The peak travel season is nearly upon us, so now is the perfect time to invest (or reinvest) in a set of sticks that is compact and low in weight, while still offering the robustness and support required for capturing all your travel memories.
The group of four travel tripods we’ve assembled here are sold as kits complete with heads. All of them offer a maximum height of around 1.5m when extended, but they also fold down to around 40cm in length.
Most of the models have a clever design feature that expands their usefulness in the field, whether that’s a built-in mini tripod or a phone clamp.
Angela Nicholson
Benro MeFoto RoadTrip Pro
£240/$296
One of the most versatile tripods we’ve seen, but is it a jack-of-all-trades?
Benro makes the MeFoto RoadTrip Pro tripod with aluminium (£180/$250) or carbon fibre legs (on test here). Both come in black, silver and blue variants, with the colour of the metal locks and canopy changing. With the fivesection legs and two-section centre column fully extended, it is 152.5cm tall, putting it in the full-height tripod category. The lowest level, 39.5cm, is achieved by setting the legs to the widest of three angles and extending the centre column. Removing the base reveals a set of small legs that can be attached to the ball head to create a mini tripod.
The ball head is Arca-Swiss compatible and its quick-release plate houses a neat
