A few years back I was searching for the ultimate travel tripod. That’s when I discovered Sirui Tripods. I’d never heard of the brand but from my research I worked out that they were producing the most compact and lightweight tripod that could handle the heaviest load so I took a punt and ordered one. It turned out to be one of my favourite pieces of equipment and I’d never leave home without it. After years of service unfortunately I somehow managed to lose it down in Southland.

The original tripod I had has been discontinued and replaced by the new T-025SK so I picked one of those up instead and I’m stoked that it’s just as epic as my old model.

Without a doubt the thing I love the most about this tripod is it’s compactness. Thanks to 5 section reverse folding legs it packs down to only 31cm. It’s so small that sometimes I actually transport it inside my camera bag instead of strapping it on the outside.  The legs are constructed from carbon fibre which is lighter and stronger than aluminium and also less prone to vibration. The tripod only weighs 800 grams (around 1000 grams with the ball head) and can handle a load of 5kgs. I like that the legs have twist lock sections as I find that often the tripods with clips tend to either seize up or get loose eventually. 

This is my go to tripod for travel. If I have to fly or hike, then this is the tripod I’ll take. It’s so small and light you barely notice it’s there. I use this tripod mostly for adventure and landscape photography. If you’re shooting a locked off shot, then it’s perfect. When I shoot landscapes I like to shoot at the lowest ISO possible as that will give you more dynamic range to play with when you’re recovering shadow and highlight detail in post. By using a tripod you can leave the shutter open as long as you like and shoot a higher aperture for better depth of field while keeping your ISO at 100 to get the cleanest image possible. I’ll often bracket different exposures too, then I can either choose the best shot later or even blend the exposures in post.  My favourite combo is the Sirui T-025Sk, Sony A7RIII and Sony 24-70mm f/2.8. I have used it to shoot surfing, but if you’re using a large telephoto lens and shooting a moving subject you’d probably want to get something that is a bit heavier with a pan-head. My go to tripod for shooting surf is the Sirui W-2004.

I got my Sirui T-025SK tripod here.