The Polaroid Mod may share a similar nostalgic look to the rest of the analog camera maker's lineup, but the Mod packs an unusual focus: A set of creative modes designed for experimenting without the complexity of full manual mode.

A turn of the dial takes the Mod from a standard auto mode to double exposures, split shots, light paintings, and a mix between long exposure and flash.

But perhaps the Polaroid Mod’s biggest trick is this: I think Polaroid has somehow managed to create a creative analog camera that will delight both new photographers and seasoned experts. Take a quick look at the camera in my guided tour video below:

Polaroid Mod: Specifications

Polaroid Mod: Price

The Polaroid Mod is coming first to the US, with an October 6th ship date, before arriving to additional countries in early 2027.

The Mod lists for $169.99 / £149.99. That slots the instant camera in between the Polaroid Now+ Gen 2 and the Polaroid Flip.

Film should always be a key pricing consideration for any instant camera. Polaroid’s i-Type film typically costs $18.99 / £15.90 for eight exposures – that’s about $2.25 / £1.98 per photo.

Polaroid Mod: Build and Handling

The Polaroid Mod has the classic and endearingly retro shape that I’ve come to expect from Polaroid, with a large base the film sits in, tapering up to an optical viewfinder.

That classic design is far from pocketable – and less compact than Polaroid’s options that use the smaller Go format film. But the camera isn’t terribly heavy, and it comes with a surprisingly high-quality rope-style neck strap for carrying.

The Mod sits in the middle of Polaroid’s range – and the controls reflect that. The Mod is built around the concept of introducing creative modes in a way that’s nearly as simple as using auto scene modes. The Mod’s modes allow photographers who may not even know the definition of shutter speed to try shots like light painting.

Those modes are built into a dial around the camera lens. While the Mod doesn’t have manual modes, there is a dial for exposure compensation to help control how light or dark a shot is. On the opposite side of the lens is the shutter release.

At the back of the camera, a miniature screen shows a tally of the number of shots remaining (or, in the case of the double exposure and split mode, the shot number that you’re on). Two buttons nearby control the flash and self-timer.

Film loads into a door at the bottom of the camera. Loading is fairly straightforward – load with the protective film face up and the rainbow tab facing out towards the front of the camera.

The camera has a rechargeable battery using USB-C. That battery is rated for up to 15 packs of film.

Rather than Polaroid’s typical bright colors, the Mod takes on a more classic black and silver design. I think it’s quite eye-catching!

Polaroid Mod: Performance

The Polaroid Mod is built around experimental creative photography. Turn the mode dial from Off to Auto, and you can get a classic, straightforward Polaroid like this:

But that’s about as normal as the Mod gets – the rest of the four modes around the dial are built for experimental, creative photography.

Double exposure combines two shots on one classic Polaroid frame. This mode is limited to two shots – you can’t, for example, take triple exposures – but opens up a lot of fun experimental shots.

Split mode uses an accessory that comes with the Mod – a lens cover that only covers half the lens. In this split mode, you place the cover on one half of the lens, take a shot, then move the cover to the other half of the lens and take another shot to combine two photos into one frame.

Light painting mode uses a longer six-second exposure to blur moving light sources – like traffic on a city street, or moving around a sparkler or flashlight. This mode requires a tripod, or placing the camera on a table or another surface to hold it steady.

Motion freeze combines a longer, three-second exposure with a burst from the flash at the end. This mode is built to be shot while moving the camera during that exposure. The result is that any light sources create blurred streaks while the subject is sharply lit with that burst from the flash. It’s a creative effect that works best when there are a lot of light sources in the background – like city lights or string lights.

Motion freeze also works using a bright, colored video light on the subject to put both a blurred subject and a sharp subject in the same shot. That's the technique that I tried, but my video light wasn't quite strong enough, so the effect is more subtle:

The Polaroid Mod makes it refreshingly simple to get in-camera creative effects on analog with a twist of the dial. Part of the joy of instant photography is happy accidents – and putting experimental modes into a twist of the dial is bound to create more of those unexpectedly wonderful results.

Waiting for the photo to appear on the film is part of that experience, building anticipation. It was almost physically painful to wait for the instant film to develop and see how the shots turned out.

Using the creative modes doesn’t necessarily require an in-depth understanding of photography. I think you can get some creative shots with the Mod if you have no idea what terms like aperture and shutter speed mean.

But while creators don’t need to know the photography jargon, the best shots come from understanding each mode and how to get the best results. Polaroid includes a paper guide in the box that includes essential tips, such as using a tripod for the light painting mode, that creators will want to revisit often.

The Mod’s creative modes are the antidote to increasingly over-perfected modern photography. That said, like most creative endeavors, expect some failures. I used two packs of film in the Mod, and I liked about half of those shots. That’s not bad considering the experimental format, but when every shot costs about $2 / £2, those failed experiments can add up.

I ran into three challenges that tended to create a few failed experiments. First, if you turn the flash off, it automatically turns back on for the next shot – including for the second shot in the double exposures and split frame modes. I forgot to turn the flash off again for the second shot more than once.

Second, the Mod’s viewfinder has some parallax errors – photography jargon that means that the viewfinder isn’t entirely accurate because it’s placed in a slightly different position from the lens. Parallax errors also tend to be exaggerated when shooting up close. The parallax made it particularly challenging to precisely line up double exposures and split shots.

Finally, the Mod – and instant photography in general – doesn’t always get the exposure right. The Mod uses an f/11 lens – even in fairly good lighting, like shooting in the shade, the camera wants to use the flash, and if you turn it off, you might get some blur or a shot that’s too dark. I got a handful of shots that were overly bright, and I would have preferred my long exposures and motion freezes to be a bit brighter.

The Polaroid Mod is an analog camera built for taking unusual, experimental shots. While experimental photography will also include some missed shots, the Mod makes experimenting with photography simple and fun.

Polaroid Mod: Verdict

The Polaroid Mod rebels in a world of over-Photoshoped photographs and AI-generated images. The Mod doesn’t want to be perfect – it wants to be fun – and Polaroid’s latest camera deserves that word.

The Mod is the Polaroid camera to choose if you want an analog film camera for experimenting – without the cost and complexity of fully loaded, manual-mode-capable cameras like the Polaroid I-2.

It’s not quite perfect; exposures are sometimes off, and I’m a bit annoyed that you have to turn the flash off for every shot. But my biggest annoyance says a lot about the camera: Experimental photography means inevitable failures, so photographers need to be willing to grab a few packs of film.

While film is a bit pricey, I think the Mod itself sits at a great price point. It's a more affordable option that still has room to experiment without the price of the Polaroid I-2.

The Polaroid Mod is the camera for creators unafraid of experimenting.

Polaroid Mod: Alternatives

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For more analog inspiration, browse the best instant cameras or the best hybrid instant cameras.

The original 3 Legged Thing Lexie solved the problem with its universal design. Thanks to easy adjustability, you could tailor it to fit just about any camera in just a couple of minutes. One size really does fit all. I’ve been using one for years and didn’t really think it could be improved upon. I was wrong. The new Lexie QD adds a Quick Detach socket and is an even better fit for the 3 Legged Thing XPAND system, which I’ll come to a bit later. The new Lexie definitely has her eyes on the prize for being one of the best L-brackets on the market, as well as one of the most adaptable and versatile.

3 Legged Thing Lexie QD: Specifications

3 Legged Thing Lexie QD: Price

Everything’s going up in price nowadays, even more so when a ‘new and improved’ replacement comes along. Bucking the trend in a surprisingly budget-friendly move, the new Lexie QD costs $60 / £50 / AU$129. That’s pretty remarkable, considering that the original version of the Lexie universal L-bracket still lists for a more expensive $65 / £60 / AU$138 (although you might be able to pick up one of the last few remaining on special offer if you’re quick). Either way, I reckon the new Lexie QD is excellent value for money, if the features, build quality and performance all hold up. Let’s find out…

3 Legged Thing Lexie QD: Design & Handling

Some people like bright colors; others prefer to go to the dark side. The Lexie QD caters to different tastes, being made in alternative orange and black options. Both are engineered from aerospace-grade magnesium alloy, with stainless steel QD sockets and screws, and anodized in their respective colors. Naturally, the different colorways match up with 3 Legged Thing’s tripods, monopods, heads, and other accessories in its extensive catalog.

The base plate is where all of the new design work and re-engineering is focused. Instead of having a strap loop at one end, the new plate features an XPAND Triple Axis Slot instead, plus a new QD socket in its main body. More on those later.

As far as I can tell, the upright plate is identical to that of the original Lexie, which is no bad thing. It has a similar connection system to the one featured at the outer end of the base plate, but placed at both the top and the bottom of the upright. There’s also a cutout on one side for cable management. Continuing the ‘universal’ theme of the L-bracket, you can position the cutout in any of four different placements, tailoring it for the best fit.

To adjust the length of the base plate to suit your camera and to connect the base plate and upright together, there are two different sizes of hex-head screws. A third size is used for the camera mounting screw. My only slight niggle is that while 3 Legged Thing supplies a neat dual-size hex key in the kit, there’s also a separate, more basic hex key in the pack for adjusting the length of the base plate. Naturally, this means carrying an extra hex key around with you if you need to alter the base plate length for a different camera. I’d have preferred to see the smart 3 Legged Thing Toolz2 included in the kit, which features all three sizes of 4mm, 3mm, and 2.5mm hex keys, plus a coin key, bottle opener, and both carabiner and keyring attachments. It’s a great little gadget, well worth the extra $8 / £8 / AU$11 to buy it separately.

Crucially, the base plate and upright join together with a really firm and secure fit, so there’s no hint of wobbling or unsteadiness. In the shortest configuration of the base plate, the upright fits flush to one side, as shown in the image below.

To ensure universal appeal, the extendable inner part of the base plate has no fewer than seven alternative screw holes. You can rest assured that it won’t pull out too far and drop off when making adjustments, thanks to two additional safety screws that you can see in the following image.

Whereas the base plate of the original Lexie had two slots for securing a camera, the QD edition has just one. That certainly shouldn’t be a problem and, again, it comes with a stainless steel ‘Stagsden’ camera mounting screw (Stagsden being the historic home village of 3 legged Thing in the UK). The screw can be fastened with either a coin key or a hex key, but there’s no D-ring for just using a finger and thumb.

Shown just next to my thumb in the image below is the new stainless steel QD (Quick Detach) socket. If the system is new to you, it’s a type of quick and easy yet extremely secure fixing that’s used by an increasing number of companies (including NASA, for securing cargo on space rockets). A simple press of a button is all you need to release whatever’s plugged into the socket.

A good choice for the socket in the base plate is one of the 3 Legged Thing Axis camera straps, which include neck, crossbody, harness, wrist, and backpack options. This enables you to quickly and easily swap between shooting handheld with a neck strap or wrist strap, or removing the strap so that it doesn’t dangle down when mounting the L-bracket on a tripod or other support.

With the base plate and upright joined together, there are XPAND Triple Axis Slots at both free ends of the L-bracket, as shown in the image below. These are fully compatible with the 3 Legged Thing XPAND system. If you need an introduction, it’s a system that features cheese plates, risers, and other magnesium alloy components, so that you can build your own fully customized cage or rig. It’s a bit like Meccano for camera supports. The base plate and upright also feature additional 1/4-inch threaded sockets for attaching the likes of magic arms, LED lamps, mics, and other accessories.

By way of example, when I used the Lexie QD with my Sony A7 III camera, I extended the sliding inner part of the base plate so that the third threaded socket was used for locking the upright in place. You’ll notice this in the image below, which also shows the two 1/4-inch threaded sockets for attaching accessories.

A problem when using any L-bracket is that the various connectivity ports of your camera can become inaccessible because they’re obscured by the upright’s metalwork. With so many different makes and models of cameras on the market, this can be more of a problem with a ‘universal’ L-bracket that isn’t designed for a specific body. However, I found that all of the ports of my Sony camera were accessible, and that I could open and close the weather flaps with the camera fixed to the L-bracket.

The final item in the kit of parts is a drawstring pouch. It’s nicely made, bears the 3 Legged Thing logo, and is useful for stashing the L-bracket and its incumbent tools when they’re not in use.

3 Legged Thing Lexie QD: Performance

I’ve always been impressed by 3 Legged Thing’s dedicated L-brackets. Designed for use on specific camera bodies, they’re made from a single piece of magnesium alloy. As such, there are no separate parts with joints between them that are potential weak points. These dedicated L-brackets are wonderfully rigid and inflexible.

My worry with the Lexie QD is that it’s basically two separate plates joined together. Actually, make that three plates if you include the sliding inner part of the base plate, which enables the ‘universal’ fit. My concerns turned out to be unfounded, as I found that the Lexie QD remained incredibly robust and resistant to any unwanted flexing or twisting when assembled and in use.

Any weakness or wobble in the joints becomes more apparent when shooting in portrait orientation rather than landscape orientation. In this configuration, the upright is mounted on the tripod, and the camera is still mounted to the base plate, putting more stress on the joint that connects everything. Throughout my extensive testing with different camera models and different sizes and weights of attached lenses, I found that the Lexie QD remained absolutely stable and rigid.

Finally, the Arca-Swiss profile of both the base plate and upright enables quick and easy swapping between portrait- and landscape-orientation shooting, as well as maintaining an ideal balance. And that’s really the main point of an L-bracket, after all.

3 Legged Thing Lexie QD: Verdict

In the land of L-brackets, I think that Lexie QD is the reigning queen of versatility. It’s not just that the new 3 Legged Thing bracket is universal and able to quickly and easily adapt to fit almost any camera. And it’s not just that the Lexie QD combines effortless adaptability with rock-solid support and robust, rigid performance that never falters or flexes. The upgrades that elevate the QD edition above the original version are that versatility is taken to new dimensions.

First up, the addition of a QD (Quick Detach) socket makes it effortless to swap between tripod-mounted shooting in either landscape or portrait orientation, and handheld shooting with the security of a 3 Legged Thing Axis camera strap that simply plugs into the QD socket. You can also add other compatible accessories to the QD socket, and it’s equally quick and easy to detach them again, as its name implies.

Secondly, there’s also enhanced compatibility with the 3 Legged Thing XPAND system, going a fair way beyond what was possible with the original version of the L-bracket. That’s thanks to XPAND Triple Axis Slots being featured on the spare end of the base plate, instead of just on both ends of the upright. To seal the deal, the Lexie QD costs even less to buy than the original, making it great value for money.

Alternatives

The Birdfy Feeder Metal combines a traditional bird feeder with a built-in 1080p camera, motion detection, app connectivity, and AI-powered bird identification. In theory, that gives you a front-row seat to everything visiting the feeder, with notifications sent directly to your phone whenever activity is detected.

What surprised me most, however, was how quickly the Birdfy Feeder Metal stopped feeling like another connected gadget and started becoming part of my daily routine. I would genuinely find myself stopping what I was doing when a notification arrived, curious to see whether one of my regular visitors had returned or something completely different had finally discovered the feeder.

Birdfy Feeder Metal: Specifications

Birdfy Feeder Metal: Build and handling

My first impression of the Birdfy Feeder Metal was simply how well-made it felt. I was genuinely blown away by the construction when I first took it out of the box. The metal body gives it a substantial, reassuring feel, and everything from the feeder itself to the camera housing and mounting hardware feels far more premium than I expected from what is, ultimately, a smart bird feeder.

The design has also been very well thought out. I particularly liked the adjustable perch area at the front of the feeder, which can be positioned closer to the feeder for smaller, more traditional garden birds or pushed farther out to accommodate larger visitors. It is a simple piece of design, but one that makes the feeder considerably more adaptable depending on the birds you tend to see in your garden.

