Would you pay £189.95 UK for a table-top tripod? “Of course not,” we said when we started reading the press release. But by the time we got to the end we were starting to think differently.
So you’re used to the idea of paying £20 for a tabletop tripod, right, so why on earth would you pay ten times more, even if it is a Gitzo.
For the uninitiated, Gitzo tripods bear a similar relationship to regular tripods as Ferraris do to a Ford Focus, and the Gitzo Mini Traveler does have some features that raise it above the ordinary.
First, it’s designed for DSLR and mirrorless cameras with small-medium lenses. Really? Yes, really, and Gitzo has supplied some photos to prove it.
The payload with the included Mini Traveler Head is pretty decent, it has to be said, at 3kg. However, the head is detachable, and you can swap it for a Gitzo Centre Ball Head, which has a payload of 10kg.
So can a mini-tripod’s legs cope with that weight? This one’s can. Amazingly, the Mini Traveler’s legs have a maximum payload of 25kg.
They’re made using Gitzo’s own carbon eXact tubes and weigh just 117g on their own. The ‘spider’ (the bit the legs are fixed to) and the Mini Traveller head are made from machined aluminium, and the total weight is still pretty impressive at just 265g all in.
You even get two leg angles, thanks to Gitzo’s patent-pending Pull & Fix leg angle adjuster, so as well as being perfect for tabletops, ground level use and other flat surfaces, it ought be able to cope with uneven and angled surfaces too.
Gitzo points out, with its relentless and oddly persuasive logic, that it offers a tiny footprint for low angle shots and folds up small enough to fit in a corner of your camera bag so that you’ve always got it with you.
So just to sum up, the Gitzo Mini Traveller is crazily expensive but has two-angle carbon fibre legs, interchangeable heads, a pretty amazing payload capacity and is made by the tripod world’s most prestigious makers.
It’s also available in two finishes: full black and classic Gitzo ‘noir’.
Available: Now
Price: £189.95
More information: https://www.manfrotto.co.uk/gitzo-mini-traveler-tripod-kit-noir-decor