GEEKOTO Carbon Fiber Tripod, Camera Tripod and Monopod, 79 Inch Professional Tripod with 360° Panoramic Ball Head and 1/4 Inch Quick Mounting Plate

As a landscape photographer I use a tripod for all my photography needs and have used several “travel/portable tripods” over the years from different manufacturers.I am always looking for that pay off between weight, sturdiness and cost. Light enough to carry around for hours and sturdy enough to hold my camera still and safely in all conditions and not break the bank. I tend not to be too precious about my tripods, I look at them as tools of the trade that have a hard life and eventually they all break anyway so cost vs durability is also an import factor I look for in my tripods. I look for a tripod that does the job I need it to do and will be reliable given the wear and tear and bumps and knocks I put it through. So, brand names to me aren’t important to me, fit for purpose at an affordable sensible price is.Carbon fibre is the obvious choice for any serious landscape photographer, lightweight and super strong and in my experience carbon fibre helps dampen micro vibrations so this product already fitted into my criteria for a useable everyday working tripod.My initial reaction to unboxing the CT25Pro Craftsman from its carry case and accompanying ball head pouch was one of great optimism. The anodised metallic orange and black colour scheme looked very sleek and stylish with its accented twist lock rings and coloured coded ball head. Yep I like how it looked straight away.In my hands it felt sturdy and well put together and had an air of good build quality to it before I had even operated any of the mechanisms. The weight is an impressively light 3.4 pounds (1.54kg) all in and that’s bang on the money for me for a tripod of this nature and size.Out of the box it folds back on its self-180 degrees to bring the total length down to an impressive 19”. Folding the legs back to their working positions there was a comforting hefty click as it neatly and precisely locked into its final position.The 36mm diameter ball head action was smooth but firm making for easy precise adjustments with just a ¼ turn of the locking knob effort free and easy.The twist lock system on the legs isn’t my favourite system, I do prefer lever locks, and this was my first tripod with twist locks. I found them satisfyingly easy to undo and retighten and felt they held the legs in position perfectly with a deft and light touch and didn’t feel they were in any way less than 100% reliable and trustworthy.The camera mounting plate was smooth and had a well-proportioned tightening knob big enough to feel secure and safe when locking into place your beloved camera.The added level bubble on the mounting plate to me is a pretty useless feature to me unless you have a bubble level to compliment it on the actual tripod base, to take perfect pano’s you need to level the actual tripod first and then level the ball head, one without the other isn’t a very practical useable feature. So perhaps adding a bubble level to the base as well might make this tripod more landscape friendly and set it apart from its market competitors, a small bit of CC that all manufacturers might do well to listen too.The best way to evaluate any new piece of kit is to use in the field. So, I took the tripod on x3 costal shoots in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk to see how it faired from a practical usage point of view. Carrying it to the location I immediately felt the benefit of the low 3.4 pound weight, it seemed very comfortable in my hands and warm to the touch which is nice in the winter months where aluminium holds the coldness. The integrated mono pole feature isn’t something I think I’ll ever use but to some it may be a handy side benefit. The centre pole can be inverted to hang under the legs which is a worthwhile benefit especially in waterfall photography.It claims to be able to hold 26.5 pounds (12kg) which is something I’m very unlikely to ever test (or want to for any travel tripod) my heaviest camera/lens combo is under 4kg so as far as that was concerned it handed that with ease and felt very stable for my gear.One aspect of this particular tripod I was excited about was its extendable height of 79”. Being 6’ 1” tall this was something I was looking forward to trying out in the field. My worry was that with a double extendable centre pole to reach the full 79” the whole setup would become unstable and give me a few worries about it falling over. Although I never tested it out in windy conditions the tripod felt surprisingly stable at full extension and rock solid at it normal working height of 70” which to me had already cemented this product as a winner in my book. It has the ever-handy retractable weight hook at the bottom of the centre column which you can hang you bag from for extra stability if so required (but it wasn’t). It hasn’t faltered in the field and I can’t find any negative points to mention.At £129 this 79” carbon fibre tripod from Geekoto is amazing value for me and fits into my workflow perfectly. I could easily pay double or even x3 times as much for a similar spec product that would ultimately give me the same features and user satisfaction. Having used it on location a few times now I am very happy with the product and will continue to use it for the foreseeable future. If like me you’re not a gear snob then check this great product out as it checks all the important boxes it’s designed to meet offering excellent usability and superb value for money. It gets the job done effortlessly, stylishly and above all within a sensible budget. A great choice for a work horse travel tripod and an excellent choice for newbies wanting to own their first carbon fibre landscape photography tripod.

Looking back - I have accumulated my fair share of Tripods over the years and have sampled the best/worst in almost every price category.When I came across the AT24Pro Geekoto Tripod I was positively surprised at what you can get these days from a Tripod that is priced just under £70.Overview & SummaryWhile unboxing the tripod what immediately impresses is the quality. The Tripod is packaged in a neat, compact carry case. Its size equivalent to other comparable tripods.Overall, I'm really impressed with the Geekoto AT24Pro. It's sturdy, well made, compact and lightweight to carry, and looks the part. I love the stylish orange/black - goes very well with my orange arca-swiss L-Brackets I have mounted on all my cameras. (Yes its compatible !!).The legs are very easy to extend and I was really impressed with the 2m height, something I have not seen in any of my other aluminium travel tripods. I had a lot of fun experimenting with high angles - I even tested it in a product shoot I did.At its price point its at least 25 -30% cheaper than the best priced competitor products and I can hand on heart recommend this product based on value for money, build quality, size & weight and that height (!).5 stars more than deserved.....Things that stand out- Amazing value for money- Solid build quality & design (love the orange aluminium)- Carrying bag- Extend to a maximum height of 2m (79 inches)- Detachable monopod- Arca-swiss compatible head- 360deg ball head with scale and bubble levelThings that could be improved- Release plate mechanism made from hard-wearing plastic - again, this helps with weight and works perfectly well, but could have been made aluminiumMore detailThe Geekoto AT24Pro has an operating height of 79inches which is quite unique and brilliant.It can be folded to a super compact size of 48cm and weights in at only 1.5 kg. Thanks to its sturdy design iits load capacity is up to 8kg (17.6 lbs) - this easily supports my standard setup and a small rucksack for stabilisationThe legs allow for adjustment to 3 alternative angles (20°, 50°, 80°) giving you a better angle, total flexibility and allow you to get some really low angles (macro/urban) as well as stability on uneven terrain (rubber feet help as well).The tripod is quick and easily extend to full height thanks to the Hard plastic flip-locks. They're easy to open and very quick to extend on location.The setup is sturdy however on full extension there is the expected slight flex in the legs which is usual for aluminium tripods (the only fix is to upgrade to carbon fibre tripod which will x5 the price).One leg is also removable and acts as a monopod when combined with the tripod head, providing a sturdy pole to shoot from.One of my favourite features of the AT24Pro is the overall height it extends to - 2m/79inch. ! Love it! The hook on the centre pole allows you to attach a bag to weight the tripod down (and keep it dry/off the ground)The tripod head is very well built, a good size and can pan smoothly around 360 degrees, giving you stability at any angle.The release plate mechanism is made from hard-wearing plastic and is easily locked tight . The best thing is that the head is Arca-swiss compatible so caters for my existing plates and brackets - I can therefore easily switch between my studio tripod, this one and all of my other tripods ...5 stars - solid….Martin (@martinlidl.photo)

Nothing I dislike about this tripod. It is one of the better ones I ever had. I would buy it again anytime.

Massiv aber leicht, Klein pack, aber hoch, variable, sehr gut.