Mounting is similarly flexible. Birdfy includes options for attaching the feeder to either a pole or a wall-style fixture, with the latter also working very effectively when mounting it to a tree. I installed mine onto an established apple tree in the garden, and the entire mounting process was refreshingly straightforward. There was no complicated assembly and, once secured, the feeder felt reassuringly solid.

Setting up the camera itself is just as easy. Everything is handled through the Birdfy app, where you simply scan the QR code associated with your product and allow the app to guide you through the setup process. Beyond registering the extended warranty if you want it, the only other major consideration is activating Birdfy's AI bird identification service.

My review model was the AI Lifetime Free edition, which costs around $20 / £20 more than the version that uses AI through a subscription. Personally, I think the lifetime option makes a great deal of sense if you expect to use the feeder for several years, particularly because the AI recognition becomes such an integral part of the overall experience.

Birdfy Feeder Metal: Performance

Once the feeder was installed on my chosen garden tree and connected to Wi-Fi, everything could be monitored through the Birdfy app. Battery and solar charging status are clearly displayed, along with your recorded footage, notifications, and any birds that the AI system has identified.

It took roughly a day before the birds in my garden became comfortable with the new feeder. After that, however, I seemingly had birds coming out of my ears. Push notifications started appearing regularly, and I quickly found that adjusting the motion sensitivity helped tailor exactly how often the camera was triggered.

This is where the Birdfy experience really begins to shine. The app doesn't simply throw hundreds of random video clips into a folder. Instead, recordings are organized through a calendar, allowing you to immediately see which days activity was captured. There is also a dedicated bird data section showing which species have visited and how frequently.

During my review period, a European Robin and a Great Tit became my most regular visitors. Selecting either species within the app immediately presented me with the corresponding photos and video clips from each recorded visit, complete with the time they appeared. It sounds like a small feature, but it makes searching through recordings incredibly simple and means you can get straight to the footage you actually want to see.

Recorded observations can also be shared directly from the app. Photos and 1080p video clips can be sent across social media or through messaging applications such as WhatsApp. I made frequent use of this feature to send clips to my bird-mad mother, which led me to another feature I particularly enjoyed: shared access.

You can invite friends or family members to access the feeder, meaning they can also receive notifications and follow what is happening. My mother lives around 400 miles away from me, yet she can now receive notifications showing which birds have visited my garden in Cornwall. For families with a shared interest in wildlife, I think that adds an unexpectedly personal element to the Birdfy experience.

There are a couple of things to consider before deciding where to install it. The camera is kept charged through the solar panel built into the feeder's roof, so access to daylight is important. My apple tree is mature and fairly substantial, but it still allows enough light through that I could see the camera receiving charge through the Birdfy app every day.

It rarely reached 100% during my testing, but there was always enough charge to keep the system operating without causing me any concern. If your chosen location is particularly shaded, you can remove the camera module from the feeder and charge it indoors using USB Type-C. That means you won't suddenly be left with an unusable camera, although regularly removing it to charge would inevitably detract slightly from what is otherwise a very hands-off experience.

My other slight complaint is the styling. The Birdfy Feeder Metal comes in a very bright lime green and white color combination, which certainly makes it stand out. Personally, I would have preferred something a little more subdued that blended more naturally into the garden. Birdfy appears to have recognized this with some of its newer models, which are available in much darker green finishes.

Image quality from the 1080p camera is perfectly suited to what this product is designed to do. You're not buying the Birdfy Feeder Metal as an alternative to a dedicated wildlife photography setup, but the footage is clear enough to identify birds easily, enjoy their behavior, and share clips with friends and family.

Interestingly, the motion detection isn't exclusively limited to birds either. During testing, the camera occasionally captured my dogs wandering through the frame as well as people entering and leaving the garden. I certainly wouldn't describe the Birdfy as a replacement for a dedicated security camera, but the fact that it can occasionally capture wider garden activity does offer a little additional reassurance.

Birdfy Feeder Metal: Sample Images

Sample Video: Birdfy Feeder Metal

Birdfy Feeder Metal: Verdict

The Birdfy Feeder Metal turned out to be considerably more enjoyable than I expected. I already enjoyed feeding the birds in my garden, but I had never really thought about monitoring them throughout the day. After spending time with Birdfy, I now find myself genuinely excited when a notification appears to tell me that one of my regular visitors has returned or a new bird has been spotted.

There is something surprisingly relaxing about sitting down with a coffee at the end of a busy day and scrolling through the recordings of everything that has visited the garden while I've been working. The AI identification, calendar organization, species data, and sharing features all make that experience remarkably easy, rather than turning it into another app filled with endless recordings that you have to manually sort through.

The excellent construction also means this doesn't feel like a disposable gadget. From the metal body and adjustable perch to the versatile mounting system and integrated solar charging, the Birdfy Feeder Metal feels as though it has been designed by people who have genuinely thought about how it will be used outdoors.

You do need to think carefully about where you install it if you want the solar charging system to work effectively, and I would certainly welcome some more discreet color options. Those points aside, I found very little to dislike.

For anyone who loves birds, watches garden wildlife, or simply wants a different way to experience what is happening outside their window, the Birdfy Feeder Metal is a fantastic device. It would also make a brilliant gift for the bird lover in your life, particularly because it manages to combine something genuinely useful with the simple excitement of seeing exactly who has turned up for breakfast.

Though the name on the box and the camera body is Kodak, the EC35 is in fact a product of brand licensee Reto Project. Reto has engineered a number of Kodak-branded successes in recent years. Most prominent has been the keychain-sized Kodak Charmera, a massive viral hit on Instagram, but in the analog space we’ve also seen the half-frame point-and-shoot Kodak Ektar H35N, and the slightly more swanky full-frame point-and-shoot Kodak Snapic A1, with its automatic wind-on and three-element glass lens.

So, with its rock-bottom price tag, where does the Kodak EC35 fit into this picture? I loaded it up with film and headed out to learn more…

Price

Cheap like the proverbial chips, the Kodak EC35 comes at an asking price of just $35 / £35 (about AU$55) for the camera on its own, or $45 / £45 (about AU$63) when bundled with film and a camera strap. That puts it as one of the cheapest new film compacts around – cheaper even than Reto’s half-frame Kodak Ektar H35N, which goes for $52 / £67, and considerably cheaper than the flashier Kodak Snapic A1, which sits at $99 / £99 (about AU$138).

Specs

Build & handling

At a feather weight of 102g, the Kodak EC35 is made for one-handed operation and pocket transportation. Dimensions-wise it’s absolutely perfect for carrying around on city-breaks and day trips, a camera you can easily have about your person all the time and pull out at a moment’s notice. Since all settings are fixed, controls are very minimal – the only button on the top plate is the shutter release.

Film is wound on via a disposable-style geared wheel, and rewound using a flip-out lever. A switch on the front is used to toggle the flash, which is powered via AA batteries – these are only needed for the flash, and the camera will operate just fine without them. Open up the back and film is loaded on the right-hand side – simply thread the sprockets into the take-up spool and you’re away. There’s a very small shot counter on the bottom of the camera, which in bright daylight I found a little hard to see, but it’s not a serious problem.

I’ve already alluded to the camera’s most immediately striking feature – its sliding lens cover, which hearkens back to any number of classic analog compacts, particularly those made by Olympus. I look at this camera and I think of cameras like the Mju, or my beloved XA2 with its clamshell-style cover. And it’s not purely aesthetic – this may sound obvious, but the cover serves the useful purpose of actually protecting the lens, something that most similarly priced compacts aren’t bothered about. Also, when the cover is closed, the shutter won’t fire, and I am exactly the sort of person that kind of feature is made for, so I am grateful.

I’d also say a word to commend the color options here. Reto is keenly aware of the power of aesthetics, and one of the reasons that so many of its Kodak-branded cameras have been so successful is because they’re, well, cute. The EC35 comes in a broad selection of lovely, pastel color options – I was genuinely a tiny bit disappointed to receive the Midnight Black as my sample unit, when I might have had the stunning Butter Yellow. Also available are: Avocado Green, Vanilla White, Powder Blue, Blush Pink and Lavender. A small thing, perhaps, but in my view it demonstrates how well Reto knows its target market.

Performance

I knew that the Kodak EC35 was a very cheap camera, and so I tempered my expectations accordingly – but even so, the low-quality plastic lens on the front of this camera does put a pretty hard limit on what you can achieve with it. Detail gets muddy quickly at any distance, and corner sharpness is almost non-existent.

The fixed settings of 1/100sec and f/10 are standard fare for a point-and-shoot. The 25mm lens is fixed-focus with a minimum distance of 1.5m – so mind you don’t get too close to your subjects. The more sophisticated and expensive Kodak Snapic A1 provides two-zone focusing, but there’s none of that here.

Now, as I’ve said ad nauseum, the Kodak EC35 is a very cheap film camera. But here’s the thing – film itself is not cheap. Developing is not cheap, whether you do it at home or hand it off to a lab. For this reason, ultra-cheap film cameras feel to me like a bit of a false economy. The more film I shoot, the more the $60 or so I saved by buying the Kodak EC35 rather than the Kodak Snapic A1 is eclipsed – and it should be said that the superior glass lens on the Snapic A1 takes much better pictures.

I would say that if you’re looking to shoot film on the cheap, the half-frame Kodak Ektar H35N is a much better investment. It’s about $20 more expensive than the EC35, but it’ll give you double the shot count from the same roll of 36 frames. Sure, they’re smaller, but I don’t think that full-frame images from the EC35 look much better than half-frame images from the H35N, especially given that the latter camera has a glass element in its lens.

Sample images

These sample images were shot on Kodak ColorPlus 200 film using the Kodak EC35 camera, in Valencia and London from late summer 2026 to early fall 2026. They were developed at box speed using the standard C41 process.

Overall verdict

The Kodak EC35 is fun. Its colors are fun, its retro look is fun, its point-and-shoot operation makes it fun for anyone to use. It’s at its best when you embrace its lo-fi vibe, rather than worrying about image quality – since you’re not going to get much. But with film as expensive as it is, you have to really, really like the lo-fi vibe for this camera to be worth it, even with its rock-bottom asking price.

I think this is a cute camera for anyone looking to try out film for the first time, even if I would try to gently steer that person towards the half-frame Ektar H35N. But I have difficulty imagining many people using it long-term. It seems inevitable that after a few months with the Kodak EC35, one of two things will happen. Either you chafe against its limitations and upgrade to a higher-quality camera that gives you more creative control – or the novelty wears off, the price you’re paying for these blurry shots starts to bite, and the camera makes its way to the bottom of the cupboard.

Alternatives

Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160 is a rebranded version of a very famous and popular film stock, the legendary Kodak Portra 160 (as are the other versions of Ektacolor with higher ISO ratings). The reason for its appearance and its natty rebranding is that the original Eastman Kodak company has managed to bring some of its film manufacture back in-house, following years of financial turbulence that saw its film stock being distributed by Kodak Alaris – a separate private equity-owned division that was divested from Eastman Kodak in 2013.

Having somewhat reversed its financial fortunes, Eastman Kodak is ready to make films again – but Alaris still owns the name ‘Portra’. So, one of Kodak’s most popular color films gets a quick rebrand, a snazzy new box – and a slight but much-needed price discount.

Specs

Price & availability

Eastman Kodak has set the price of Ektacolor a little below that of its more famous Alaris sibling. Currently, you can get hold of Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160 for around $14.59 / £15.45 per roll – Portra 160, when you can find it, tends to go for around $21.99 / £20 for a single roll, so that’s a not-inconsiderable saving.

Availability, however, is more of an issue. Word is starting to spread that Ektacolor is Portra by another name, and stock drops tend to be hoovered up quite quickly – I’ve got into the habit of signing up to be notified so that I can pick some up the instant a fresh drop arrives, so to be fair, you could call me part of the problem.

So, while it’s cheaper than Portra, it’s considerably pricier than other color films like Kodak ColorPlus 200 ($8.49 / £9.90) or Kodak Kodacolor 200 ($8.99 / £9.99). Overall it sits somewhere in the mid-range – not so expensive that you’d be precious about shooting it, but not cheap enough to be considered a budget film.

Performance

Portra is perpetually one of Instagram’s favorite films, and it’s not hard to see why. Its color reproduction is absolutely stunning – vivid and crisp, but also pleasingly natural for the most part. Sure, those blue skies might be a shade deeper than you remember them, those pink flower petals a little more vivid, but it never looks overblown or unnatural. Skin tones are also soft, subtle and pleasing; it’s an excellent choice for portraiture.

With an ISO rating of 160, this strain of Ektacolor is a daylight film – at its best when the sun is high in the sky and there’s plenty of light to go around. Its grain is incredibly fine – not quite as non-existent as Kodak’s famously sharp Ektar 100, but make no mistake, this is a clean, sharp film.

Portra is also well-known for its exposure latitude, and Ektacolor Pro 160 did not disappoint. Even in harsh, directional light, you’ll find that the film tends to deliver a well-balanced exposure with plenty of detail in highlights and shadows – opening up lots of interesting possibilities if you’re someone who likes to edit your scans in Lightroom or similar software. This is especially useful if you want to tweak your tones a little following a bit of a dull day light-wise.

The film still looks good if you decide to blow out the highlights for artistic effect, while if you go the other way and happen to underexpose, it still holds out pretty well, with no unsightly colour shifts. Shooting in a range of lighting conditions on some quite changeable days, I found that Ektacolor Pro 160 delivered pleasing results again and again.

Sample images

These images were shot on Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160, using a Pentax ME Super with a 50mm f/1.2 lens and a Canon EOS 300 with a 28-90mm f/4-5.6 lens. They were shot in London on days when the weather was mostly sunny with some cloud cover. They were exposed and developed at box speed, using the regular C41 process.

Verdict

It’s Kodak Portra at sub-Portra prices. If you’re looking for a sharp, clean, naturalistic daylight film that’ll make colors pop and doesn’t mind a bit of over-exposure, Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160 is your girl. There’s absolutely no reason to buy regular old Portra anymore, not while this cheaper but otherwise identical alternative exists.

I think the only real criticism I can level at Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160 is that if you’re someone who’s into film photography for lo-fi looks, grainy vibes and unexpected chemistry, you might find it a trifle dull. It’s certainly nothing like, say, Harman Phoenix II, which is a genuinely unpredictable film that thrives on dramatic halations and crazy colors. Ultimately, Kodak Ektacolor Pro 160, is a nice-looking, naturalistic film that is well-suited to a broad range of shooting situations. Nothing wrong with that!

Alternatives

Paired with the Leica SL3-S, the Leica's first L-mount macro lens feels every bit as premium as its price suggests, with the sort of build quality, balance and attention to detail I would expect.

Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 Specifications

Mount: L-mount
Full frame: Yes
Autofocus: Yes
Image stabilization: No
Minimum aperture: f/2.8
Minimum focusing distance: 0.95" / 2.41 cm
Optical deisgn: 17 Elements in 12 Groups
Dimensions: 5.4 x 3.03" / 137.2 x 76.96mm
Weight: 28.25 oz / 800.89 g

Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 Build and handling

There is very little about the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 that does not feel Leica-like. The construction feels reassuringly substantial, the controls are beautifully finished, and the lens has the sort of solidity I would expect from an optic designed to spend its life attached to a professional SL body.

Mounted on the Leica SL3-S, it feels extremely well balanced. This is not a tiny or particularly lightweight lens, but neither does it feel unnecessarily cumbersome once attached to the camera. If anything, the additional weight suits the SL3-S nicely and makes the combination feel like a serious professional setup rather than an oversized lens hanging from a smaller body.

