For the past few years, Peak Design has had one of the best tripods in the market with their Travel Tripod. That’s why we’ve always found it odd they never followed it up with anything new. That changes now with the launch of the Peak Design Pro Tripod.
No, it’s not another travel tripod. Instead, it’s a line of three new tripods in three different sizes, each one bigger and with higher payload than their original release, essentially filling out their roster to serve a much wider variety of different shooting needs.
The Peak Design Pro Tripod line aren’t just bigger versions of the Travel Tripod. While it definitely takes design elements from it, they did implement a lot of changes to accommodate the added stiffness and taller heights that the new tripods bring with them. The legs, for instance, now come four segment instead of five, which probably sacrifices packability for greater stability. It has bigger locks, too, making the whole thing easier to open and close. According to the outfit, the legs have been reengineered for smoother and faster operation, all while being easier to take apart for cleaning. The legs can also be locked into three positions (compared to two in the Travel Tripod), all while coming with a machined hub instead of the cast one from their previous release. All of the legs are made of carbon fiber.
The ball head, while looking similar as their compact tripod, has new mounting and locking mechanisms, which are controlled using a lever attached to a spring mechanism. The big change here is that it eliminates any chances of users forgetting the lock it with the camera mounted, which should help avoid accidental falls for your pricey equipment. It comes with a fluid panning mechanism, which can be locked and unlocked using the integrated knob, as well as a lever that’s more strategically located compared to the Travel Tripod (as in, you can see it now with the camera mounted).
The Peak Design Pro Tripod consists of three models: Pro Lite, Pro, and Pro Tall. Pro Lite has a maximum height of 64 inches, a minimum height of 6.2 inches, and a maximum load of 20 pounds, while the Pro expands up to 66.3 inches, goes down to 6.3 inches, and supports up to 40 pounds. The Pro Tall, on the other hand, gets the same maximum payload as the Pro, but can stand up to 77.7 inches and go down as low as 6.8 inches. Simply put, these things can handle your heaviest DSLR or mirrorless camera with an equally heavy lens on it. When packed, the Pro Lite measures 15.5 inches and weighs 2.8 pounds; the Pro measures 19.7 inches and weighs 4.2 pounds; and the Pro Tall takes up 22.9 inches and weighs 4.5 pounds. Yes, they’re still pretty packable, albeit taking up a lot more room than Peak’s original tripod.
Alongside the tripods, the outfit is also releasing three accessories. There’s a leveling base that allows you to use the legs with a different video head, gimbal, or some other grip, as well as spiked feet for anchoring the tripod and getting better stability. Lastly, there’s the Tilt Mod, which lets you attached a second head on the existing head to enable a fluid tilting mechanism.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Peak Design Pro Tripod. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $619.
