Two-minute review

The 3 Legged Thing Punks Brian 2.0 is a stylish and highly versatile travel tripod with more tricks up its sleeve than a room full of magicians – and one of the most impressive features is the competitive price it comes in at considering what it has to offer.

The Punks Brian 2.0 costs $300 / £250 / AU$633. It's part of 3 Legged Thing’s colorful punks range, and to that end it's available with orange, blue or black accents on the tripod head and the twist lock on the center column and legs, bucking the arguably dull visual trend of tripod design that sees most color schemes dominated by black or grey.

This carbon fiber tripod is an impressive transformer when it comes to growth, going from a folded length of 16.5-inches / 42cm to a maximum height of 73.2 inches / 1.86m with the center column extended. This is taller than many full-size tripods, and even more impressively it's achieved with a weight of just 3.70lbs / 1.68kg.

So, unless you need a heavier tripod for specific shooting situations, the Punks Brian could realistically function as your main tripod, despite falling within the travel tripod category.

All three five-section legs are detachable, and together with the Vanz ‘footwear’, which are 4.4-inch / 11.2cm stainless steel legs with rubber ends that can be removed to reveal spikes (these are available separately), they enable the Punks Brian to be transformed into a tabletop or ultra low-level tripod. Another feature of the removable legs is that they can be used as a monopod with the included AirHed Neo 2.0 ball head attached at the top of the leg, or with the center column attached to the top of the leg for additional height up to 75.1 inches / 191cm.

This level of versatility is welcome in a travel tripod, as when traveling it’s not uncommon for photographers to have to reduce their kit to the bare minimum. So, having a tripod that can be used in three different ways – standard, tabletop and monopod – and which offers a generous maximum height ensures that you can cover all the bases with one lightweight and compact package. As mentioned, you have to purchase the Vanz footwear for tabletop use separately, and they’re not cheap for what they are but, the overall cost of the Punks Brian and Vanz remains lower than many competing travel tripods.

The tripod legs are made of carbon fiber, and while they flex a little more than the legs of more expensive tripods, stability isn’t an issue. In use, I found the leg twist-locks to be quick and comfortable to use thanks to the rubber grip strips that are also found on the two-section center column. Build quality overall is excellent, and the orange accents of the Punks Brian I reviewed are eye-catching.

While its competitive price makes it accessible to enthusiasts and even beginners, the Punks Brian is a travel tripod that could easily cater to the needs of working professionals, thanks to its overall build quality, features and sturdy legs with 30lb / 14kg maximum payload. The latter means you can confidently attach even large telephoto lenses because the included AirHed Neo 2.0 has an even greater maximum payload of 40lbs / 18kg, which is impressive given the compact size of the ball head. There's no real camera and lens combination that exceeds the tripod kit's maximum payload. 

The AirHed Neo 2.0 is a simple ball head that’s colored to match the tripod legs depending on which color option you choose. It may be compact, but it’s made of aircraft-grade magnesium alloy and stainless steel, so it’s as tough as it is eye-catching. 

Operation is smooth and reliable, with one knob for adjusting the ball mechanism and another for the pan mechanism, and while the knobs don’t feature rubber grips, the machined metal grips work perfectly and look pretty smart, too. There’s also an accessory mounting point and a metal loop at the bottom of the center column for attaching the included carabiner tool, from which you can hang a camera bag to improve stability when needed.

The plate used is also the Arca Swiss design, so it’s compatible with 3 Legged Thing and third-party L brackets. There's also a notch within the ball head to allow for portrait-format shooting, so an L bracket isn’t essential for this, although they are much better for portrait-format shooting than a ball head on its own.

Finding a tripod of this quality for such a competitive price is a rarity in the tripod world. The Punks Brian can comfortably compete against tripods that are twice the price and still come out as an incredibly enticing option. So, if you’re looking for a travel tripod that looks good and performs well, with some impressive features on offer, the Punks Brian is certainly an option to consider.

 Should I buy the 3 Legged Thing Punks Brian 2.0 ? 