One of the most useful controls is the focus limiter positioned on the left-hand side of the barrel. During most of my testing, I initially left the lens operating across its full focusing range, which works perfectly well under normal circumstances.

However, when moving quickly from photographing something in the distance to attempting to focus on a subject very close to the ground, I occasionally found that the lens would hunt as it searched through its enormous focusing range.

Switching the limiter into its 0.3-0.5m close-focus range solved that slight issue almost immediately. Once the lens knew roughly where I wanted it to focus, autofocus became much faster and more decisive, and I experienced none of the hesitation I had encountered while leaving it unrestricted. It is a small control, but one that makes a noticeable difference when working quickly with macro subjects.

Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 Performance

This is where the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 really begins to justify itself. Image quality paired with the SL3-S was outstanding, and I frequently found myself surprised by just how much fine detail the lens was able to resolve.

Even when photographing macro subjects at f/2.8, some of the resulting images appeared at first glance as though they had been shot using something closer to an f/1.4 prime. Backgrounds dissolve beautifully, giving close-up images an almost dreamlike quality, while the subject remains impressively well defined.

It is only when you begin zooming into those files that the real character of the lens becomes apparent. The fine texture of a petal, tiny imperfections on a leaf, and minute surface detail are all reproduced with remarkable clarity. There is a tremendous amount of information within the plane of focus, even when the depth of field itself is extremely shallow.

That combination is what impressed me most. There are plenty of lenses capable of creating attractive background blur, and there are plenty of macro lenses capable of capturing fine detail, but the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 manages to combine the two exceptionally well. Images can look soft and atmospheric from a normal viewing distance while simultaneously containing an extraordinary amount of sharp detail exactly where the lens has focused.

The 100mm focal length also makes considerably more sense once you stop thinking exclusively about macro photography. For portraits, it provides pleasing compression and excellent subject separation, while sports and documentary photographers could equally use it as a conventional medium telephoto before moving immediately into close-up detail shots.

That versatility could prove particularly valuable for photographers trying to tell a wider story. A sports photographer could photograph an athlete from a distance before moving in to capture the texture of their equipment, the stitching of a glove, or another smaller detail. A portrait photographer could move between headshots and close-up images, while nature photographers could switch effortlessly from wider compositions to the intricate patterns found within plants and flowers.

Sample images: Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8

Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 Lab results

We run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.

We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the center of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths. The tests also measure distortion and color fringing (chromatic aberration).

Sharpness:

Sharpness is excellent in the center of frame, from f/2.8 right through to f/11. Equally impressive is how well the lens maintains this sharpness into the corners of the image frame at all apertures.

Fringing:

Fringing is kept consistently low, at all apertures - you won't see any aberrations in real-world shooting.

Distortion: 0.05

This is as close to a zero-distortion lens as you'll find.

Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 Verdict

The Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 is one of those lenses that becomes considerably more interesting once you stop looking at the name on the barrel. Yes, it is an exceptional macro lens, but reducing it to that description would seriously undersell what Leica has produced.

I found it to be an excellent f/2.8 medium telephoto in its own right, capable of producing superb portraits, sports images and detail shots before turning almost instantly into a highly capable macro optic. Paired with the Leica SL3-S, image quality was exceptional, and the resolving power of the combination was, at times, astonishing.

The occasional focus hunting I experienced when moving rapidly between distant and very close subjects was the only real weakness I encountered, but it was also incredibly easy to correct using the focus limiter on the side of the lens. Once set appropriately for close-up work, the autofocus became fast, confident, and reliable.

Price will naturally be the biggest barrier for many photographers; coming in at $2,700 / £2110, there are certainly more affordable macro lenses available. However, I would argue that the APO-Macro-Elmarit-SL 100 f/2.8 should not be judged purely as a macro lens. For photographers who want one extremely high-quality 100mm f/2.8 telephoto capable of portraits, sport, and general photography, while also being able to produce extraordinarily detailed close-up images, this new Leica could be a genuine godsend.

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There are a variety of situations where a dual-camera harness comes in useful, such as professional wedding or sports photographers who need to shoot with multiple cameras, allowing them to quickly swap to another camera with a different lens attached and ready to go.

Dual camera harnesses are nothing new, and I’ve previously reviewed the BlackRapid Blackline II, BlackRapid Double Breathe, and the Coiro Dual straps for Digital Camera World. However, the Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap has a couple of unique features, including the ability to be split in half and be used as a single shoulder sling, in addition to its Arca-Swiss plate design – so without further ado, let’s put it to the test and find out if this is the one you should go for.

Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap: Specifications

Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap: Price

The Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap costs $170 / £100 / AU$220, so how much of a bargain it is depends on whereabouts you're based. In the UK, it's considerably cheaper than Black Rapid’s most popular harness, the Double Breathe, which costs $180 / £150 / AU$270, whereas in the US there's a lot less in it.

The UK price of the Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap is more in line with the Coiro Classic Dual, which costs $98 / £98 / AU$155. That said, the Coiro harness is made from leather straps riveted together and can't be used as a single strap, whereas the Pro 2N1 Strap can, so it's more versatile on that front. I personally think the Coiro strap looks a little more stylish and characterful, which is important for me when shooting weddings. However, being made of leather, it won't be suitable for those who avoid animal products.

If you like the practical functionality of having a dual harness that can be used as single shoulder straps and also has a versatile Arca-Swiss plate design, you won’t be disappointed with the Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap.

There's also a Vanguard Pro Strap designed for a single camera only, which cost $120 / £75 / AU$150.

Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap: Design & Handling

The Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap has a maximum length of 178cm and a strap width of 2.5cm. Impressively, Vanguard claims it can withstand a maximum weight of up to 150 kg – though let’s face it, realistically we’ll be carrying much less than this, even with the heaviest of pro cameras and monster telephoto lenses loaded up.

Tipping the scales at 430g, the Pro 2N1 Strap is almost 100g heavier than the popular BlackRapid Double X Extra Comfort, undoubtedly because there’s a lot of metal hardware on the Vanguard harness, especially around the quick-release mechanisms. On the other hand, it's significantly lighter than the Coiro Classic Dual leather harness, which weighs a hefty 625g.

Padding on the shoulder areas of the Vanguard is fairly thin at 5mm. It also has a rubberized texture on the inside, so it’s less breathable than the BlackRapid. I’ll come on to how comfortable I found it to be in real-world scenarios in the Performance section.

The Pro 2N1 Strap is currently only available in black or a greeny-gray option, which makes it quite utilitarian – as a working wedding photographer myself, I often sacrifice the comfort and features of padded black straps in favor of a leather harness such as those from Coiro, which come in different color options and help to make me ‘look the part’, so I can inject a bit of character into my wedding outfit.

That said, if black is your thing, or you need the dual harness to shoot something like motorsports, this rugged, utilitarian design is almost definitely a better choice for you. It’s also no bad thing that black helps you keep a low profile, which could be desirable for some photographers or videographers.

One of the Pro 2N1 Strap’s party tricks is that it uses Arca-Swiss mounting plates. These require a tool, such as the included hex wrench or a flathead screwdriver or coin to affix to your camera initially, so in practice they take a little longer to remove or attach to your camera than the lugs that come with the Black Rapid and Coiro straps, which can be screwed in tight by hand without any tools. However, once the Vanguard plates are installed, you really have no reason to remove them again due to their versatile Arca-Swiss design, which is universally compatible with many common tripods and monopods.

There are clear real-world benefits for this, including wedding photographers shooting low-light scenes on a tripod and motorsports enthusiasts switching a single monopod between two camera bodies, each loaded with different lenses.

Cameras can be detached from the harness fast using the quick-release buttons, and while this is fast, this actually doesn’t allow the Arca-Swiss connection to be accessed; instead, you need to use the slower thumbscrew to detach your camera from the Arca-Swiss plate, and this felt like a bit of a strange design choice.

There are also two safety tethers included in the box, which loop through points on the harness and connect to the lugs on your camera to add another point of security should your camera accidentally take a tumble.

As you might have guessed by its name, the Pro 2N1 Strap can be split in half and used as two single straps, either going over your left or right shoulder, depending on your preference.

Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap: Performance

One of the most unique aspects of the Vanguard Pro 2N1 is its implementation of Arca-Swiss-compatible camera plates that connect to the harness. While these do feature a quick-release button, this disconnects a larger mechanism, so getting hold of the camera with just the Arca-Swiss plate attached takes longer and requires turning the thumbscrew to detach it from the harness.

However, this is still very speedy to do. As a wedding photographer, I don’t find myself having to faff around with changing tripod plates that often, unless I’m doing something particularly fancy such as a group shot at night where I’ll use a long exposure so that guests can write words with sparklers – here a tripod is essential, though I would say 99% of my wedding shots are taken handheld with them firmly glued to the harness.

But perhaps I’m being unfair – it could well be that the reason I have been reluctant to take them off the harness and use a tripod is that I know how much of a pain it will be to switch over to a tripod plate, slowing me down and potentially resulting in me missing a key moment.

Although I like to ‘run and gun’ most of my weddings using a dual harness, there are certain situations, such as the big family group shots, where using a tripod would be beneficial and ensure consistent framing as family members are swapped in and out, not to mention this would also remove any chance of camera shake creeping in from shooting handheld.

I reckon Vanguard’s Pro 2N1 Strap will be more desirable in the realms of sports and motorsports, where photographers are either shooting handheld or on a tripod, or more likely, a monopod. I can see the ability to switch cameras sharing a single monopod being very handy indeed.

The shoulder pads of the Pro 2N1 Strap have a solid rubberized texture on the inside, which makes them grippy but not breathable, unlike the Black Rapid Sports Breathe, which has holes for ventilation. The grippy texture on the shoulder pads do a good job of keeping the harness in place when you’re on the move, there are also two plastic bumpers on each of the straps that can be adjusted to restrict the range of movement to stop your cameras swinging about too much. This is particularly handy when you need to lean forward or crouch down as it stops the cameras from lurching forward unexpectedly.

Secondary safety tethers are essential on a camera harness to prevent your expensive camera and lenses from crashing to the floor should is slip from your grip once removed from your harness, or in the unlikely scenario that the main connection fails. While the Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap does come with these additional straps, their toggles appeared to pop out of their connectors with a very light touch and I would have been more reassured if it took a bit more force to separate them. That said, they never failed me during testing.

The Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap is pretty much half the price of Black Rapid’s Double Breathe, which is the company’s most popular dual camera harness. Doing a side-by-side comparison, the Vanguard sadly does feel of inferior quality, though it’s a much more budget-friendly option, so that shouldn’t really come as a surprise. The shoulder padding feels thin, basic, and is unventilated, while bringing the cameras up to eye level would often get snagged or caught and weren’t as smooth to glide up to eye-level as on the Black Rapid Double Breathe.

That said, it has nice features like an elasticated sternum strap and there’s no shortage of buckles you can adjust to make sure it fits your build perfectly.

All of the metal components on the Pro 2N1 Strap feel solid and of good quality, so there are no issues here; they feel hefty and built like a tank. However, I have a qualm with the design choice of the quick-release system, which, yes, it disconnects the camera from the harness so you can shoot untethered and handheld – but this doesn’t give you fast access to the Arca-Swiss plate, which requires a separate piece of metal to be unscrewed by a thumbscrew – it just seems like an odd design choice for me. The USP of this product is that Arca-Swiss connection – so why slow down being able to get to it and use it?

Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap: Verdict

You’ll struggle to find a decent double camera harness on the market for less than £100, which makes the Pro 2N1 Strap a really good budget option in the UK, offering great bang for your buck and, if you are limited by strict budgets, you’ll still be treated to some very handy features.

However, the US price of $170 is not quite so competitive, potentially due to higher tarrifs, and this makes it similarly priced to its competition from Black Rapid, which is built better, though doesn't have the flexibility of its Arca-Swiss mounting system.

I’ll make no bones about it – the Pro 2N1 Strap isn’t the most comfortable or best kitted out harness on the market, but it does offer a great set of features at a decent price. In the UK it costs similar money to the Coiro Classic Dual, so if leather products aren’t your thing, the Vanguard Pro 2N1 Strap offers a fantastic alternative.

Alternatives

Sirui is one such company and it has released a number of anamorphic lenses in the past, which have gone down well with the community. The Saturn range in particular seemed to have just the right balance of features, performance and cost.

Another development in filmmaking has reared its head, however, and Sirui is spearheading a change in lens technology to try to fit this – and that is social media. Well, vertical video.

While there are ways to get ‘normal’ footage to work on socials, such as cropping a 16:9 shot or turning the camera to fit the vertical format, it does have some limitations – and they are most obvious for those wishing to publish anamorphic footage.

Frame edges, bokeh shapes and, most obviously, flares just don’t look right when rotating the camera, as the squeeze direction is off by ninety degrees and cropping such a wide image could be problematic when trying to reframe the content.

With this in mind, Sirui has developed the Saturn V2 lenses with a neat feature: the lens / mount can be unlocked and rotated.

I haven’t seen this before and was keen to test it out, while also seeing whether the Saturn V2s are a useful addition to my kit – even without this feature, as image quality and performance on a shoot are just as, if not more, important than a rotating mount.

Having shot with countless lenses over the years, including the Blazar Remus (another lower-cost anamorphic), I opted for an L-Mount set – which consists of a 35mm, 50mm and 75mm T2.9 – to go with my Lumix S5 for a compact, lightweight setup. Sony E and Canon RF options are also available.

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Price & availability

Each of the lenses – the Sirui Saturn V2 35mm T2.9, 50mm T2.9 and 75mm T2.9 – is available for $599 / £529 / AU$749.

The three-lens kit, comprising the entire set, is available for $1,699 / £1,589 / $2,693. While that isn’t a small investment, it does represent excellent value – and includes the hard case, along with a free gift in the form of a Sirui Alien Series Crab Clamp with Magic Arm (worth $29 / £27 / AU$46).

The selection of focal lengths gives you coverage for a broad range of shots and the build quality is even better than the cost might have you believe. Compared to other anamorphic lens sets, you are getting a great deal.

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Specifications

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Design & build

I have the Saturn V2 set, which includes the 35mm, 50mm and 75mm T2.9 in a very nice hard case, with foam cutouts for the lenses and accessories.

The three lenses are identical in dimension except for length, with the 50mm and 75mm gaining a few millimeters extra. All three have gears for both iris and focus, pitched to fit standard follow focus / PIZ motors, and the rings are far enough apart that dual motors should fit.

If you have used the previous version, you won’t be surprised by the form factor. These are compact lenses – much smaller, in girth at least, than your typical cine lenses – barely wider than the L-Mount itself.

They feel great in the hand, too. Weighty and solid, thanks to the metal construction, and finished in a satin charcoal paint, bar a couple of silver rings. Markings are clear in both white for iris and focal distance in meters, and orange for feet.

Each lens ends in a 62mm filter thread so, while you could add a matte box, for a small rig you could save some cash on filters too, as they generally increase in cost with size.

It’s worth noting that the front of the barrel is fixed. The focusing section, which sits behind and partially beneath it, rotates, but there is a section of the front barrel that protrudes over the focus ring.

It doesn’t extend much in radius, and is unlikely to cause any issues, but when focusing by hand you may find yourself coming into contact with it. It may be aesthetically pleasing, but I’d rather it wasn’t there – especially as I can’t see a use for it, other than being a place to label the lens as a 1.6x anamorphic (information that is found on the front, too).

The only other feature to be found is the locking tab on the left side, right by the mount, which allows for the entire lens to be rotated 90°.

Maximum aperture for all three lenses is T2.9, fairly standard at this price point. The minimum is T16 with no clicks in the gearing, ideal for videography. There’s a very smooth action and lovely damping to the ring, as is the same for the focus ring, which makes for easy operation.

