Carbon Fiber 7C

My favorite tripod! Great value for money. Higher quality than some at the same price point. Works perfectly as advertised. Nice and light, but also pretty solid. Not as stable as some, but you can hang a bag from the hook to help stabilize. High quality product for sure.

All of the features advertised were as described, and I found all of them easy to use. I found I was able to quickly access all adjustments just by feel, which was important to me as I bought this initially for dark-sky nighttime photography. I also like that there are usable levels on both the head and on the base. I was hoping the leg-spikes were built in and more easily accessible in a flash -- but I'm not sure that's ever a thing in tripods. That does not detract from my overall appreciation of a fine, stable, solid, lightweight and inexpensive travel tripod.

Nice quality. Light and smooth operation.

I am blown away by the cost/quality ratio of this tripod. I recommend getting this tripod instead of a slightly less expensive model that does not have locking legs — spend the extra few bucks and get better stability. This tripod is tall, sturdy and has impressive fit/finish. Yes, you can get a smaller, lighter equally sturdy tripod if you spend 4 times as much. I did! But when it fell out of my bag and vanished when on a motorcycle trip, it was very depressing. This one is impressive for the price, and lacks nothing I need. I’m impressed. And if I lose or destroy it on the road (not hard to do on adventure motorcycle trips) it’s not so heart breaking. This is a nice, stable, quality tripod that is a joy to use.

I bought an aluminum Benro Mefoto Roadtrip tripod, but the head was loose on arrival and it isn’t user serviceable. I returned it and looked at other brands. I settled on this carbon Sirui Traveler 7C. At the same price, it is much better value IMHO. . The overall build quality is very good. The metal knobs on the head are very tactile and the ball can be firmly locked or loosened progressively to allow adjustment without the camera sliding uncontrollably. The Benro has a separate friction adjustment from the locking knob. I use a Lumix bridge camera and the Sirui ball can hold that just fine. The ball head assembly can be removed and replaced if desired. The carbon fiber material is an awesome feature at this price. The construction and machining are high-quality and the overall stiffness, yet light weight, means this is superb value for money. 😊 The Sirui and Benro feel about the same in terms of sturdiness. . The leg twist-locks are rubber-coated and work with a relatively small rotation, making opening the legs, locking, and retracting them very quick and easy. One grip on a leg can undo or tighten them all. Once loose, the legs easily drop with no need to pull them. Loosening them further allows the leg section to be easily removed for cleaning. The weak points in the whole tripod design are the clear, thin plastic caps, which snap on the end of each leg section. These are known to potentially fail after a period of time, cracking into two, and jamming the leg. Sirui apparently are good at replacing these for you, per some YT videos. Each is marked with the diameter for each leg section, which they will need to know. I think the trick for long life is to keep the legs clean to allow them to slide easily, and don’t pull them down hard to their fully extended length. The cap is what stops the leg falling out, as well as acting as a bushing at the free end of the section. Pull or bend the leg hard and you are stressing the plastic cap. The central column twist-lock is also very quick to operate. . The leg pivots are nice and snug, and the legs will actually hold in any position outside the three detents, though a heavy camera could overcome the friction if the legs aren’t embedded in the ground. The locks are simply pivoted out of the way of the detents/teeth with a firm push at the lower end and they stay in that position, unless pushed in. However, with the legs are folded all the way up for the compact carrying configuration, when the legs are lowered, they automatically click back into position to engage with the detents but slide over them until you pull them back up to engage with the desired detent. The central metal leg pivot housing is excellent quality and it does have a ¼” tapped hole for accessories. Not sure what those would be! . The rubber feet can easily be screwed out and replaced with the included metal spikes for soft ground grip. The design has a cross-hole which allows you to use an Allen Key to get a better grip if they are screwed in too tight for fingers. The kit includes three loose Allen wrenches and there’s an Allen hexagon formed on the opposite end of the tripod counterweight hook, accessed by unscrewing the hook assembly from the base of the central column. It only fits the small Allen screw at the top of the central column though, not the perhaps more important leg pivot screws. . Also included is a wrist strap. This is for when the monopod is used as a walking stick. However, you have to remove the ball head, unscrew the 3/8” / 1/4” mounting adapter from the central column and refit it to the top of the central column, capturing the wrist strap ring. Nice feature, but I just need a monopod or tripod for my camera. A wrist strap gets in the way. The monopod is a nice design feature and is configured the same as the Benro. The central column can also be inverted to get the camera close to the ground, but the camera is then upside down and accessing the controls is problematic to say the least. Using another smaller, low tripod is a much more practical option, or perhaps use a remote control. . The Benro is more compact when stowed, being about 3” shorter. In practice, I haven’t found the longer stowed length of the Sirui to be an issue, slung under my backpack. I’m not going to use the supplied bag. It is not very thick material and just has a rope for a sling, which is not very comfortable on the shoulder. The Benro has a proper carrying case with strap. Sirui saved some money here! ☹ . The ‘ARCA-compatible’ camera adapter is not actually compatible with ARCA plates, which have two cheese-head screws underneath to stop the plate sliding out. Sirui has their own adapter design with a proprietary single button-retractable pin that sits in the cavity under the plate. There are no slots for any cheese-heads to sit in. So, a traditional plate won’t fit the Sirui adapter, though the Sirui plate will fit a true ARCA adapter, but without any anti-slide feature. What I do like is that the Sirui plate has a long enough slot to slide away enough from the Lumix camera battery lid to allow it to open with the plate attached. I had to lengthen the slot in my ARCA plates to manage that. The level in the quick-mount adapter is useful but impractical. I like to set one tripod leg away from me on the front, far side, so I’m working between two tripod legs, with the ball head adjustment knob facing me, as with the ARCA tightening knob, and the panning lock to my right. This means that the level indicator is under the lens, and not viewable! I just use the camera’s and the tripod’s in-built level gauges. ☹ . In use, the tripod is very stable, even with the central column at full height and I found the controls and legs very ergonomic and easy to use. I’d suggest always extending the bottom leg a few inches so that mud and sand can easily be wiped off before retracting the leg. The graduation scale on the lower legs is a unique feature, but I prefer to just use the tripod’s level and manually adjust the legs as needed. . CONCLUSION: . This is a really great tripod for $150. It’s perfect for travel, being light and relatively compact, yet it certainly doesn’t compromise on performance. You can tailor the head to your needs or just use what is supplied. The Sirui ball head works very well. The legs can be easily removed with just a few more turns on the twist locks, making cleaning the legs a breeze. Just keep an eye on those thin clear plastic caps! . I have no complaints and am glad I swapped from Benro. Highly recommended!