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the 3 Legged Thing Punks Brian 2.0

I tested the 3 Legged Thing Punks Brian 2.0 using several different camera and lens combinations, to see how the tripod stood up to standard use in travel-oriented scenarios. Cameras used included a premium compact, an APS-C mirrorless camera, and a full-frame mirrorless model. I carried the tripod around with other photographic kit in my f-stop backpack to evaluate performance over longer landscape shoots.

I have almost 30 years of photographic experience, with 15 years working as a photography journalist, and I’ve been testing and writing about tripods and other accessories for many years. As a professional photographer I regularly use a range of accessories, and bring my working experience to reviews, enabling me to gauge how effective particular accessories are from both a professional and an enthusiast point of view.

First reviewed March 2024

Two-minute review

For some photographers, the most lightweight travel tripods are the only option when it comes to traveling, and the Manfrotto Befree Advanced Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod is one of the lighter and more compact options available. At just 2.75lbs / 1.25kg and with a folded length of 16.1in / 41cm, it’s an extremely portable travel tripod that you can comfortably carry over long periods, barely noticing it's there.

The Befree Advanced costs $319 / £279 / AU$555 which is an attractive price for such a compact and lightweight tripod when compared to some alternatives, but you can get a much more fully featured tripod, if slightly heavier, for a similar price or less, such as the 3LT Brian 2.0 Travel Tripod. 

Going heavier is arguably worthwhile for the additional functionality. For example, the 3LT offering has a built-in monopod and a taller maximum height. However, if weight is your main concern, you’ll struggle to find a better Befree Advanced alternative at this price, and you can find deals on it for less than the list price mentioned above (see below).

Weight versus features is a typical quandary when buying a travel tripod; you often have to make concessions in one area to be able to take advantage of the benefits in another. In this case, I can’t get away from the cost versus features aspect of the tripod – you can get so much more for your money with competitor models.

The Befree Advanced is advertised as a tripod for advanced hobbyists and has a maximum height of 59in / 150cm alongside a maximum payload of 19.8lbs / 9kg, and packs down to 16.1in / 41cm. However, the Befree Advanced provides adequate support for professionals because the fairly narrow four section legs are surprisingly rigid.

In terms of design and build quality, you can’t fault the Befree Advanced because it looks, feels and performs much more smoothly than Manfrotto’s budget travel tripods, so there’s an immediately obvious advancement here. The leg twist locks are better made and operate more positively, while the compact ball head locks much more firmly with no slippage which is exactly what you’d hope for at this price point.

The 494 aluminium center ball head is robust, with great control knobs despite its compact size and light weight. However, it's something of an oddity. While it uses the Manfrotto 200PL-PRO plate which is RC2 and Arca-swiss compatible, the ball head isn’t compatible with L brackets for quickly and easily allowing photographers to switch between portrait and landscape format shooting while enjoying full movement of the ball head.

This begs the question, why even bother with a plate like this because it’s full of promise yet fails to deliver? Not to mention, it could be confusing when looking at the specs because if you use an L bracket, the natural assumption would be that it’s compatible with the tripod head. Of course, this won’t be of concern to many photographers who don’t use L brackets, but it’s something you need to know before considering the Befree Advanced.

In use, the Befree Advanced is quick and easy to set up, and with the exception of the of the leg lock buttons that unlock the leg angles and feel a little cheap for the price of the tripod, nothing else can be criticized in terms of quality. There’s also an accessory mount for screwing in accessory arms to hold lighting, tablets and anything else you need to support close to the camera, and if you need to shoot closer to the ground than 16.1in / 41cm minimum, the center column can be inserted into the legs upside down.

Beyond this, the Befree Advanced is a standard travel tripod with no other bells or whistles; it does what it says on the tin and it does it well; it’s undoubtedly a tripod for those who only require simple features. The accessory mount is nice to have and useful if you need it, while the average maximum height of 59in / 150cm is ideal for travel, landscape and city shooting despite not being the greatest maximum height available.

The Befree Advanced is an attractive travel tripod despite its overall simplicity and the Arca Swiss tripod plate quirk it suffers from. It’s certainly not a perfect package, but where it excels is in its compact size and light weight. Plus, in some cases, equally lightweight options are shorter and not quite as sturdy. In a nutshell, if you need a decent lightweight travel tripod, this remains an option worth considering despite one or two shortcomings.