It’s also worth noting that the equivalent field of view (compared to a spherical full frame lens) is wider. Vertically you retain the same coverage but horizontally, that stretched image gives you a far wider field of view. The 35mm becomes 22mm, the 50mm covers 31mm while the 75mm is equivalent to a 47mm.

The Saturn V2s looks and feels premium, although there’s a distinct lack of weather sealing gasket around the mount so I wouldn’t be overly confident in adverse conditions.

I’m a fan of the compact nature of these lenses, as well as the feel. The weight is good and both iris and focus rings are smooth. My only gripe is that the throw isn’t all that great. Fine with a motor that can be adjusted for speed, but it could be problematic otherwise, though I'll come on to that.

Overall a pleasing design that looks and feels good, which is best suited to small set-ups – which I imagine is the target market.

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Performance

I’ll start off with handling, which is generally very good. The compact nature of the Saturn V2 set makes it easy to build a small, light rig, ideal for handheld shots or solo filmmakers – but it’s easy to expand it where needed, thanks to the geared focus and iris rings.

I generally use my S5 as a true hybrid, without a cage, rods and so on – and for this, the Saturn V2 is perfect. Really easy to pop in a shoulder bag and take on trips and hikes, but I have tricked it out with a focus motor, field monitor and my PolarPro mattebox, and found that to work really well, too.

As mentioned, the focus throw is a bit short for my liking. At just 120° and with a larger aperture setting, nailing critical focus can be slightly challenging – although almost all cameras will have focusing aids, which do help. With a smaller aperture this problem drops away, and the ring really is nice and smooth, plus the damping helps a lot.

Speaking of focus, a big part of the look gained from shooting anamorphic is the out-of-focus areas, especially the bokeh. The Saturn V2s produce pleasantly consistent bokeh, with just a touch of onion skinning and a little bit of color fringing (although not overly obtrusive).

The size of these lenses (ranging from 100.9mm to 112.2mm) means balance is very good, too, and I have no issue with them feeling front-heavy, something to keep in mind if you are a regular gimbal user.

All this means nothing, though, if the image produced isn’t what you are after. Anamorphic lenses have an inherent look, which is one reason they are so popular. They don’t have the most clinical image, with a slightly softer appearance than a spherical lens, along with the headline flares and often some distortion towards the edges.

These would usually be considered flaws, if you were reading a review of a non-anamorphic lens, but here they tend to be sought after, as their character can be pleasing. Of course, there is the field of view to be considered as well.

Anamorphics come in different squeeze factors and the Saturn V2s sit around the middle of the range at 1.6x – but that isn’t the whole story. Your final output will depend on your sensor size and dimensions, and whether you are shooting open gate or in something like a Super35 mode.

There’s a lot of interplay between different elements of your shot to be considered. For example, some cameras will force you to crop in on the sensor if you want to shoot slow-motion footage. So, consider these factors when making your decision.

For my case I am shooting a 3:2 full frame in 4K on the S5. Unfortunately the S5 doesn’t have an internal desqueeze of 1.6x for monitoring, but it has 1.5x which is close enough – and I often have a field monitor attached, which does have the 1.6x desqueeze. This is purely for camera use, though, and squeezing the footage in Resolve isn’t affected.

You can see some sample images below, which are the correct ratio and they show the image characteristics of these lenses. I shot a sequence showing both flares and differences in sharpness and edge distortion.

Having used a good number of anamorphic lenses over the years I was expecting to see more of both, but the Saturn V2s are pretty clean in both regards.

For a start, while there is some pincushion distortion and sharpness falls off towards the edge, it isn’t as strong as I expected and is quite pleasing to my eye. Depending on your sensor and timeline ratio, you may not see much at all.

Optical performance is generally very good here. Minimum focus distance is average at 0.9m, but sharpness is excellent across all three focal lengths – although the 75mm is a little softer than the others.

The trio all show some edge softness wide open, but that is virtually eliminated at T4. It’s worth noting that they aren’t as sharp as their spherical counterparts, thanks to the nature of anamorphic squeezing, but it’s minimal.

Chromatic aberration and color fringing, on the other hand, are more noticeable. High-contrast edges show some across the aperture range. It’s not so much that it becomes a problem, but you may spot some magenta. Again, this decreases with higher T-stops.

Vignetting is visible at the extremes of all the lenses, again slightly more so with the 75mm, but like distortion, it’s not strong and will likely disappear once you crop to your timeline.

Anamorphic flares are often a headline feature and, whether you love them or hate them, they are part and parcel of shooting this type of lens. This set has neutral flares, which should pick up the colour of the light source causing them. Personally I prefer this to the blue, but that’s really personal taste.

Flares are definitely present, but not as strong as those found in other lenses – and I’m all for it. You retain the character they provide, without overwhelming the image.

Lastly, there is the Saturn V2 party trick: the 90° swivel. Increasing amounts of vertical video are being made and this doesn’t cause an issue for other lenses – but shooting anamorphic can be a headache because, as soon as you turn the camera for vertical shooting, your bokeh, flares and distortion all fall the wrong way.

While that could be a creative choice, there’s no control over it – so Sirui added the rotating mount. All you do is orient your camera for vertical shooting then pull back the little switch and rotate the lens. This only goes in one direction, so the right side of your camera will be at the top.

The action is very smooth and there is no play in the resting position at either end. It simply locks into position with a satisfying click and you are good to go. The button is spring-loaded, meaning you won’t be able to accidentally knock it out of position.

Because of the squeezing aspect to shooting this way, it takes a minute to get accustomed to framing – but that could just be middle-aged vertical video-avoiding mindset. Either way, the lenses perform identically in both orientations.

This a neat trick and something I can see become more common, as shooting for social media becomes ever more popular – especially narrative work, where this type of lens excels. Props to Sirui for innovating and giving us new opportunities.

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Sample video

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Verdict

The Saturn V2 set of lenses is ideal for solo filmmakers or creators, who want the benefits of a characterful image for use across various deliveries. That rotating mount makes them perfect for content creators and social media shoots, as well as more traditional horizontal output.

They are solidly built and, besides a short focus throw, very easy to operate – and could reduce accessory costs, too, thanks to a small filter size.

Sirui Saturn V2 35mm / 50mm / 75mm T2.9: Alternatives

Although Vanguard has a very diverse range of products, it’s always tripods that first spring to mind when I think of the company. The Veo 5 264CO is a case in point, but unlike most of the range, it’s designed for spotting scopes rather than for photography or videography. As such, it’s geared towards high-magnification scopes that you might use for birdwatching, wildlife and nature, target sports and hunting, surveillance and tactical use, and even for astronomy. With its upmarket carbon fiber build and 2-way pan head, the Veo 5 264CO kit aims to be one of the best spotting scope tripods on the market.

Vanguard Veo 5 264CO: Specifications

Vanguard Veo 5 264CO: Price

The Vanguard Veo 5 264CO sells for around $399 / £280 / AU$399. As a premium carbon fiber full kit, that’s pretty reasonable compared with another of the favorite luxury kits, featured in our best spotting scope tripods buying guide. That’s the 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 Kit, which costs around $499 / £339 / AU$629. For my money, the Winston is more of a photographic tripod anyway, and its ball head is less ideal for spotting scopes.

If the Vanguard carbon fiber kit is beyond your budget, there’s a more ‘affordable’ Vanguard Veo 5 264AO aluminum version that costs rather less to buy, at around $349 / £220 / AU$299.

Vanguard Veo 5 264CO: Design & Handling

Even the very best spotting scopes don’t tend to be particularly weighty, unlike a camera fitted with a monster telephoto lens. Nearly all of the scopes I can think of weigh less than 2kg / 4.4lb, most are 1kg / 2.2lb or less, and some only weigh about 0.5kg or about a pound. Suffice it to say that you don’t need a tripod with a mighty maximum payload rating. Some photographic tripods, like the Winston 2.0 that I mentioned earlier, have a 40kg / 88lb payload rating, which is frankly overkill for a spotting scope.

You might think that the 8kg / 17lb payload rating of the Veo 5 that I’m reviewing here is much more than you need. However, I wouldn’t go too flimsy. Due to the high-power magnification of spotting scopes, you still need a tripod that’s going to be rigid and resistant to vibrations, which can be hugely magnified when you look through the eyepiece. The extra payload rating also gives you scope, so to speak, to add ballast, which can steady the tripod in windy conditions.

Sturdiness is enhanced by Vanguard’s decision to use a fairly chunky outer leg section with a diameter of 26mm. I think that’s a good compromise between sturdiness and not making the tripod too heavy to carry out in the wild. A little bonus is that one of the upper sections also features a rubber comfort pad, often omitted in carbon fiber rather than aluminum tripods. It not only makes the tripod more comfortable to carry, but also makes it feel less slippery in wet weather.

Extending the legs a little, I measured off the four sections at 26, 23, 20, and 17mm, working my way down to the bottom. Again, I think the choice of four sections per leg is ideal. It enables a fairly compact carrying size as well as a fairly generous maximum operating height. Most spotting scopes have a 45-degree angled eyepiece, so you don’t generally need a tripod to be overly tall. The Veo 5’s maximum of 167cm / 66in should more than suffice.

It’s tempting for manufacturers to include five sections in each leg, which are often featured in some of the best travel tripods, where a small folded size can be a prime consideration. I’m glad that Vanguard resisted the urge when designing this spotting scope tripod, for two reasons. Firstly, the total of 12 section clamps in 5-section tripods adds to the time and effort required for setup and takedown. Secondly, the bottom leg sections often end up being thin and spindly, lacking rigidity and robustness.

For speed and ease of use, I favor twist locks rather than flip locks, especially if they operate with minimal rotation for loosening and clamping. The twist locks featured here are designed to do just that, while being silent in operation, which can be important in the context of birding and wildlife. Moreover, the twist locks are designed to be easy to clean, so you can venture out into the mucky outdoors without being too precious about your tripod.

There are three different locking leg angles on offer: 23, 50, and 80 degrees. I really like the simple pushbutton mechanism for selecting different angles, and that you don’t need to swing them all the way up and then come down again in increments to complete the process. It’s another factor that makes the Veo 5 quick to adjust without any unwanted, audible clicks.

I’ve started to notice some manufacturers making triangular-profile center columns. This tends to enable a space-saving design, with the legs fitting more snugly around the column. In this case, Vanguard has opted for a hexagonal center column. Again, it can save a little space, but it also ensures that you can remove the center column and slot it directly into a traditional clamp, if one is available in a birding/wildlife hide. For adding stability when the center column is back in the tripod, there’s a weight hook at the bottom for adding ballast.

The ability to invert the center column is of little benefit when using a spotting scope. Of much greater value, you can split the column into two separate sections. This leaves a relatively short, stubby section at the top, so you can splay the legs and achieve an ultra-low viewing position with your spotting scope the right way up.

To ensure a firm footing on any type of surface, the tripod feet are made from rubber pads with retractable metal spikes. I’d use the rubber pads on most surfaces, but the metal spikes can give greater stability on very soft or loose ground.

On two sides of the canopy that connects the three legs together up top, there are sockets with standard 3/8in threads. You can use these to add accessories with or without magic arms for greater control over positioning. If you need a 1/4in thread instead, you can simply use a 3/8in to 1/4in adapter. Another bonus is that the sockets include bayonet slots on either side, which work with compatible accessories to avoid any unwanted twisting when fitted.

Also on the canopy is a bubble level that aids in easy leveling of the legs. If you switch from your spotting scope to using a camera for shooting stills or video, this helps to ensure that your horizon stays level in the shot if you start panning.

Moving up to the head, the kit comes with Vanguard’s VEO PH-28 2-Way Pan Head. It’s specially made for spotting scopes, with smooth panning and tilting being core design criteria. As such, it can rotate through a full 360 degrees, while also offering a tilt range of 91 degrees forward and 30 degrees backwards. Also available to buy separately, the head typically costs around $100 / £120 / AU$179 on its own.

I like that the panning handle has a retractable design and that a simple twist is all that’s needed to lock or release both the tilt and panning movements. As such, it offers a completely one-handed operation of the head, leaving your other hand free to adjust magnification and focusing controls on the spotting scope.

The head’s scope platform has an Arca-Swiss profile and comes complete with a spring-loaded safety locking pin and bubble level. The locking pin stops the quick-release plate from accidentally sliding out if the clamp becomes loose. It’s handy that if your spotting scope has an Arca-Swiss mounting plate, you can slot it straight into the platform without the need to use the supplied quick-release plate, thus taking an extra component out of the equation.

The quick-release plate is pretty standard Arca-Swiss fare and has a 1/4in treaded screw for attachment to your spotting scope or camera. You can tighten and loosen the screw with the supplied Allen key, a flat blade or coin, or by using the incorporated swiveling D-ring. Not relying on the tightness of its fit alone, the QR plate also features a spring-loaded pin that pushes up into a socket on compatible spotting scope mounting plates, ensuring that there’s no unwanted twisting when the scope is attached.

An Allen key is supplied with the kit and, unusually, it has a smaller profile at its end. This enables engagement with smaller and larger Allen screw heads with a single key. The smaller fitment is ideal for loosening or tightening the locking screws for splitting and rejoining the two-part center column. A screw-in blanking plug is also supplied for use with the upper part of the center column, once it’s been split into two.

Unlike some tripod manufacturers, Vanguard generally supplies a carrying bag with its kits, and this one’s no exception. The high-quality, stylishly designed padded carrying case features a main internal compartment for the tripod, plus an additional lengthy internal zippered compartment for accessories.

One minor niggle is that the tripod doesn’t fully fit into the bag with its panning handle attached, so you’ll need to remove this first, stash it in the bag, and reattach it to the tripod every time you pack it away and get it out again. However, thanks to the bag’s 2-way wraparound zipper, there’s the alternative of stowing the tripod with the handle sticking out through a small gap. The bag also features both a padded Velcro-closing pair of handles and an adjustable padded shoulder strap.

Vanguard Veo 5 264CO: Performance

An important performance factor for any tripod is that it’s sufficiently compact, lightweight, and easy to live with, so that you’ll actually take it along for the journey rather than leaving it at home. The Vanguard completely succeeds in this respect, while also being robust and sturdy, and achieving a generous maximum operating height.

A fairly short tripod setup can often be problematic, as the feet end up covering a relatively small area on the ground, making the tripod prone to toppling over if accidentally nudged, or in windy conditions. The Vanguard’s multi-angle legs are a big help in this respect, as you can splay them a little to massively enhance stability, as well as work around obstacles or on tricky terrain, which you might often encounter when using a spotting scope in the great outdoors.

As I’ve mentioned, the maximum operating height with the center column extended is 167cm / 66in. I’m a fairly tall 6ft 5in, but found the maximum height more than sufficient for using my spotting scope. Like most of its breed, my spotting scope has a 45-degree angled eyepiece, which effectively reduces the operating height. And even if your scope has a straight-mounted eyepiece, you shouldn’t have any problems with the tripod’s maximum operating height. I’m also impressed that the tripod remains rigid and very resistant to flexing, right up to and including its loftiest setting.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, or at least of the height range, the tripod can go really low. This can be useful if you’re trying to keep out of sight, or if there’s an elevated rocky ledge or something similar on which you’re placing the tripod. It only takes a moment to split the center column in two, after which you can just use the stubby top section to enable ultra-low-level operation, as shown below.