After 4 years of use I can attest to the build and usability of this tripod. Unlike my previous travel tripod, which had legs that were hard to deploy, the Sirui 7C has release clips that are both easy to access and allow the release of the locked legs. The tripod folds up to a very small size, yet can be extended for those times where height is needed. I have used the 7C extensively on the beach and in the mountains. Being so light, I don't mind taking it along.

this has been a great tripod to use. all the adjustments are solid and its not too heavy to carry all day

Bought this to be my go to tripod and also take it traveling. Construction is high quality, the ball head is very well made, the additional security of the button release plate is nice. The ball socket appears to be delrin and the lock bolt does not tighten directly onto the ball as some of the cheaper tripods do (which mars the ball on those cheaper tripods inhibiting smoothness). The twist-locks are awesome and do not require any more torque than is fast and comfortable. The legs are channeled to not rotate within each other for easy lock/unlock of the twist-locks. I went with this one over the 5C because it has a reverie column and the steel feet. Both the steel and rubber feet are extremely well made. The steel feet are well machined and finished stainless steel and they lock nicely with a hole to insert a tool in for tightening. The rubber feet include an o-ring to tighten them against and are very securely mounted. The rubber used is not a very hard rubber and does not slide on smooth surfaces.

I did a lot of research on tripods and this one came up alot. Carrying bag makes it easy to travel with. The ball head holds my r8 and ef 70-200mm 2.8 v2 with ease. Never drops and feels safe when quickly moving around to get the shot. Quickly switches to monopod and still lightweight and stable. Recommended for all level of photographers.

Utilisé en sortie avec un petit télescope de 5 kg positionné à 1 mètre de hauteur. Le pied étant léger, il est un peu flexible. Mais les pieds peuvent s’ouvrir à différents angles (40º, 80º …) et le mode 80º permet d’obtenir une très bonne stabilité même avec 5 kg en hauteur. Les pieds en caoutchouc glissent légèrement dans cette configuration et l’emprise au sol est conséquente. Le réglage de la longueur des pieds est très facile (tourner légèrement la bague pour débloquer / bloquer). Une fois le bon équilibre trouvé, la séance de 3 heures qui a suivi a permis de réaliser de très belles photos du ciel profond (jusqu’à une magnitude 15 pour 30 minutes d’exposition) Et le sac léger avec bretelle fourni facilite les déplacements

Tamaño ideal para maleta cabina avion. Tripode ligero y resistente. Usado en febrero, en Lofoten. Perfecto.

Gostei muito. Atendeu 100% minhas expectativas.

Excellent Packing The tripod was packed amazingly well in two carboard boxes, two plastic bags and bubbled wrapped. Tripod The tripod was easy to setup. All the legs extended well. Also included were 3 metal spikes and 3 adjustment (spanners?). Did not need instruction manual to set it up. Form factor very compact. The knobs were fluid and well designed. The overall 1st impression in terms of engineering, design and finish, is that of quality. Will use it on the field and update the review..