Should I buy the Manfrotto Befree Advanced Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod? 

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Manfrotto Befree Advanced Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod

The Manfrotto Befree Advanced Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod was tested over a period of time using several different camera and lens combinations to test how the tripod stood up to standard use in travel-oriented scenarios. Cameras used included a premium compact, an APS-C mirrorless camera and a full-frame mirrorless camera. The tripod was also carried around with other photographic kit in my f-stop backpack to evaluate performance over longer shoots such as landscapes.

With nearly 30 years of photographic experience and 15 years working as a photography journalist, I’ve been covering photographic accessories such as tripods for many years. As a professional photographer I frequently use a range of accessories to enhance my photography and bring my working experience of using these to reviews where I can consider how effective photographic accessories are from both a professional and enthusiast point of view.

First reviewed February 2024

Editor's Note

• Original review date: June 2019
• Still available new, and still unique
• Launch price: $599 / £559 / AU$1,170
• Official price now: $599 / £559 / AU$1,170 (carbon fiber)

Update: February 2024. We first looked at the Peak Design Travel tripod during a hands-on review in 2019, and many years later there's still no design quite like it, which is a little surprising given how considered and successful the design concept has been delivered to create a super-compact tripod for your travels and one of the best travel tripods period. It remains available from retailers with a largely similar list price that goes all the way back to launch. 

Two-minute review

A tripod’s a tripod – three legs and a head to secure a camera – pretty simple really. So how do you improve on a tried and tested design? The Peak Design Travel Tripod undoubtedly follows this fundamental construction, but four years of research and development has delivered a unique travel tripod as well as being incredibly compact and lightweight; its folded footprint when compared to similar-sized travel tripods, is about half in terms of diameter.

The Peak Design’s legs fold in neatly thanks to their shape, which drastically reduces the profile of the tripod when folded making the diameter similar to that of a can of soda; it may not sound exciting, but it’s impressive and makes the Peak Design a highly portable travel tripod if you’re willing to pay the premium price the tripod commands.

The Peak Design Travel Tripod is available in two flavors with the carbon fibre leg option costing $600 / £560 / AU$1170, and the aluminum alternative coming in at a slightly more modest $380 / £350 / AU$670. But that’s still a high price for an aluminum travel tripod. To be fair, it certainly isn’t cheap, but the overall design is what you’re paying for and as well as looking pretty smart and, indeed unique, the Peak Design provides impressive stability despite the legs being made up of five sections.

Cost aside, the main difference between the carbon fibre and aluminum options is weight. The former comes in at just 2.81lbs / 1.27kg, while the latter is slightly heavier at 3.44lbs / 1.56kg. The aluminum model is still lightweight despite the legs being made of heavier material, so this remains an option worth considering if you can’t afford the carbon fiber version. All other aspects of the tripods are the same, including the folded length of 15.4in / 39.1cm with a 3.1in / 7.9cm diameter.

With such a lightweight and compact folded size, you may be thinking that this tripod is short and flimsy, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. These were my initial expectations, but I was hugely impressed with the overall sturdiness and the ability to shoot low to the ground with the center column inserted upside down into the legs or as high as 60in / 152.4cm with the center column fully extended. The center column also offers a hook for adding weight and there’s an integrated phone mount that stows away in the bottom of the center column above the bag hook for adding weight to the tripod to increase stability when required.

This is a tripod that’s intended for professional use and offers a maximum payload of 20lbs / 9.1kg, so it can handle a wide variety of camera and lens combinations. With this, you could get away with using some long telephoto lenses for wildlife photography, and the head can support the weight, but the design of the head wouldn’t provide the most efficient and comfortable shooting experience for this type of photography. Plus, the head isn’t interchangeable so you couldn’t swap it out for a gimbal head instead.

Ultimately, this is no big deal because it’s clearly not a tripod that’s designed for this type of photography, but something to bear in mind if this would be an intended use. The head itself is low profile, which helps to reduce the overall bulkiness of the tripod and employs a novel design that takes getting used to if you’ve only experienced what you might call standard tripod heads in the past.