The tripod won me over with the intuitive elegance of its controls and its ease of use. The twist-locks for the legs work with minimal rotation, enabling smooth adjustments and solid clamping in equal measure. Importantly for wildlife scenarios, you can also make adjustments in virtual silence. The same goes for the 2-way pan head, which delivers a smooth, fluid feel for panning and tilting. The extending/retracting nature of the handle is a further bonus, enabling variable torque and tactile feedback. And finally, the dual rubber pad/metal spiked feet help to give an assured footing on virtually any surface.

Vanguard Veo 5 264CO: Verdict

The Vanguard Veo 5 264CO is everything I need and want from a spotting scope tripod, and more. When I’m taking my scope off the beaten track and into the wilds, often negotiating tricky terrain along the way, I don’t want a tripod that’s heavy, cumbersome, and awkward. The Veo 5 shrinks down pretty small when folded and is refreshingly lightweight to carry, so that’s the first box on the wish list ticked off.

On the other hand, I don’t want a lightweight tripod that’s flimsy and wobbles around in the breeze. Any movement is massively magnified when looking through a high-powered spotting scope, so rigidity is essential. The Veo 5 succeeds here as well, with a robust carbon fiber build and excellent resistance to flexing and vibration, right up to its maximum operating height with the center column fully extended. Speaking of which, you can also split the center column for ultra-low-level operation, while the multi-angle legs adapt to pretty much any situation.

Last but not least, the 2-way pan head works with smooth simplicity, enabling a fluid range of tilt and panning movements, while also locking off firmly. And it does this with a single do-it-all, retractable panning handle, leaving my other hand free for adjusting the magnification and focus setting of my scope. The Vanguard kit certainly isn’t cheap, but I think it’s perfect for the job.

Alternatives

The Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40 tripod kit is a relatively new addition to the line-up. It’s tall and robust enough to qualify as a full-sized tripod, yet folds down small with swing-up legs, more typical of modern travel tripods. It has an impressive carbon fiber construction and comes complete with a ball head that costs almost as much as the full kit if you buy it on its own. All in all, the kit is a contender as one of the best tripods for photographers, one of the best carbon fiber tripods, and maybe even one of the best travel tripods.

Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40: Specifications

Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40: Price

I’ve previously seen recommended retail prices for the Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40 tripod kit quoted as $325 / £250 / AU$567. At the time of writing this review, however, they’ve dropped to just $225 / £175 / AU$425, the British price being confirmed by Leofoto’s official UK distributor. That’s pretty remarkable considering that the NB-40 Professional Ball Head on its own sells for around $179 / £170 / AU$269, just £5 less in the UK.

The closest equivalent I can think of in terms of design, being a robust, full-sized carbon fiber tripod kit with travel-friendly swing-up legs and a ball head, is the 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0 Kit, which costs around $499 / £339 / AU$629. That’s about twice the price in the USA and UK, and around 50 per cent more in Australia. That said, the Winston is taller and has a much beefier 40kg / 88lb payload rating. Anyway, let’s see what you actually get for your money.

Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40: Design & Handling

The design of this tripod kit has me in a bit of a quandary. I can’t quite decide whether it’s a full-sized tripod for photographers, a travel tripod courtesy of its reverse-folding legs, or a tripod for hybrid shooters thanks to the dual-panning mechanism in its head. Ultimately, I think it’s designed to fit the bill for all of these scenarios, as well as enrolling for a bit of monopod duty on the side.

Bridging the gap between big tripods that often seem too large to take along for the journey and lightweight travel tripods that seem too flimsy, I think the Leofoto is an ideal compromise. It has 4-section legs, which enables a smaller stowage height (especially as they’re reversible), whereas 3-section legs tend to remain quite tall when folded, and 5-section legs often have very thin and spindly bottom sections. The net result is that the Leofoto uses chunky 28mm diameter outer sections that enable a strong 15kg / 33lb payload rating, along with an easily manageable carrying weight of 2.2kg / 4.9lb for the complete kit.

I usually prefer twist-action leg section locks to flip locks, but only if they require minimal rotation to loosen the sections and lock them again firmly in place. Most manufacturers have become very good at this, but the twist locks featured in the Leofoto are among the easiest to use that I’ve ever encountered.

One thing I always look for in a tripod is multi-angle legs. Typically, you get three lockable leg angles, and it can be a massive help when you’re working on tricky, uneven terrain or trying to cope with obstacles that you can’t move out of the way. Splaying the legs a little also gives a more stable support when you’re shooting from a fairly short height. The Leofoto obliges, with 3-angle legs and again, the mechanism for adjusting the angles is particularly quick, easy, and intuitive to use.

The center column works with similar simplicity to the other features I’ve mentioned so far. That’s just as well, as you need to extend it fully each time you fold the tripod if you want to take advantage of the reverse-folding leg action for compact stowage. To lock or loosen the center column, there’s a large rubber twist-lock just above the tripod platform, which looks similar to the twist-locks for the leg sections and works just as efficiently.

At the bottom of the center column, there’s a large weight hook. You can use this for adding ballast, which can help steady the tripod in windy outdoor weather conditions. Unlike some tripods, the Leofoto lacks a splittable center column, so you can’t turn it into a short stubby column for ultra-low-level shooting. Instead, you’ll need to unscrew the weight hook, remove the center column, invert it, and refit it. That’s all well and good if you don’t mind shooting with your camera upside down, which is less than ideal for stills and a bit of a non-starter for shooting video.

As well as inverting the center column, there’s another good reason for removing it. One of the legs (the one with the silica comfort padding, shown in the image above) unscrews from the canopy. You can then attach the top of the leg to the bottom of the removed center column, and you’ll be rewarded with a full-featured monopod. Another option is that you can remove the leg and turn the tripod into a bipod for use as a tactical support. And to keep a firm footing on any terrain, you can also unscrew the rubber pads that act as feet and replace them with stainless steel metal spikes, supplied as part of the kit.

Up on top, the kit features the Leofoto NB-40 Professional Ball Head. It’s such a seriously good head that I’d consider buying it on its own and, as I’ve mentioned, it doesn’t come cheap. It has a 51mm diameter base and 95mm height, and ensures smooth action with a large-diameter, precision-engineered 40mm ball. In fact, it has a really heavy-duty payload rating of 25kg / 55lb, far exceeding that of the tripod legs.

The head backs up its hefty payload rating with an adjustable friction damper, built into the main lock/release knob. It’s a useful addition that enables you to tailor the action of the ball head to anything from a lightweight compact camera to a pro-sized camera body with a monster telephoto lens attached. As usual, the ball joint features a cutout so that you can shoot in portrait as well as landscape orientation without needing to use an L-bracket, as well as shooting vertically upwards or downwards.

One of the smartest things about the head is that it has two panning mechanisms, which is great news for videographers, or if you want to shoot a sequence of panned stills to stitch into a panorama. The regular bottom panning mechanism works just fine if your legs are perfectly level, but that can be a chore if you’re working on uneven ground. However, if they’re not absolutely level and you’ve compensated by tilting the head, your horizon will go on the skew as soon as you start panning. This is where the secondary, upper panning mechanism comes into play, as it only requires that you level the ball head and not the legs as well.

A further leveling aid is that a bubble level is built into the Arca-Swiss compatible camera platform. It’s nice to have, but unfortunately it’s obscured when you fit the quick-release plate into the platform. The upshot is that you need to remove your camera from the tripod every time you want to use the bubble level. To be honest, though, I tend to use the virtual horizon that is featured in most cameras nowadays, which is more accurate and easier to work with.

The quick-release plate itself is another trick bit of kit. It has the usual Arca-Swiss profile but goes further by adding a strap loop and an adjustable bracket. The latter is particularly useful, as it can help to lock your camera in place on the QR plate and ensure there’s no accidental twisting.

Further reinforcing the tripod’s suitability as a travel buddy, it comes complete with a smart padded bag, similar to the one shown below. And you can also pack the metal spikes and crafty little multi-tool into the bag. The multi-tool itself is very similar to one that I use from 3 Legged Thing, and includes a flat blade, various sizes of Allen keys, a carabiner hook, and a bottle opener.

Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40: Performance

No matter how big or small, heavy or lightweight a tripod happens to be, rigidity is always a key factor. The Leofoto impressed me from the get-go, delivering rock-solid support that’s very resistant to unwanted flexing and vibrations. Moreover, its section locks, leg angle locks, and ball head are all brilliantly designed and excellently engineered, making them a joy to use.

I don’t usually like reverse-folding legs that are featured in most travel tripods these days, as they require more time and effort in setting up the tripod and folding it down again afterwards. However, the Leofoto proves that the configuration can be quick, easy, and highly effective.

The 4-section legs and full-height center column enable the tripod to stretch from its folded height of a very travel-friendly 50.5cm / 19.9in to a lofty maximum operating height of 169cm / 66.5in. Sure, the Leofoto isn’t the tallest tripod in the world, but I’m 6ft 5in and I found it perfectly tall enough for me to use without stooping, when putting my eye to the camera’s viewfinder. More importantly, the tripod’s rigidity and resistance to flexing and vibration remain excellent even with all of the leg sections and the center column fully extended.

While the tripod is perfectly tall enough as far as I’m concerned, the minimum operating height is rather too tall for my liking. Leofoto quotes it as being just 21.5cm / 8.5 in, but it's more like 49.5cm / 19.5in by my reckoning (and measuring). Sure, you can invert the center column and go right down to ground level, but do you really want to shoot out from between two of the legs with your camera upside down? I’d have liked to see a splitable center column, or a short stubby low-level adapter supplied in the kit, to enable ultra-low-level shooting with my camera the right way up.

Back on the plus side, it’s quick and easy to unscrew one of the legs and attach it to the removed center column for monopod duty. It’s easy to remember which leg it is that unscrews, because it’s the one with the silica comfort padding on it. And in terms of performance, the Leofoto works every bit as well as a monopod or bipod, as it does as a tripod.

To cap everything off, the Leofoto NB-40 Professional Ball Head that’s supplied as part of the kit is an absolute peach. The ball mechanism works a treat with its adjustable friction damper, while the dual panning mechanisms pay dividends for stills, even more so for shooting video. And as with the tripod legs, all of the adjustments are quick, easy, and intuitive.

Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40: Verdict

The Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40 tripod kit has really won me over. It’s a luxurious, high-quality 10-layer carbon fiber tripod that’s easily tall enough for me (and I’m pretty tall) yet folds down to very travel-friendly dimensions. The chunky leg sections enable superb performance with excellent resistance to flexing and vibrations, and yet the tripod feels lightweight to carry around in its smart padded bag.

The only thing I can’t decide on is whether I prefer the ‘professional’ ball head with its dual additional panning mechanisms, or the tripod legs themselves, which also convert into a useful monopod or bipod. One thing’s for sure though… the head and legs combine to make a pretty epic kit. My only slight niggles are that there’s no ultra-low-level adapter for the legs and the head’s bubble level is obscured by the QR plate.

The bottom line, in the UK at least, is that the entire kit of legs, head and accessories, all wrapped up in a padded bag, costs barely any more than the head on its own. It feels a bit like a ‘buy one get one free’ deal in the UK, and it’s also standout value for money around the world.

Alternatives

I’m no stranger to Leofoto, having reviewed a bunch of the company’s products last year, including the Leofoto Ranger LS-365C tripod legs, Leofoto LH-36LR Ball Head, Leofoto VH-30R Two-Way Head, Leofoto G2 Geared Pan Head and Leofoto PG-1 Gimbal Head. A common theme is that the Chinese company makes high-end and fully pro-grade tripods, heads, and photographic accessories, as well as military-grade tactical equipment.

The Poseidon tripod kit that I’m reviewing here is a very sturdy carbon fiber model, while also packing down pretty small. It’s refreshingly lightweight to carry as well. All in all, it aims to be one of the best tripods for photographers, one of the best carbon fiber tripods, one of the best travel tripods, and definitely one of the few waterproof tripods on the market.

Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C + LH-30: Specifications

Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C + LH-30: Price

There’s a fair bit of work and some exotic materials that go into making a truly waterproof tripod, and that’s reflected in the list price of $499 / £369 / AU$825. On the plus side, the Poseidon kit is often discounted in various markets around the world, making it a little more affordable for many of us.

Even so, the Poseidon unsurprisingly costs a fair bit more than another Leofoto carbon fiber tripod kit with a professional ball head that I’ve just reviewed. The Leofoto Armour LN-284CT + NB-40 tripod kit isn’t waterproof but does convert into a classy monopod, and is particularly good value at just $225 / £175 / AU$425.

Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C + LH-30: Design & Handling

The Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C that I’m reviewing here is the smaller of two sets of legs in the range, the alternative LP-324C being taller, heavier, and having thicker leg sections. That one’s also available with three different heads in a variety of kits, whereas the LP-284C is only sold with the LH-30 ball head – and there’s nothing wrong with that, as I’ll come to later. Apart from differences in size and weight, both sets of legs are essentially the same, made from high-quality 10-layer carbon fiber.

The decision to make the tripod with 4-section legs is a good one as far as I’m concerned. It enables a more compact stowage size than 3-section legs, whereas ‘travel tripods’ with 5-section legs often have thin and spindly bottom sections, which can impair rigidity and robustness. The payload rating of the tripod is 10kg / 22lb, whereas it’s 15kg / 33lb for the larger model.

The twist locks are designed to be ‘maintenance-free’ so that you don’t need to take them apart and clean them. They feature additional seals to keep out water, sand, and dust, being a critical component of the ‘waterproof’ design. Even so, Leofoto says that it can’t absolutely guarantee that no water at all will get into the tubing. The twist locks work really well in practice, requiring minimal rotation to loosen the leg sections so that they extend and contract smoothly, and the same goes for tightening the locks again afterwards.

At the top of each leg is a latch for selecting any of three alternative leg angles. Again, they work with simple efficiency. You simply pull the latch out, rotate the leg to the desired angle, then push the latch back in again. Many tripods feature spring-loaded latches for this, but the ones featured here work equally well.

Moving up top to the canopy, it has a noticeably slim design. That’s because the tripod has no center column, which I think is both good and bad. It’s good in that the folded diameter of the tripod is very slim and compact, while also enabling easy ultra-low-level shooting without a center column getting in the way. Conversely, it’s bad that you can’t further extend the maximum operating height, which is limited to a rather modest 129cm / 50.8in. There’s also no option to unscrew any of the legs and use it with or without a center column as a monopod.

The underside of the canopy again reveals the hollowed-out design, and instead of a center column, you get a socket with a standard 1/4-inch thread. A typical use for this is to screw in the weight hook that’s supplied with the tripod. Adding ballast can steady the tripod if you’re using it outdoors in windy conditions. I’m thinking it would have the opposite effect completely if the tripod were submerged in wavy conditions!

As well as the underlying weight hook, the canopy features a 3/8-inch threaded socket on the side. This can be useful for adding a magic arm and/or accessories like an LED lamp, microphone, monitor screen or smartphone. If you need a 1/4-inch socket instead, you can simply use a 3/8 to 1/4 inch adapter.

The feet supplied with the tripod look like regular rubber pads, but they’re more specialized in that the metal parts of the assembly are made from titanium rather than stainless steel or aluminum. This makes them more resistant to corrosion from saltwater, and they also feature rubber waterproofing O-rings.

If spikes are a better option than rubber pads (when standing the tripod on loose sand on a beach, for example), the kit comes complete with screw-in metal spikes, which you can substitute for the rubber pads. Again, they’re made from anti-corrosion titanium rather than aluminum or stainless steel.

The LH-30 ball head is simple but effective and very nicely made. It has a 47mm diameter base and is classed by Leofoto as one of their ‘low-profile’ ball heads, having a height of 74mm. It’s based on a 30mm precision-engineered ball that enables smooth and precise adjustments.

The main ball joint lock/release lever has a nice, tactile feel to it. It’s spring-loaded and mounted on splines so that you can pull out the lever on its shaft and rotate it to a more convenient angle, if necessary.

