Customer Ratings & Reviews

For 10+ years, I have been using a Dolica tripod that has traveled with me on many domestic and international trips. Over these years, it has done its job well which is to provide stability to the camera while taking pictures. At the same time, it has been a giant pain to carry during travels due to its size and weight. After returning from many trips, I have spent days researching good lightweight tripods that are easy to travel with and not cost a small fortune but nothing ever really sparked my interest. Then earlier this year, I heard about Peak Design's travel tripod and was immediately intrigued by its innovative design and small size. After weeks of researching and looking at tons of early adopter reviews, I knew this was the right tripod for me. As of the writing of this review, I have had it for a couple weeks and used it enough to form an opinion. Although I haven't traveled with it just yet (thanks COVID-19 lockdown!). So let's get into the nitty gritty. - Size and weight: Compared to my Dolica, this tripod closed down is literally one-third smaller in height (see attached pics) and roughly 40% less in weight (4.4 lbs for Dolica and 2.8 lbs for Peak Design). For me, both of those aspects will make a huge difference when I travel with it. - Height: When the legs are deployed, it stands almost as tall as my Dolica. With the center column raised, it is only about 3-4" shorter which is not a big deal for me (see attached pics for comparison). - Innovative design: There are many big and little innovations packed in this tripod. The biggest innovation is in the hexagonal shape of the legs which minimizes the empty/dead space in the middle when all legs are closed down. This makes the tripod very small in circumference and easy to wrap your hands almost fully around. It is truly a joy to hold in your hand. - Ball head: The top plate is locked in place using a unique circular locking mechanism that is very easy to use. On the top plate, you can use the included standard PD plate. There are two removable pins on the top that, when removed, will allow wider arca plates to be used. While the overall ball head design is good, there are two quirks I don't like: (a) panning is extremely difficult because as soon as you loosen the top plate, it moves and rotates freely in all directions and (b) panning in portrait mode is impossible because of how the three "legs" on the top late lock into the ball head. I personally don't use pan/tilt features too often so I'd still give this a 9 out of 10. - Mobile adapter: To me, this is the most genius little feature of the whole tripod. At the base of the center column, if you twist-unlock the weight hook, a little mobile phone adapter drops out just a little bit but doesn't completely fall out on the ground. There are built-in magnets that "catch" it and prevent from fully coming out of the center column until you pull it out completely. Brilliant! I know I have had many situations where I have forgotten to pack my mobile adapter on trips. With this, if I have my tripod, I have a mobile adapter handy. - Carrying case: For a compact tripod, the carrying case is equally small and compact. It doesn't make the whole package any bulkier so very easy to fit in the water bottle pockets on the side of most travel backpacks (see attached pics). It also fits easily inside a smaller suitcase. - Serviceability: Another thing I absolutely love is that the tripod is designed to be user serviceable which means I can take the whole thing apart at home and service/clean it myself when needed. There is a very detailed youtube video that walks you through the whole process in easy-to-follow steps. There are many other things that are simply amazing about this travel tripod. If you can justify the price, I'd totally recommend getting it!

Great for travel and back packing trips It held up every well on a very windy Guadalupe peak didn’t make me worried one bit to turn my back to the camera for some sunrise shots.

Beautiful, light, compact little travel tri. Perfect for my needs

[Employee of bestbuy] I love peake design products, and this tripod is amazing but the price is very expensive, if you travel a lot and you are looking for something good quality and your job is photography and the money is not a problem. I absolutely recommend it

BESTBUY sold me a used tripod with missing accessories. It wasnt just used, it was heavily used, with sand and grit stuck in the legs, missing parts, and heavy wear on the head…Returned immediately upon opening. Pointed all this our to a the Best Buy employee and she didnt seem too interested and handed me a return receipt without saying much else… Not happy as a long time customer…

Excellent tripod. Best I’ve ever owned! It goes great with all my other peak design accessories

This tripod is not cheap. However, keep in mind that you are probably supporting hundreds, if not thousands of dollars worth of equipment with this tripod. My biggest complaint with good tripods is that they're heavy, bulky, and so hard to pack. I have great tripods that I love to use, but I never end up bringing them anywhere. This solves all of these issues and more. If you hike, travel, or vlog, this is a really good investment. This one, in particular, is the Carbon Fiber one. There is an aluminum one that is quite a bit cheaper and probably makes more sense for most consumers. I went for the carbon fiber only because it was the one that was available in the store. If I was not in a rush, I would have probably saved the money and gotten aluminum. The only major difference is that the carbon fiber model is lighter. Either way, both tripods are incredibly light compared to other models in this category. However, if you are backpacking or hiking great distances, the difference in weight might make or break this purchase for you. This tripod was designed so well. The quick-release system is super secure, yet easy to use. It is also compatible with the Peak Design Capture Clip system, which is one of my other favorite camera accessories. The legs are sturdy, and the clamps on the legs are very well designed and feel like they will last a long time. Every moving part on this tripod is made of well-machined metal, so I know it will be able to take a beating. Which is super important for travel tripods like this. The fact that the legs are segmented into four sections means that they can extend taller while still remaining compact when collapsed. This tripod when collapsed is the perfect size to fit in the water bottle holder on most backs. It fits perfectly in my Peak Design Everyday backpack (I have the smaller 20L and it fits with no issue. I assume it would work on the larger 30L as well). Other tripods that fold up to be this compact, often sacrifice durability or overall height. I am 6'4, this tripod is more than tall enough for my needs. The included ball head works well and is very easy to adjust. And when you need to level it out, the ball head can be pushed back down and becomes perfectly level when collapsed. I wish every tripod had a hook on the bottom. I am often using my tripod when I'm out hiking. Rather than placing my bag in the dirt/sand or on the ground, I can hang my bag off the hook from underneath the tripod. This hook serves another huge purpose too! If you are shooting video or long exposure photography, you can counterweight your tripod by hanging your bag or a sandbag off this hook. The additional weight reduces shaking and can help prevent possible tipping if the tripod is bumped into. Genius design. This hook can also be pulled out to reveal an included smartphone mount! This worked fine for my iPhone 12 Pro Max, but it was a tight fit. Those with larger cases on larger phones might have to remove the case. Any time I am leaving the house, this is my new go-to tripod. I used to carry a Gorilla Pod with me everywhere due to the size. That worked well if I could find a bench or tree to secure it to but often wasn't strong enough to support the weight of my larger mirrorless cameras/lenses. This will be replacing the GorillaPod 3k as my new Go-To tripod. I've only had a few days to play around with it, but I will be taking it on a trip next week and will update the review if any issues occur. TLDR: Sound investment. Beautifully designed with photographers in mind. Carbon Fiber is probably not worth the additional $250