The head itself fulfils the clear desire to create something that’s compact and in keeping with the overall design of the tripod, but being a fixed head means that you have to be 100% sure that it’s something that you can get on with. What makes it different is that despite being a ball head, is that it provides two locking/adjustment rings; one for the ball mechanism and another for the tripod plate. Once you get used to which is which and you’ve used them a few times they do become intuitive, but they are undoubtedly a break from the norm.

The tripod plate uses the Arca Swiss design so it’s compatible with L brackets, which is great. And even if you don’t use an L bracket, the head and plate can be set vertically to the side for portrait format shooting with the notches of the socket providing additional stability. This is a clever design that mirrors that of the tripod as a whole.

When it comes to operation, the Peak Design is quick and easy to set up. And when I say quick, I really do mean quick because it simply needs to be extended rather than unfolded and then extended like many travel tripods. The leg locks are the older style clip locks rather than twist locks, but with the unique leg shape that facilitates the compact folding of the tripod, this is clearly the only option. It certainly doesn’t impact usability and these can be easily dismantled for cleaning and maintenance which is always useful.

Should I buy the Peak Design Travel Tripod?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Peak Design Travel Tripod

The Peak Design Travel Tripod was tested over a period of time using several different camera and lens combinations to test how the tripod stood up to standard use in travel-oriented scenarios. Cameras used included a premium compact, an APS-C mirrorless camera and a full-frame mirrorless camera. The tripod was also carried around with other photographic kit in my 'f-stop' brand backpack to evaluate performance over longer shoots such as landscapes.

With nearly 30 years of photographic experience and 15 years working as a photography journalist, I’ve been covering photographic accessories such as tripods for many years. As a professional photographer I frequently use a range of accessories to enhance my photography and bring my working experience of using these to reviews where I can consider how effective photographic accessories are from both a professional and enthusiast point of view.

First reviewed February 2024

Two-minute review

The Pivo Max is a motorized head that can intelligently track subject movement, when paired to Pivo's free iOS / Android app. Put simply, it's like having your own camera operator, and could be the handiest smartphone accessory you ever purchase, particularly if you're a solo content creator. 

It's incredibly easy to get started with the Pivo Max app, and establish a connection between an Apple or Android device and the motorized head. Once a connection is active, the app recognizes a variety of subjects – both human and animal – and follow a subject's movement, keeping them in the selected portion of the frame. 

Most people use a smartphone to shoot content now, and many such people work alone, and the Pivo Max is going to be hugely useful if you want to bring life and extra production value to content, rather than relying on a static, locked-off shot.

Set-up is simple – after optionally attaching the head to a tripod or other support to achieve the required height (the head can also simply be placed on a table or other surface), you slot your smartphone or tablet into the removable holder on the top, screw it firmly in place, open the app and away you go. Your phone will reliably track your movement, with options for human face or body tracking, plus dog or horse tracking – a peculiar mix of subjects for sure.

What's more, there's an 'Auto Zoom' option – if you move further away from the camera, it can zoom in to maintain a similar composition, and zoom out again should you move closer to the camera once more.

You can also select one of three vertical zones – left, middle or right (see below) – in which the app can place the tracked subject. I suspect most people will select the middle portion of the frame, but I can also see a use for leaving space either side of yourself, for example when showcasing products by your side, or for leaving space in your shot to walk into when out and about, especially in scenic surroundings.

Tracking speed can be adjusted for slow and steady movements, through to keeping up with quick movement, and the motor can indeed be smooth or snappy – whichever you need. A timer gives you a three-second countdown to get ready for a take, and there are photo, video, meet and webcam modes to choose between. 

The Pivo Max comes with a remote, too, so it's easy to adjust app settings from  distance – you don't have to initiate recording on the device's screen itself. However, if you're using a separate camera like a DSLR or mirrorless, you'll need to start recording directly on the camera itself.

Yes, you can mount a small camera such as an entry-level DSLR or mirrorless model, and use that instead of your phone, although you'll still need the app active to obtain the Pivo Max's functions, so you'll need to source a coldshoe mount to mount your phone on top of the camera (included in Pivo's pricier kits).