As well as the main ball and socket arrangement, there’s a separate panning release/lock. This can come in useful if you want to pan your camera to shoot either stills or video while the main ball joint remains locked in place.

The camera platform is Arca-Swiss compatible and comes complete with a like-minded quick-release plate. The platform also features a bubble level, and unlike those that I’ve seen in some Leofoto heads, it’s clearly visible at all times instead of being buried under the quick-release plate when you mount your camera on the tripod.

Extras included in the kit comprise a set of three titanium foot spikes, three Allen keys, a screw-in carabiner weight hook, and a multi-tool. The multi-tool itself includes a flat blade, Allen keys of three different sizes, a keyring attachment and carabiner, and even a bottle opener. The seaworthy tripod and all of its crew are wrapped up for the voyage in a high-quality padded carrying bag.

Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C + LH-30: Performance

The tripod folds down nice and small and feels very lightweight for carrying around, which I’d call a performance benefit of sorts. After all, big, heavy tripods are often left at home, where they’re of no use at all. Unlike most modern travel tripods (not that it claims to be one), the Poseidon doesn’t have swing-up or ‘reverse-folding’ legs that surround the center column. That’s no surprise as it doesn’t actually have a center column anyway. Again, there’s a performance plus point here, in that the tripod is extremely quick and easy to set up.

Speed and ease of adjustment as well as setup are further boosted by the action of the twist locks for the leg sections. They require minimal rotation for unlocking and locking the sections, and you can easily grasp all three locks for each leg and operate them with one hand, in one gesture, when the leg sections are contracted.

When shooting at a fairly short height, the multi-angle legs enable a wider circumference for the placement of the feet. This makes the tripod more secure and less likely to topple over if accidentally knocked or in windy weather. It also adds resilience against being toppled by waves or underwater currents, given the Poseidon’s watery nature. With that in mind, I used the tripod extensively with it submerged in water, and it didn’t suffer any seepage into the twist locks or into any of the tubular leg sections.

The maximum operating height of 129cm / 50.8in can frankly feel a little disappointing. However, you could argue that the tripod is geared more to towards contending with watery depths than rising high above the land. Either way, the tripod remains sturdy and is impressively resistant to unwanted flexing and vibrations, right up to and including its maximum height.

You can split the center columns in some tripods that actually have a center column, or substitute them with a low-angle adaptor. There’s no need in this case, as the Poseidon’s multi-angle legs enable ultra-low-level shooting with no center column to get in the way. Naturally, you might be advised against doing this when you’re using the tripod in water, unless you happen to have a waterproof camera to pair with your waterproof tripod.

As with the leg section locks and leg angle locks, the ball head enables a full and free range of movement with very firm locking, and minimum fuss and bother. It doesn’t feature an adjustable friction damper but I found that the main lock/release lever worked well enough with a range of different sizes and weights of camera kits. Its payload rating of 15kg / 33lb is actually 50 per cent more than for the legs on which it stands. The panning action works nicely and smoothly as well, which is another performance bonus.

Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C + LH-30: Verdict

Water, and especially saltwater, can cramp your style as a photographer. By way of example, you might want to capture a long exposure with a 10-stop ND filter to blur the waves in a seascape shot, but worry about dipping your regular tripod in the sea. The Leofoto Poseidon Ocean LP-284C + LH-30 tripod kit can give you a new kind of creative freedom, thanks to its waterproof construction.

I like that the tripod is made from high-quality 10-layer carbon fiber, but I love that the leg-section clamps are fully waterproofed and that the metalwork in the rubber-padded feet and alternative spikes are made from corrosion-resistant titanium rather than aluminum or stainless steel. The same goes for the metal bases of the leg tubes.

The tripod is sufficiently compact and lightweight to take just about anywhere and everywhere, yet offers sturdy and solid support that’s very resistant to unwanted flexing and vibrations. The only real problem is that while the lack of a center-column pays dividends for quick-and-easy ultra-low-level shooting, the maximum operating height is rather underwhelming.

Alternatives

Looking back on it now, I have one criticism. If anything, the 762mm effective focal length of the lens (taking the X-system’s 1.5x crop factor into account) is perhaps a little too long for comfort. I’d sometimes find that even at a considerable distance, I couldn’t squeeze all that I wanted into the image frame.

The new 400mm lens that I’m reviewing here has a still mighty but more manageable effective focal length of 609mm. That actually suits me much better, and makes the lens practically perfect for action, sports, motor racing, aircraft and bird photography. And more besides. This lens definitely has its eyes on being one of the best lenses for sports photography and best lenses for bird photography, and is maybe destined to rule other roosts as well.

Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR: Specifications

Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR: Price

With all their high-tech glass, high-tech autofocus, high-tech stabilization and high-tech everything else, top-grade super-telephoto lenses don’t come cheap. Sure enough, the Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR will set you back around $3,199 / £2,499 / AU$4,949. However, some competing lenses from other mainstream manufacturers have 5-figure price tags, making the Fuji potentially look like outstanding value for money. Sure, it’s not directly ‘like for like’ but the Canon RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM weighs in at a frankly unaffordable $13,399 / £13,199 / AU$24,999 (often discounted in Australia).

As a more direct comparison, the longer Fujifilm XF 500mm F5.6 R LM OIS WR costs around $3,599 / £2,899 / AU$5,199 which, in most world regions, is a fair chunk more expensive. Out of the two, the 400mm looks the better buy if you don’t need even greater super-telephoto reach. For other camera systems, there are bargains to be had in the full-frame camp. Sony E-mount and L-mount versions of the Sigma 500mm f/5.6 DG DN OS Sports cost $2,999 / £2,779 / 5,695, and the new Sony FE 400mm f/4.5 GM OSS sells for $2,698 / £2,399 / AU$3,999, the latter being amazingly lightweight.

Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR: Design & Handling

Super-telephoto prime lenses are often big, hefty and unwieldy. Not only are they a pain to carry around on location (and getting there) but they also make even short spells of handheld shooting a struggle. By contrast, the XF 400mm is refreshingly compact and lightweight at 105x240mm / 4.1x9.4in and 1,250g / 2.7lb, making it entirely viable even for long periods of handheld shooting. My colleague and I both felt that the lens was well balanced on the Fujifilm X-H2S body that we used for testing.

Autofocus speed and accuracy is all-important for fast-paced sports and wildlife shooting. As an LM (Linear Motor) lens, this one obliges with a high-speed linear STM (stepping motor) autofocus system for following the action, teaming up well with the advanced subject recognition and tracking abilities of recent Fujifilm cameras, and the high continuous drive rate of the X-H2S. Focusing is fully internal, so the front element neither extends nor rotates during focusing. To avoid autofocus hunting in tricky conditions, the lens features an autofocus range limiter switch which locks out the closer end of the range between 2.5-5m / 9-16.4ft.

Just in front of the manual focus ring, there’s rank of four customizable function buttons. Using associated switch towards the rear of the lens, you can assign their action to AF-On, AF-Lock or Focus Preset. The fact that there are four of them at 90-degree increments around the entire barrel means that one of them is sure to fall neatly under the thumb, whatever orientation you’re shooting in.

Typical of Fujifilm’s ‘R’ lenses, the XF 400mm has a dedicated aperture control ring, which is often preferred for hands-on aperture control when shooting in aperture-priority mode. I particularly like that it has a locking button, again typical of Fujifilm R lenses, which avoids accidentally nudging the ring from its Auto position (aperture controlled from the camera body) to the narrowest aperture setting of f/22. The ring rotates in one-third f/stop click steps but yet again, it’s typical of Fujifilm lenses in not featuring a de-click option. That means there’s no handy option for stepless, silent aperture transitions when using the control ring while shooting video.

Optical image stabilization tends to be more effective than IBIS (In-Body Image Stabilization) for long telephoto lenses. Sure enough, this lens has a highly efficient 5.5-stop optical stabilizer, which comes with a physical on/off switch. However, there are no switchable static and panning modes on offer, both OIS and IBIS relying on automatic panning detection.

The optical path is based on 21 elements arranged in 14 groups. High-performance glass includes 4 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and 2 Super ED elements, with the aim of boosting clarity and minimizing chromatic aberrations. Fujifilm says that the optical arrangement is designed so that weight is transferred towards the rear of the lens. This puts the center of gravity closer to the camera body, which gives a better balance for handling, especially when panning for action shots.

The color and lightweight build of the hood make it a perfect match for the lens. And like the lens itself, the hood feels solid and robust. It features both a locking button and a sliding window, the latter making it easy to use rotation-specific filters like screw-in circular polarizers with the hood attached.

Although the lens is easily lightweight enough for handheld shooting, there are times when a tripod or monopod can help take the strain, as well as enhancing steadiness. As I’d expect, the lens comes complete with a tripod mounting ring and as is often the case nowadays, it has an Arca-Swiss compatible foot. This makes it easy to slot the foot directly into the mounting platforms of compatible tripod and monopod heads, instead of having to add a quick-release plate into the mix.

When I’m shooting handheld with super-telephoto lenses, I quite often rotate the tripod foot up on top. That gets it out of the way but I can still use it as a carrying handle. If you’d rather remove it altogether, you’ll find that that you can’t detach the entire collar, which also includes lugs for attaching the supplied carrying strap. Instead, you can only remove the foot, which is par for the course nowadays, and the collar stays in place. To avoid the lens accidentally coming off its mounting foot, there’s the two-fold security of a locking screw and a pushbutton release. The remaining stub is very short, takes up little extra stowage space and doesn’t impair handheld shooting.

For sports and wildlife photography, you might well need to keep shooting whatever the weather. For example, sports fixtures generally won’t be rearranged due to rain and if you’ve travelled to a distant wildlife location, you’ll just have to make the best of it, whatever the weather. Thankfully the XF 400mm is comprehensively weather-sealed, with no less than 20 seals around all critical joints and potential trouble-spots, to keep out moisture and dust. The front element also has a fluorine coating to repel water droplets and greasy fingerprints. We spent a lot of time out in the rain photographing birds of prey, and found that the weather-seals and fluorine coating performed flawlessly.

Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR: Performance

We were blown away by the performance of the XF 500mm f/5.6, and the newer XF 400mm follows suit. In the context of action, sports and wildlife photography, fast shutter speeds are often preferable to freeze motion. The performance of lenses at their widest apertures is therefore a key factor, enabling you to gain quick shutter speeds even under dull lighting conditions, without launching your ISO setting into the stratosphere. The XF 400mm really fits the bill with scintillating sharpness, clarity and contrast, even when shooting wide-open at f/4.5.

Indeed, the levels of sharpness on offer are sufficient to resolve extremely fine detail and the most subtle of textures. The lens is well able to make the most of Fujifilm’s recent high-resolution 40 megapixel cameras like the X-T5 and X-H2. Meanwhile, due to its long focal length, the lens is capable of delivering a tight depth of field. The quality of bokeh is smooth and soft, adding to the overall pictorial quality.

Birds in flight are a really tough test for camera bodies as well as for super-telephoto lenses. Paired with the Fujifilm X-H2S, the dynamic duo made a decent job tracking birds of prey but the hit rate of keepers wasn’t all we were hoping for. When the stars aligned though, autofocus and effective stabilization delivered very sharp shots. Rapid-fire bursts of shots at a fast drive rate of 15fps helped to ensure that we were left with at least a few sharp images from each sequences. For larger subjects that weren’t moving quite so quickly or erratically, we enjoyed a much better hit rate.

The test shots we’re publishing in this review were taken at Chavenage House near Tetbury in South West England, which was playing host to ‘Walks with Hawks’ a specialist outfit offering birds of prey experiences. As well as the birds themselves, we took shots of the location that included the likes of trees against a relatively bright sky. This often gives rise to the appearance of color fringing, but this aberration remained notably absent. All in all, the lens performed superbly well in our real-world tests, delivering excellent results and gorgeous image quality even in tricky scenarios and when shooting in dull, overcast and rainy weather.

Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR: Lab Results

We run a range of lab tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.

We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the center of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths. The tests also measure distortion and color fringing (chromatic aberration).

Sharpness:

The Fujifilm XF 500mm lens that we tested previously delivered excellent results for sharpness but this 400mm proved even better. Not only is it amazingly sharp across the entire image frame, but it serves up its best sharpness wide-open at f/4.5, enabling you to freeze motion in action, sports and wildlife photography with the fastest possible shutter speeds.

Fringing:

Color fringing is virtually absent altogether, even right out at the extreme edges and corners of the frame, where lateral chromatic aberration tends to be more noticeable. Again, it outstrips the XF 500mm lens in this respect, although both lenses are a pretty close match at f/5.6.

Distortion: 0.18

There’s the merest hint of pincushion distortion but it barely shows up in lab test results and will generally be completely unnoticeable in real-world shooting.

Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR: Verdict

The Fujifilm XF 400mm f/4.5 R LM OIS WR is incredibly similar to the XF 500mm which was launched nearly two years previously. And that’s a very good thing. Both lenses feel virtually identical in terms of their high-end handling characteristics, right down to the various control rings, switches and buttons, and their placement on the silvery colored barrels. The 500mm lens is a tad over half an inch longer and three ounces heavier but to all practical intents and purposes, both lenses look and feel the same.

Further similarities are that both lenses are very robust, fully weather-sealed and ideally suited to the rugged outdoor pursuits of action, sports, motor racing, aircraft and bird photography. They also both feature super-fast and consistently accurate autofocus systems and highly effective 5.5-stop optical image stabilization. You can be guaranteed a great hit rate and plenty of keepers, even when shooting demanding subjects in very tricky conditions.

Actual image quality is superb. There’s a winning combination of excellent sharpness and clarity, along with soft and smooth bokeh, and a minimum of distortion and color fringing. There’s also good resistance against ghosting and flare when shooting against the light.

The trickiest decision is working out which of the 400mm and 500mm lenses is ‘better’. You’ll have to decide that for yourself but, for my part, I actually found the 762mm ‘effective’ focal length of the 500mm lens a little too long in many shooting scenarios. For me, in the absence of any zooming flexibility, the effective 609mm focal length of the 400mm lens is generally a better fit for the types of photography that I’ve listed above, and makes the lens easier to live with. The 400mm lens is also less expensive to buy. I think I have a winner!

Alternatives

For me, 24mm is usually where I’d consider wide for landscapes, and 70mm would still be a little wide for headshots, though shooting vertical images would approximate this. The Fujifilm WCL and TCL are not cheap, with the TCL coming in a little more expensive. Often people will just get the wide and crop for the tele look. 28mm is far better than 35 for landscapes, so it’s still a worthy investment for when I want those wider shots-and I do.

One alternative option for supplementing the camera at a better price is the Freewell lens adaptors. Freewell makes a range of goods that fit the X100 series, including Arca tripod plates, thumb grips, and even a circular polariser/mist/lens hood kit. These accessories are well loved by X100 users, including me, so it will be interesting to see how their lenses fare. These follow suit from phone camera adaptors in that the wide adaptor had two parts, the base of which works as an effective close-up lens. And I do mean close.

Freewell doesn't just make for Fujifilm. They make a huge range of filters, including film influencers' products. They’re well established, have an excellent design reputation, and produce popular and often unique products.

Specifications

Price and Availability

The Telephoto is $149 / £126, which I think compares quite well to the Fujifilm TCLX100II at £299. The Wide Angle Macro is $99.99 / £102. Again this is much cheaper than the Fujifilm WCLX100II which lists for £289. Another quality option to price against are the Viltrox set, listing at €219 and €179 respectively.

