I hate carrying things. I try to keep my photography kit as light and minimal as possible, but sometimes (well, a lot of the time) I need a tripod.
Travel tripods are usually an exercise in deciding which compromise will annoy me least. The lightest models can feel flimsy, the reassuringly solid ones are too heavy to carry all day, and the clever designs that balance both often come with a price that makes me reconsider whether I really need a tripod at all.
So when I got a chance to test the Heipi 3-in-1 W28S Travel Tripod, I jumped at it. A lightweight carbon fiber tripod with all the bells and whistles, but for half the price of Peak Design’s version – sounds great!
Its defining feature is the unusual three-pillar center column. Pull it out and it becomes a second, aluminum mini tripod, complete with adjustable leg angles and accessory threads.
The supplied low-profile ball head reveals a spring-loaded smartphone holder hidden beneath its Arca-type plate. And at 1.4kg, it is light enough to travel; it folds to 45cm long and just 7.5cm across, yet reaches 152cm and carries a quoted 20kg payload.
In our review, my colleague Matthew Richards called it “very good value for a tricked-up carbon fiber travel tripod,” and that is where the W28S really wins me over.
It costs $399 / £349, compared with $599 / £599 for Peak Design’s carbon fiber Travel Tripod and $900 / £800 for the newer Peak Design Pro Tripod. Peak Design’s models remain beautifully engineered and more polished, but the Heipi offers an enormous amount of functionality for considerably less.
It is not flawless. The 12 fliplocks on the legs are stiff and slower to open individually, while the 5-section legs taper to fairly spindly 14mm lower sections.
Our tests found some flex and vibration near maximum height, although Matthew still judged it “more sturdy and rigid than many travel tripods on the market.” The mini tripod can also flex when its legs are spread especially wide.
However, in my endless quest for something light enough to pack, solid enough to trust and more reasonably priced, the W28S balances all three better than almost anything else I have seen. My travel tripod search might finally be over.
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