I only used the Pivo Max with a smartphone – and I expect the overwhelming majority of users will do the same – but it's nice to know that I could use it with one of my 'proper' cameras; it has a max payload of 2kg.

The device itself is compact, and lightweight at around 350g. It's well built, though I wouldn't want to expose it to inclement weather. Pivo says battery life is a generous 10-12 hours.

Naturally, I've wanted to test the Pivo Max app's effectiveness, trying a range of scenarios and subjects. Starting with a solo talking-head shot, I made subtle movements left and right, towards and away from the camera, and tracking is silky smooth, though the zoom is a little jerky. Crank up the tracking speed to 'turbo' and the motorized head will swiftly respond to quick sideways movements, doing an admirable job of keeping up. 

If you make quick movements when the tracking speed is set to slow / normal, the Pivo Max will lag behind. Conversely, set it to quick when making slow movements and it's more likely to be jerky. You're not always going to know your speed of movement, and for such scenarios an intelligent adaptive auto tracking speed would be great, as opposed to having to manually input the tracking speed (I generally kept the speed on the quicker side). 

As such, an element of planning is required before you hit record, to select the appropriate tracking speed for the anticipated speed of movement. However, the Pivo Max has an extra trick or two up its sleeve.

It's possible to create a path with a start and finish point, much like Waypoints for drones, and then to initiate that tracking movement. There's also predictive follow, although it wasn't immediately clear to me what additional benefit this function offered.

I've also tried to confuse the app by including multiple faces in the frame, and by covering my own face as the primary tracked subject – the app will then lock onto another face in the frame and make them the tracked subject instead. So long as a subject maintains line of sight with the camera, tracking is very reliable. 

If the tracked subject changes, the first tracked subject can move back into the middle of the shot and it'll lock onto them again. Tracking is in theory more reliable than an actual human camera operator, who may or may not be able to predict or keep up with your movement (or maintain concentration). 

Yes, the Pivo Max can be more effective that a human camera operator. A caveat is that the motorized head can only do panning movements (a full 360 degrees – you can literally run circles around it) but not tilt, which is a little limiting if the subject is positioned close to the camera. A pricier and heavier gimbal would offer this extra range of motion, but these devices are way more complicated to set up than the Pivo Max. While it lacks a full range of movement, I have full confidence in the abilities of the Pivo Max for panning shots.

You're using the Pivo Max app to control the camera when shooting with a phone, and the options are more limited than most smartphone's camera functions. You can select exposure for your subject, or uncheck that option for the app to select brightness based on the entire frame. Basic self-timer modes are included, but otherwise, this is a point-and-shoot kind of experience. 

Naturally, it's easier to compose your shot using your phone's selfie camera, but if I wanted to use the better-quality front-facing camera I would happily rely on the Pivo Max's tracking capabilities, without needing to see the shot in real time on my phone's screen. 

Two areas for improvement would, as mentioned, be a tilt motion in addition to panning, and an auto tracking speed option. Otherwise, this is a super-useful accessory, and practically speaking, the zoom function somewhat makes up for the lack of tilt motion.

Overall, I can easily see an audience for the Pivo Max. It's a tad on the pricey side for what you're getting, but the value it can add to video production for solo content creators, together with its tiny form factor and quick setup, will allow many to justify the outlay. 

Pivo Max: price and release date

The Pivo Max is available now and costs $269.99 / £259.99 / AU$434.99. You'll need to buy a support separately, and Pivo sells an Essential kit for $369.99 / £354.99 / AU$594.99 that includes a tripod, although the Pivo Max can be mounted on any tripod or stand with standard 1/4-inch thread. I used a basic light stand for my testing. If you'd like to mount a camera, as well as a smartphone or tablet, you'll also need to pick up a phone-to-camera coldshoe adapter (included in the the Essential kit as well as the Starter kit that costs $299.99 / £284.99 / AU$484.99 that also contains a travel case and smart mount).

Should I buy the Pivo Max?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Pivo Max

I had the Pivo Max on test for a lengthy period, and I used the motorized head mainly for solo talking-to-camera videos indoors, recording onto an Android smartphone. I've tried the various in-app settings, making adjustments to the tracking speed and subject detection options, and tested the various shooting modes. 

First reviewed December 2023