problem to people with hand strength issues. It takes considerable force to move the collar. This helps hold it very securely in place, but might make it a bad choice for some people. We also liked the feet on our pick better, which are each about 1.5 inches longer than those on the A180-II.
The Benro MeFoto GlobeTrotter is a simple but solid tripod with four-section legs. When fully extended, it was the most solid feeling of all the tripods we tested, and it’s rated to handle up to 26 pounds, more than any of our picks. It’s more expensive, though, and the center column can’t angle out like those of our top picks can. We also found that the twist locks required more turns to loosen and tighten than on our picks, which meant that this model took more time to open and close. Lastly, at 4.5 pounds, it’s almost as heavy as our pick but without the benefit of a multi-angle center column.
The 3Pod Orbit is a four-section aluminum tripod with a bundled three-way head. This relatively stable tripod has a multi-angle center column and feet with retractable spikes. However, during testing we found that the retractable spikes sometimes stuck out of the rubber feet—not far, but enough that they could damage a wooden floor. Also, the flip locks that controlled the legs were so tight that we had difficulty unlocking and locking them. When we used the supplied Allen key to loosen the tension a little so that we could more easily operate the locks, we found that the legs wouldn’t lock tightly enough.
The low-priced Slik Pro 700DX doesn’t do anything fancy: The center column doesn’t swivel or tilt, the tripod has no extras, and it doesn’t come with a head. However, Slik has a reputation for quality models on a budget, and for the price the 700DX is an impressively good, simple, stable tripod. It has a great maximum height of 70 inches, and it will probably survive the apocalypse.
The tripods in Slik’s Lite series feature a ball head, a detachable LED light, and a lever for easily locking and unlocking the tripod legs, but the Lite AL-420M and Lite AL-420S are too short to be contenders in this category. The Lite AL-420 can get tall enough to meet our requirements, but it has a maximum load capacity of only 4.4 pounds, a limitation that caused us to dismiss it for this guide.
The 3 Legged Thing Punks Corey travel tripod has comfy textured grips on each rounded leg lock, but it also has the most spindly legs of any travel tripod we tested, and in our tests they exhibited a significant amount of flex. It was also hard to lock in a specific leg-angle lock, and the price is at the high end of our desired range.
Oben’s CT-3565 carbon-fiber tripod and BZ-217T ball head package makes for a solid travel tripod—it’s even lighter than our travel pick and can be found for about the same price. On the downside, it’s just a bit shorter, and we didn’t like the feet as much. The Oben tripod comes with rubber-and-spiked combo feet, which can be a bit annoying when the rubber spins up (during transport or use) to reveal the metal spikes just when you don’t need them. (We’d argue that you so very rarely need them that this feature often feels like more of a hindrance.) In contrast, the small, slightly spiked rubber feet on the Manfrotto Element MII are everything that most people will ever need, with a bit more grip to the rubbery material, too. And the Element MII comes with optional rubber spikes, should you need them.
MeFoto’s RoadTrip S felt unstable compared with other travel tripods we tested. The leg-angle locks were trickier to use, too, requiring a two-fingered grip to release. MeFoto also offers the RoadTrip Air, which converts into a selfie stick and includes a shutter remote, but its collapsible leg system was harder to control than five individual leg locks, and we worried that a tiny bump to any of the five skinny leg sections could send the whole tripod—along with our expensive camera gear or smartphone—cascading down.
The Vanguard VEO 2 GO 265HAB is a little smaller and lighter than the Manfrotto Element MII, but it’s also more expensive. We loved how easy it was to use, with small upgrades such as comma-shaped pan and ball lock knobs that offer a better grip for making adjustments. But it doesn’t have any bubble levels, and it can reach the same height as the Manfrotto Element MII (64.5 inches) only if you extend the center column, which in our testing felt a bit less steady.
The Manfrotto Element MII Video Monopod is significantly smaller and less stable than our monopod pick from Sirui. It barely stood up on its own, let alone with a camera mounted. The included fluid head panned and tilted smoothly, but the base isn’t removable, making this model less versatile than our pick.
The Manfrotto Xpro Monopod+ Aluminum Four-Section with Fluid Video Head is big, heavy, and slow. The fluid head is dampened, and no matter how loose we set it, we still found resistance when panning and tilting. This design could make it difficult to track fast-moving action or wildlife. Although the tilting base is removable, the legs don’t lock when they’re tucked up, and they opened on their own during our testing. And instead of twist locks, this monopod has flip locks, which we found loud enough to be distracting.
Theano Nikitas contributed to this guide.
Erin Roberts is a freelance writer reporting on cameras and camera accessories at Wirecutter. She started her career as a photojournalist working in newspapers—shooting film—and was the mobile-imaging editor at DPReview. She is also a professional photographer who has made her living photographing everything from rock stars to humpback whales.
Arriana Vasquez is a senior updates writer for powering, home office, cameras, and hobbies at Wirecutter. Her hobbies include reading and photography. Her photos have won several awards in various online competitions, and she is the producer and co-host of Old Books Podcast.
Phil Ryan is Wirecutter’s senior staff writer for camera coverage. Previously, over 13 years he covered cameras and other photo-related items for CNET and Popular Photography. As the latter's tech editor and then senior tech editor, he was responsible for maintaining and refining the lab testing for cameras, and as the main camera tester, he used and wrote reviews of many of the cameras released in that timeframe.
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