Well, that didn’t last very long.
A few weeks ago I made a video talking about my “solution” for a travel tripod. I chose to use this Ulanzi MT-33 instead of my Peak Design carbon fiber travel tripod.
And to be fair, most of the features of this compact flexible tripod worked as intended, so maybe it might still be of use in certain situations.
But when I took this Ulanzi MT-33 on my trip to Morioka in northern Japan, nature quickly exposed its fatal flaw.
So backing up a little…
I made a video talking about what I look for in a travel tripod. Things like: weight, compactness, and ease of use.
I compared the beautiful -and expensive- Peak Design Travel Tripod to this cheap Ulanzi MT-33.
In case you’re curious about that comparison, you can check out the video I did previously.
I thought I could work within the limitations of the Ulanzi, and decided to take it on my trip.
The Ulanzi -is- good for vlogging. You can fold up the legs and use it like a selfie stick.
That worked as intended.
But while I headed north on my vacation, Mother Nature decided to throw a big typhoon my way.
The typhoon didn’t actually hit Morioka, but having it pass by to the south generated a fair amount of wind.
Not hurricane level gusts or anything. It actually felt like a nice, strong breeze to cool down the summer heat.
But that wind is where the Ulanzi failed.
With my GH7 and small microphone on top of the MT-33, it would catch -any- wind, even a gentle breeze, and start to wobble.
I didn’t notice while I was out shooting, but when I got home and edited my video, I realized that I had a lot of shaky footage because the camera was acting like a sail on top of the flexible legs.
Now maybe for photos with high shutter speeds, or if you’re in a windless environment for video, maybe it’ll work. But for outdoor use, you really can’t tell when nature will decide to NOT cooperate.
So, lesson learned the hard way. I’m not taking this on any more trips.
The last thing you want is to get back from a vacation and find that your videos are ruined.
It was back to searching for a travel tripod, and then I noticed a number of YouTubers using the PGYTech Mantispod.
After watching a bunch of reviews, I decided to pick up a version 2 Mantispod for myself.
The Mantispod folds up even smaller than the Ulanzi MT-33, and it has rigid legs that should not be susceptible to wind vibration.
It can’t be wrapped around an object like the MT-33, but honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable enough with wrapping the Ulanzi’s legs around a branch and hanging my expensive GH7 off a tree.
The unique feature of the Mantispod is this hook that folds out — thus giving it the “mantis” name. You can use the hook to hang it off a chair, a wall, or a fence when you need some height, and it seems more secure than wrapping the Ulanzi around a tree.
I bought the Mantispod version without a head, and just put a small ballhead on it that I already had.
So this is what I’m taking on my trip to Hokkaido next month.
Affiliate links:
・PGYTech Mantispod 2.0 https://amzn.to/47ohQ7f
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