Given the feature set and the quality, the price is reasonable for these compared to both the Fujifilm and Viltrox alternatives. Atralab have similar products at €124 for a wide/macro, €81 for a wide and €99 for a telephoto, with similar issues to the Freewell.

Design

I have the silver version of these lenses, but they are also available in black. These match the tone of the silver on the X100VI perfectly and look good on it. The X100VI uses a screw thread to attach adaptors. To access this, I had to unscrew a small ring from the front of the built-in lens. Most of the adaptors I have used to date simply screw on directly, but Freewell takes a different approach. Each lens comes with a separate, beefy adapter ring. It’s an extra step in getting the lens on, which I found annoying when I was in a hurry, but it does give far more support. I did leave it on when swapping between adaptors, and it didn’t seem to affect the normal lens operation. The downside is I couldn’t cover the main lens when not using the adaptors.

The Telephoto has quite plain styling, but I have to say that I don’t like the large text saying 1.5x Telephoto on it. It just looks tacky. Otherwise, it feels solid and not out of place, despite being a large piece of glass. The aluminium alloy material choice is reassuring that it can handle the pressure of the streets. It is a lot heavier than the Fujifilm version at 273 g, compared to 180 g. I couldn’t find any information on the element composition of the lens. It may be 5 elements in 4 groups, but that information isn’t readily available.

The Wide/Macro is similar, but smaller. Again, unnecessarily large text on the side of the lens, but generally better-looking. As the macro is part of the wide lens, I simply unscrewed the front section and stored it in the soft case. The soft case deserves a mention because of all the soft cases that come with these adaptors; Freewell’s is by far the nicest. I think it feels rather plush. The lens weighs 173 g, comparable to the Fujifilm wide lens at 150 g. It does have a macro lens and the adapter ring, so it’s reasonable.

One design choice that is a design by omission is the lack of a magnetic switch that embeds metadata about the nature of the attached adaptor. With Fujifilm and Viltrox, I can see if I’ve used the telephoto or wide adaptors in the metadata, and it will apply corrections based on this. I’d be a fool to assume that the distortion properties of the lenses match those of the Fujifilm, but currently there are no automatic corrections applied that suit either lens. And these are definitely needed. Most systems these days use metadata as a way to instruct my processing software to apply a lens correction. I have to manually work out something that’s close and use a preset to attempt this correction, which isn’t optimal as I prefer to not spend my life editing.

Each lens has a standard, plastic lens cap with no branding, and a push-on rear cap. I’ve mentioned the soft case already. The box is beautifully designed, something I rarely think about, but this was notable.

Overall, these look good, and the knurled effect on the adapter ring reminds me a little of the design of the Viltrox lenses. They match the X100VI well, in both shades, looking made for the camera.

Performance

The good looks only get a lens in the door; I need it to perform to keep it in my bag for use. I was really excited to use these lenses, and I have to say I felt a little disappointed by them. My first time using them centred mostly around location shooting with Tink Kaos. I was making use of the leaf shutter of the X100VI to get higher shutter speeds with off-camera flash. Normally I’d have to use high-speed sync to achieve this, which means full power, slow recycle times, and a faster-draining battery. Not so with the X100VI.

I chose to focus mainly on using the Telephoto for this to allow shallower depth of field and more subject in frame. I did choose to use the Wide lens for a few quick shots as a rough test of flare based on my experience with the telephoto. Being a sunny day, I opted to use the sun as a rear light with more controlled soft light from the front. Once the sun hit the lens, the flare was immediate and very obvious. Now I like flare and often add it using Boris FX Optics, but there I have control. This just gives a double cyan and orange spot. I had to use my hand to block the sun in lieu of an appropriate lens hood.

The other issue I had that day was that, despite using the rather excellent eye focus, there were far more misses than hits. Usually this is quite rare, but it did leave me distrusting the lens for critical shots. The flash was firing, so it should freeze motion, and 1/160 at f2.8 should be enough for this on static shots. But it wasn’t. And as I wasn’t doing anything different from shot to shot, there was no way to predict when it wasn’t focusing. I should add that, as it was a bright enough day, I had 3 points of contact-two arms and my face using the viewfinder instead of the screen; the camera should be steady.

The lens does have green chromatic aberration, which I easily fixed with a click in Lightroom.

The final thing that I found noticeable, especially with the sky in the shot, was a vignette on the shot, with a visible darkening in the corners. I used the manual section of Lightroom with an amount of 50 and a midpoint of 30 to correct for this. Both of these Lightroom settings could be saved as a preset and applied to the shots as a batch fix.

I did shoot a lot more with the lens, though, and found that it could be very sharp, like with this exhibition installation as part of our international arts festival.

My first shots using the wide were disappointing. Even at f5.6 with eye focus on, the focus was on the dress and the face was soft. Even if the actual focus point was the dress, I’d expect the face to be in focus at f5.6 at 28mm equivalent.

I made a trip to a location where I often shoot the Milky Way for some shots at sunset. The friary itself looked crisp and clear even at f5, though the contrast seems to have suffered from mild flare. I did wipe the lenses in advance of shooting just in case.

I also shot a few exposure brackets to create HDR photos for more dynamic range. Processing these did reveal some edge vignetting that wasn’t really visible in unedited shots. The bottom corner shows a flare that I suspect is light reflecting off the filter threads, and it wasn’t there in every shot with the sun.

I’m not convinced by the wide adapter. The other part of this is the Macro. And folks, this is fun. I’ve seen people express worry that this lens causes the camera lens to throw a wobbly when, in reality, this lens needs to be REALLY close to the subject. So close that, in sunlight, the lens can cast a shadow on the subject if you’re not careful. Once you’ve accepted that you need to be close, then this does become fun, giving very abstract images, and even high apertures still give very shallow depth of field.

Verdict

I wanted this set to be much better. I really did. There are quality issues with the lenses. The telephoto can be quite sharp, but when it’s not, it really misses. I couldn’t, in the time I had, figure out the cause that made the difference between sharp and soft. Even from shot to shot it could vary.

At its best I found the wide adapter to be soft. Both lens adapters are prone to flaring, even with multi layer coatings. There is chromatic aberration and some optical distortion in the lenses. Yes, they look great, yes they match the system, but as a wide and telephoto, there is better for slightly more money.

The macro is a saving grace though. While the design is very limited in depth of field, the resulting in-focus areas are quite sharp, allowing beautiful abstract art to be created. I would buy the wide adapter just for this. Yes, I could buy a close up filter, but there’s a lot more glass in this than the usual filter. And there’s the fun factor. I’d happily print my favourite results shot using this lens.

Some of the things that aren’t great, like the aberration, distortion and vignette, are fixable in software, and are usually fixed automatically with other lenses. I could make presets for these and even increase sharpening and detail for the wide lens. If I was happy to do that and I was on a limited budget, then these adaptors would work for me.

Alternatives

Seestar S50 Pro: Specifications

Seestar S50 Pro: Price

The S50 Pro’s regular $999/£999 price is arguably its biggest weakness because it puts the telescope into territory where buyers can reasonably consider modular astrophotography equipment instead. That makes the question less about whether the S50 Pro is better than its predecessors – on paper, it clearly is – and more about whether those improvements justify the premium. EQ mode matters here, though accessing that feature requires an additional purchase. For example, Seestar’s TH10 fluid head costs a further $99/£99.

Seestar S50 Pro: Design & handling

Despite its new capabilities, the S50 Pro retains the fundamental attraction of the Seestar concept — an enormous amount of astronomy hardware squeezed into one portable unit. The telescope weighs 2.8kg and folds to 140 x 149 x 268mm, which is relatively small. However, it is slightly larger than the original S50. In our tests, we found that it didn’t quite fit as easily into our camera bag. At least the carbon-fiber tripod it comes with remains small and easy to pack, yet solid enough to hold the S50 Pro steady.

The biggest change in how the S50 Pro works isn’t obvious at first glance. Instead of the original S50’s narrow imaging area, the Pro records a rectangular 2.8-degree field of view using its 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution main camera.

Its second 63-degree wide-angle camera is perhaps even more impressive because it enables wide-field night-sky and landscape imaging, making the S50 Pro a considerably more versatile photographic device. We’re huge fans of its new Milky Way mode and Star Trail mode, which use advanced features — autofocus, wide-field live stacking, panorama and time-lapses — that help it operate as an imaging system in its own right. It even engages in real-time computational photography, freezing the foreground while exposing for the night sky.

Elsewhere, it works the same as always, with plate solving, auto-aligning, centering, focusing, tracking and live stacking removing most of the work of astrophotography. In our tests, we got the S50 Pro up and running and successfully stacked a deep-sky exposure within five minutes of switching it on. But the longer you leave it to stack, the better the results.

Seestar S50 Pro: Performance

For deep-sky work, the S50 Pro’s new 4K sensor is critical, but perhaps not for exactly the reason many might think. Yes, the 3840 x 2160 pixels produce more detail, but don’t confuse 4K with a fourfold improvement in fine detail. The real advance is largely the substantially larger imaging area. You get more sky around a target, more freedom when composing and potentially more latitude for cropping field-rotation-affected edges. That helps with targets like the Andromeda galaxy (M31), one of the largest targets in the night sky, as well as many large nebulae. You can extend its field of view with Mosaic Mode, which you enable by reframing an object in the app; the S50 Pro then automatically captures overlapping fields to create larger compositions.

The 50mm aperture is important, too. It gathers almost three times as much light as the S30 Pro's 30mm aperture, while the longer 260mm focal length gives smaller galaxies, globular clusters and compact nebulae more image scale. There’s still not enough focal length for planets, but that doesn’t stop the app from listing them as potential ‘best tonight’ targets.

In our tests, we were impressed not only with how the new 1/1.25in sensor captured fine detail, but also with what the app can do with that data. There’s now an AI enhancement mode and plenty of other in-app tweaks to take an image and make it look sharp and colorful against a deep black starfield. The results straight from the S50 Pro are impressive, given how little technical knowledge or manual intervention they require.

The built-in dual-band filter is particularly useful for emission nebulae, isolating hydrogen-alpha and oxygen-III wavelengths while suppressing much of the background glow from light pollution. There’s also a UV/IR-cut filter for broadband targets such as galaxies and star clusters, plus automatic dark-frame calibration. An integrated dew heater also helps keep the objective clear during long sessions.

Previously tested on the Seestar S30 Pro, EQ mode is potentially even more important on the S50 Pro. It only takes a few minutes to set up. It’s then necessary to go into Expert Mode and select how long you want exposures to be — we went straight for 60 seconds, the maximum available. Since most star trackers allow about three minutes, it’s obvious that the S50 Pro's ease of setup comes with a trade-off in accuracy. That’s underscored by the app’s built-in walk-through pages for tweaking the TH10 mount's position in EQ, which allows a little leeway in the exact orientation. EQ mode also requires the tripod legs to be splayed wider to keep the S50 Pro from toppling over — though only if you live at around 52 degrees north or south of the equator.

The S50 Pro's key feature is what it can produce without doing anything remotely complex, but it also has something for experienced imagers who want the finest images possible. FITS access lets you take the underlying data into dedicated third-party astrophotography software to see how much more you can extract. That becomes particularly interesting in EQ mode, where longer individual exposures and the absence of field rotation should provide better source data.

The second wide-angle camera is another major change. Its 63-degree field of view transforms the S50 Pro from a device primarily designed for individual deep-sky objects into something capable of capturing constellations, large areas of the night sky and the Milky Way. We’re huge fans of its new Milky Way and Star Trail modes, which add a completely different kind of astrophotography to the Seestar experience. During our test, we left the S50 Pro for two hours to compile an impressive star trail that nearly matches a camera and wide-angle lens.

Seestar S50 Pro: Functionality

Despite its added capabilities, the S50 Pro works much like previous Seestar telescopes. Plate solving, auto-aligning, centering, focusing, tracking and live stacking remove most of the work traditionally associated with astrophotography. In our tests, we got the S50 Pro up and running and successfully stacked a deep-sky exposure within five minutes of switching it on.

The Seestar app is central to that experience. It effectively acts as the telescope’s control system, planetarium, camera interface and image-processing software. Choose a target and the S50 Pro can locate it, slew to it, center it and begin collecting exposures, with the resulting image gradually appearing on a smartphone or tablet as those exposures are stacked. For beginners, that remains the main attraction of Seestar. The app can also create imaging plans, allowing the S50 Pro to move between targets automatically during a session. Crucially, imaging continues even if you close the app, making long or unattended sessions much more practical. However, without weatherproofing, leaving the S50 Pro overnight to collect data will be too risky for most users.

In addition to the app's excellent processed images, users can access FITS files – both the composite finished image and (via USB-C) the original stacked images – and process them with third-party software. This creates a useful progression from near-fully automated astrophotography to more involved image processing, without replacing the telescope itself. EQ mode takes that progression further.

The larger 10,000mAh battery is another practical upgrade. That matters because long integrations, EQ sessions, and wide-field imaging encourage users to keep the S50 Pro running much longer than a basic grab-and-go observing session. In our tests, the battery never ran out, and it lasted well over six hours.

Seestar S50 Pro: Verdict

The Seestar S50 Pro is best viewed not as a higher-resolution S50, but as a more versatile imaging platform. The wider 8.3MP sensor, 50mm aperture, wide-angle camera and EQ capability give enthusiasts considerably more room to experiment, while beginners retain the brilliantly automated Seestar workflow. It’s particularly attractive as a compact second telescope or travel imaging system. Anyone wanting traditional visual observing, serious planetary imaging or an upgradeable system should look elsewhere, while value-conscious beginners will find the original S50 difficult to beat. Either way, the S50 Pro is easily the most interesting Seestar yet.

Check out our full guide to the best smart telescopes

You get an eye-watering 185° angle of view, for starters, which is a reality-warping kind of perspective. And you get a fast f/2.5 aperture, which obviously is far more useful for low light than blurry backgrounds at this focal length. But you also get an enviable 0.15m close focus distance, full weather sealing and, best of all, autofocus.

This, in case you're unaware, is almost unicorn territory for a fisheye lens; there is, after all, only one other autofocus fisheye for the Sony E and L-Mount (from Sigma), and none whatsoever for Nikon Z cameras. But the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye offers all this for under $500 – less than a quarter of the price of the alternative.

Fisheye lenses aren't for everyone, and they aren't for everything, but they're a brilliant creative addition to your arsenal – and if I were in the market for one, with its unique combination of price, performance and size, the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye is the one I would personally purchase and is absolutely among the best fisheye lenses on the market. Here's why.

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Price & availability

The 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye was launched in September 2026 with a price tag of $449 – which translates to around £330 / AU$625.

While there are plenty of third-party manual options, as noted there are almost no autofocus alternatives native to the E, Z or L-Mount – and none at all for Nikon's mirrorless platform.

For Sony and L-Mount cameras, there is the Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DG DN | Art Fisheye prime, priced $1,999 / £1,859 / AU$3,795, which is faster but wider.

Other than that, Sony shooters have the option of a slower autofocus zoom – the Sony FE 8-14mm f/3.5 Fisheye G, which carries a $1,599 / £1,499 / AU$2,099 asking price.

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Specifications

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Build & handling

Despite its affordable price point, the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye feels every inch a premium lens – and indeed, it's part of the company's Max line of top-tier optics. The all-metal construction gives it a satisfying amount of heft in the hand, and obviously offers a reassuring level of robustness. On top of that, it's finished beautifully with a pleasingly smooth, satin finish that suggests a far more expensive optic.

The mount (which, again, is metal) features a USB-C connection for easy firmware updates and is finished with a gasket – making this is a weather-sealed lens that you can take out even in challenging conditions. As always, remember that this is only true if your camera is likewise sealed (which my Lumix S9 is not!) so make sure your body and lens are weather-sealed before shooting in wet or dusty conditions.