Tripod is awesome. Definitely portable for the size and strength I need to hold my full frame camera. Love everything about it: The built in phone holder; able to rotate the camera to portrait mode or different angles and feel confident that the tripod will hold it; and the ability to mount the camera "upside down" or really low to get those low or up-angle shots. The size when collapsed is perfect for carrying it around as compared to other "full size" equivalents. I can stick it in my water bottle pocket on my backpack. If you are concerned about weight (and that is your top priority), then you'll may want to pony up for the carbon fiber model. You definitely feel the weight difference when you carry both models. Although for me, I don't really mind the weight as I am used to carrying heavy loads when going out. I was ok with dealing with the "heavier" (aluminum) version as I did not want to spend more $$ on the carbon fiber. But, if you got money to burn, I say go for the lighter carbon fiber model. Lighter is always better, but for those that don't really care about weight as much, save your money and get the aluminum model. Cant go wrong with the Peak Design tripods.

These Peak Design carbon fiber tripod was a buy once cry once purchase. I bought this thing back in 2021 and I will say it is a heavy duty tripod in terms of the durability that it offers and the fact that it’s portable enough to just basically travel everywhere I’ve been around the world with this thing and it’s held up great. Honestly, wish I had something negative to say about it, but I don’t. It’s been so convenient and I can’t imagine creating content without it. The carbon fiber on this thing just takes it to the next level. My setup is with a Sony A7SIII + Mic and a 24-70 lens most of the time and it hasn't fell over one time!

Expensive but a well designed product. This one was really thought through and it's all about convenience and portability. The fact that this folds down to such a small space and it literally can fit into a water bottle holder on any reasonable size bag. Makes it invaluable. Has a lot of other little perks such as built in cell phone holder. Even the hook to add a weight for balancing is designed into the tripod with no additional parts necessary. Overall really impressed and carbon fiber is icing on the cake with such a low weight adding to the portability.

The tripod is one of the nicest, lightest, and configurable tripod I’ve used in years (and I’ve used and own a lot of them). While the price seems high for this carbon tripod, the trade off in terms of size, weight and quick setup is worth the price for me. Depending on your style and camera rig, this will determine if this tripod will meet your needs. For me and my gears (Sony 7rIII), it works!

Excellent product! It is very lightweight, compact, and sturdy!

Lightweight, very compact and easy to set up. I really love it! It fits in my regular backpack and doesn’t stick out at all. Also the case it comes with keeps it neatly closed until you need to use it. My previous tripod was super inconvenient because half of it would stick out of my backpack and would hurt me and/or others while I was carrying it around.

Amazing tripod, I can't see myself using anything different, great build quality, easy to use, easy to mount, portable design and relatively light weigh - extremely highly recommend it

Light weight travel tripod. With proper care, this one should last for years. So far, it’s been perfect in all conditions. Packs down small and is easily stow-able. Sets up in less than a minute too.

Functions and form. Easy to use and sturdy. Very compact and light. Build quality seems high. I'd recommend this, highly, if you are looking for a light travel tripod. The head works seamlessly with the PD plate.

Tripod is a great height, very sturdy, and noce and light. I recently took on trip to North Geogia and it did great.

A serious tripod for the serious photographer. I went with the carbon fiber material over the aluminum, as I will be taking lots of lengthy exposure photography and want to limit the vibrations best I can. This is an expensive piece of gear, but may be worth it if you plan to take photographs requiring limited vibrations. This tripod is extremely compact and fits on the side pockets of most backpacks. It unfolds in a matter of seconds and within a minute you are ready to compose your shot.

This is a tripod I actually love taking with me everywhere I go. I actually thought it would be much lighter being a carbon fiber but it’s quite heavy I had a cheap Amazon aluminum that felt much lighter than this one however I love this tripod for its size and portability the weight don’t bother me too much this tripod is very pricey but I think it’s a good investment for the on the go people

The Peak Design Carbon Fiber travel tripod is the best travel tripod, period. Fantastic build quality and very easy to use. There’s a couple of technical bits that require understanding about how they work, but once you understand it you realize how brilliant the design is. Extra light and fits easily in the side of my Manfroto backpack. Recommended.