Despite its build quality, the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye is comfortably light at 504g and pretty small at just 94mm in length – which makes it a smart match for smaller full-frame bodies like the Lumix S9 and Sony A7C II, as well as Sony's APS-C cameras. This stands in stark contrast to the Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DG DN | Art Fisheye, which tips the scale at 1,400g and measures 160mm.

Given the bulbous nature of the front element, this lens has a fixed hood on the front – which serves both to protect the glass and shield the optic from errant light sources. This does mean, of course, that it's not compatible with traditional lens filters – so you're looking at sensor-mounted options if you want to use something like an ND filter.

I'll also point out that, despite the integrated hood, the front element remains very vulnerable – especially if, like me, you whip it in and out of a sling bag for street shooting. You should definitely use the supplied lens cap (which is felt-lined and slides on top of the hood petals) whenever you aren't actively shooting, as you don't want to smudge, ding or damage that exposed element.

Where controls are concerned, there's an aperture ring (clicked) for lens-based exposure control as well as a very nice manual focus ring (fly-by-wire) if you want to override the AF. To accomplish this there's a manual / autofocus switch, and a pair of function buttons enable you to map custom controls to the lens.

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Compatibility

It's important to note that the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye isn't fully compatible with every Sony or Sigma camera body (all current Nikon and Panasonic cameras will work fine).

The manufacturer has provided a list of camera compatibility, as of September 2026. Per 7Artisans, 'Fully compatible' means that all functions work, 'Basically compatible' means "normal shooting works; some features are being improved" and 'Not compatible' means that the lens cannot be used.

Here's the full list:

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Performance

I primarily tested the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye with my Lumix S9. I shot in a variety of conditions and situations, from action skateboarding and portraiture to architecture and close-ups to day and night street photography.

As noted in the specs, and evidenced by the sample images below, this is a 'full frame' or 'diagonal' fisheye lens. In other words, it captures images that fill the entire image area, from corner to corner, rather than being a 'circular' fisheye lens that captures a porthole-style image surrounded by a black frame.

Shooting with a fisheye lens is always a good time, but I didn't previously own a fisheye quite as wide as this. So the first thing I wanted to shoot was street skateboarding – which, as anyone who grew up in the Nineties watching the likes of Rodney Mullen, Chad Muska and Bam Margera tear, is the preserve of low-angle fisheye shots.

The 10mm focal length definitely added an element of challenge, as you have to get right up close to the action (or ask the skater to bring the action right up close to you) which invites a little bit of danger! But I absolutely love the results and especially the environmental results that are possible.

Even though the Lumix S9 still doesn't have Panasonic's skateboard autofocus, the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye was able to keep up with the action whenever the camera could – and it never once dropped focus once it had been acquired, which is pretty impressive.

Just as impressive is the lens' control of flare and glare. We shot at a variety of angles from the sun, including with it right behind us, and I only managed to capture a single instance of flare (and that's shooting 30fps bursts!) which you can see above.

I also took advantage of having a great subject on hand to capture some portraits. This isn't necessarily the first thing you should do with a fisheye lens, but it's possible to get some creative people pictures with a very unique perspective.

Obviously I wasn't able to get any meaningful subject separation, given the wide-angle nature of the lens, though you can use the 0.15m close-focusing capability to achieve background blur by getting right up to your subject. As you can see in the samples below, I was able to get a pretty pleasing macro-esque shot of a tiny bug on a flower.

Bokeh, as and when you achieve it, isn't anything to write home about; it's quite busy, and often descends into smear rather than blur thanks to field curvature, but I don't realistically think anyone is buying this lens for creamy backgrounds!

Where I was really impressed with the 7Artisans 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye is sharpness. Again due to the curvature of the front element, we weren't able to adequately lab test this lens; it's simply too bulbous to get any worthwhile test data as soon as you start moving away from the center.

But as you'll see in the above close-up image of fruit, and in the flora images below, center sharpness really is very good – and even as you stray towards the edges of the frame, where things will inherently be weaker, things can be surprisingly crisp and detailed (check out the black-and-white shots of the car park and the bicycle).

If you want to defish your images, 7Artisans has a calibration profile that you can download. This will give you more of a rectilinear look to your images, but obviously you will get superior optical performance with a native rectilinear lens.

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Samples

7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye: Verdict

With so many features for such a low price, I assumed that something had to give – but the 7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye surprised me by delivering in every department.

The autofocus is fast and reliable, the fast aperture makes it possible to shoot when the sun is going down or gone altogether, the weather sealing keeps you shooting around water or dust, and the sharpness and overall image quality mean that your images look great – even on high-resolution sensors, as 7Artisans says that the lens can resolve 60MP, making this suitable for megapixel monsters like the Sony A7R VI.

I had a brilliant time shooting with the 7Artisans AF 10mm f/2.5 Fisheye and, even though fisheye shots aren't a huge part of my usual photography, I found myself missing this lens when I didn't have it with me – making this one of those rare lenses that genuinely impacts how you "see" the world and inspires you to pick it up and use it.

While it's a shame that the lens isn't universally compatible with all Sony and Sigma cameras, this is potentially something that can be addressed via firmware – and I want to shout out 7Artisans for already dropping a firmware update that improves image stabilization, which inspires confidence for future support.

Fisheye lenses are incredibly niche tools – by no means does everybody need one. Moreover, even if you own one, you probably shouldn't use it for every shoot you do. But having a fisheye in your arsenal gives you an incredible and unique creative weapon – and this one is a fraction of the price of other autofocus fisheye lenses, making it an incredibly appealing entry point if you want to experiment.

The Sigma 15mm f/1.4 fisheye is arguably a more useful (and easier to use) fisheye focal length, and it's faster as well, but it's also quadruple the price – and it's so big and heavy that it comes with its own tripod foot. Sony's new 8-14mm f/3.5 obviously gives you a zoom range, but you only achieve diagonal coverage at 14mm – which is no good unless you want the "porthole look".

For everything this lens offers at its ridiculously low $449 price point, it's simply a no-brainer if you have even the remotest interest in shooting unique perspectives with an extreme angle of view.

Immensely versatile, the 5-in-1 is sufficiently compact and lightweight (and definitely slim enough) to qualify as one of the best travel tripods, while being tall and sturdy enough to be a contender as one of the best tripods for photographers. Even so, it’s not massively tall nor overly short when folded. Back on the plus side, it’s classy enough to eye up a place as one of the best carbon fiber tripods. True to its Multi Tripod name and design, it fits into multiple categories. Let’s take a closer look.

The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1: Specifications

The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1: Price

For a complete carbon fiber tripod kit (and then some) that comes a sophisticated ball head and intriguing extras, Freewell’s The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1 looks incredibly good value at $299 / £268 / AU$429. Another Chinese carbon fiber tripod I reviewed recently that’s actually two tripods in one, but lacks a monopod conversion, is the Heipi 3-in-1 Travel Tripod W28S, which is considerably more expensive at $399 / £349 / AU$649.

The Freewell’s space-saving center column design reminds of the Peak Design Travel Tripod carbon fiber, which is pricier again at $599 / £599 / AU$1,169, while the newer and thoroughly excellent Peak Design Pro Tripod costs a properly expensive $900 / £800 / AU$1,500. All in all, the Freewell gives you an awful lot of support for the money.

The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1: Design & Handling

Catering to all sorts of needs and shooting scenarios, The Real Multi Tripod’s 5-in-1 remit covers use as a regular photographic tripod, a tabletop tripod, a monopod, a hands-free monopod with triple-foot base, and a walking pole. If you’re feeling generous, you could also add smartphone tripod and selfie stick to the list, thanks to the cunning Arca-Swiss quick-release plate that doubles as a phone mount. You could also use it as a tactical bipod, bringing the total up to eight and making it an 8-in-1 support. How does it do all of that? Let’s dive deeper.

Despite having a slim, travel-friendly profile, which I’ll come back to later, the 5-in-1 doesn’t claim to be a travel tripod as such. Like Freewell’s actual ‘The Real Travel Tripod’, it doesn’t have the kind of swing-up, space-saving legs that are now typical of travel tripods. I don’t mind that at all, because the business of fully extending the center column and swinging the legs up around it adds to the pack-away time, as well as the setup time next time around. And thanks to its 4-section legs, the 5-in-1 still has a reasonably small stowage height of 55cm / 21.7in.

Delivering a strong payload rating of 20kg / 44lb, the legs have chunky top-section diameters of 28mm. And because there are four rather than five sections in each leg, the bottom sections retain a fairly wide diameter of 19mm. I’m dubious about the strength of some 5-section tripods, which have relatively thin and spindly bottom sections. Releasing and locking each section is based on quick-action twist locks, and they really are quick, requiring very little rotation to release or securely lock them.

It’s similarly quick and easy to select any of the three available leg angles, which equate to 22, 55 and 85 degrees from the vertical. The lock/release mechanism is a simple pushbutton arrangement at the top of each leg. And they’re easy to see, thanks to having the same bright red coloring as the controls in the ball head. The multiple angles enable you to work around obstacles or on tricky terrain, and splaying them to wider angles aids stability in low-height setups.

It’s quite common nowadays for tripods to feature a removable leg. The idea is generally that you can remove the leg, attach it to the (also removed) center column, and transform the tripod into a monopod. It’s a neat idea, as it adds versatility without requiring you to pack and carry an extra bit of kit. The Freewell goes one, or perhaps two better, in that you can remove any and all of the legs. Remove one leg and you can use the tripod as a bipod. You can also attach the head directly to the top of the detached leg for monopod duty. The absence of the center column in the monopod setup limits the maximum height, but you can actually join two or even all three legs together if you need extra height.

Getting back to the uncommonly slim folded size, the tripod uses the same trick that I’ve seen in Peak Design tripods. As such, the center column has a triangular cutout profile that avoids any wasted space, because the legs fold around it more tightly. Unlike in Peak Design tripods, the legs themselves still have a circular profile rather than being arc-shaped to fit even more snuggly around the center column, but the folded diameter is still remarkably slim at just 7cm / 2.8in.

Unscrew the weight hook from the bottom of the center column and it reveals a built-in allen key. With the weight hook unscrewed, you can completely remove the center column and invert it for ground-level shooting, albeit with the camera upside down.

A better option for ultra-low-level shooting is that you can use the allen key to loosen a screw in the center column and split it in two, enabling you to splay the legs and go really low without the center column digging into the ground. This way, you can still shoot with the camera the right way up.

The tripod feet are fairly large rubber pads which offer good grip and support on most surfaces. As with most parts of the tripod, they have more than one function and you can unscrew one of the pads and attach it up on top, for grip and comfort, if you’re using a detached leg or two as a trekking pole.

If you’d rather have metal spikes for digging into soft ground, all you have to do is unscrew the rubber pads to reveal them. You can also use the allen key to unscrew the spikes as well, if you want to fit alternative footwear or join two or more legs together for a longer monopod.

The chassis that connects the three legs together at the top of the tripod is made from aluminum and is suitably sturdy. Again, it goes the extra mile in terms of versatility, and includes two accessory sockets. These have a standard 1/4-inch thread, enabling you to attach magic arms, LED lights, a monitor screen or other accessories.

No tripod kit is complete without a head and the Freewell comes with a durable ball head that, yet again, is impressively versatile. However, it’s arguably not an ideal match for the legs, as it has a relatively modest 10kg / 22lb payload rating, which is only half that of the legs, the latter being rated at 20kg / 44lb.

The largest control knob in the head is the main ball joint lock/release. There’s no separate friction adjuster but it works well on its own and the socket that the ball fits into has the usual cutout on one side. This enables swapping from landscape to portrait orientation shooting in the absence of an L-bracket, as well as for shooting directly upwards or downwards.

Making the tripod suitable for panoramic sequences of stills and even videography, the head has dual panning mechanisms, one at the bottom and the other at the top. The bonus here is that if your legs are perfectly leveled, you can use the main bottom panning mechanism. You’ll soon see if they’re not perfectly leveled and you’ve compensated by just leveling the head, because your horizon will start to slant when you begin panning. As there’s no leveling base featured in the tripod and leveling the legs can be a time-consuming chore, you can simply use the head’s upper panning mechanism instead, which will keep your horizon straight and true.

As a leveling aid, there’s a bubble level built into the head’s camera platform. It’s a useful addition but it’s frustrating that you can’t actually see it when the quick-release plate is attached to the platform. You therefore need to remove your camera every time you want to use the bubble level. In fairness, I tend to use the electronic ‘virtual horizon’ instead, which is available in the vast majority of modern cameras and tends to be more accurate and precise than using a tripod’s bubble level.

Even the Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release plate is based on a crafty bit of design. It works as expected with a camera or anything else with a standard 1/4-inch treaded socket. However, it also features hinged panels at each end and spring-loaded sliding rails. The upshot is that you can also use the QR plate as a phone mount, thus attaching your phone to the tripod or monopod, or using the latter as a selfie stick.

Tools supplied with the tripod comprise an additional, carabiner-style weight hook and three allen keys. The allen keys are in addition to the one that’s built into the center-column’s fitted weight hook.

Everything’s wrapped up in a stylish, high-quality padded carrying bag. The bag comes complete with handles that lock together with a Velcro pad, plus a removable shoulder strap. The inside of the bag features a long, secondary zippered compartment for holding the various tripod accessories.

But before we grab the bag and go outside, there’s yet another tricked up design flourish. I’ve seen tabletop conversion in full-sized tripods before, mostly from 3 Legged Thing, like my trusty 3 Legged Thing Winston 2.0, for which you can buy optional Vanz footwear to make the change. The table tripod conversion legs for the Freewell are supplied ‘free’ as part of the package, and they also have a relatively high-end design, complete with dual-section extension and handy twist-action leg locks. They’re more like a miniaturized set of regular tripod legs than a cheap and basic add-on.

The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1: Performance

Performance is mostly very good but not entirely great. Setup speed is certainly very quick, thanks to Freewell avoiding the temptation of travel-style, swing-up legs. The twist-action leg clamps also work with minimum fuss and bother, and while there are three of them in each leg, it’s easy to grasp all of them in one go when the leg sections are all retracted. The ball head also works with smooth efficiency and its dual panning mechanisms give a performance boost when shooting panoramic sequences of stills or for videography. The multiple leg angles offer greater stability for shooting at fairly short heights.

My main criticism in terms of performance is that even with four sections in each leg rather than three, the maximum height feels a little limited. Naturally, it’s a trade-off because if the maximum operating height was taller, the folded height would be less compact and the tripod would be less travel-friendly. Either way, I often found that I needed to raise the center column to achieve the shooting height that I wanted. The legs on their own are fairly but not massively resistant to vibrations. However, the center column feels relatively wobbly and lacking in rigidity when extended.

While rigidity could be better at maximum extension, the tripod delivers solid performance for ultra-low-level shooting. Splitting the center column and splaying the legs to their widest angles enables you to get right down to virtually ground level.

I’ll admit to being quite tall at 6ft 5in. As I mentioned earlier, you can’t join one of the legs to the center column for monopod duty and as a result, I found that adding the head directly to one leg didn’t give me enough height. The problem is solved by joining two or even three legs together, which enables a huge maximum height, but it’s a bit more fiddly as you have to remove both parts of the rubber pad and metal spike feet from the upper joining tripod legs.

One of the five modes on offer is described by Freewell as a ‘hands-free monopod’ monopod. I don’t feel brave enough to take my hands away for more than a second or two but the ability to connect the short tabletop legs to the chassis and use it as a base for the monopod does add a firm footing. In this respect, you get the added stability of using a three-footed pole like with the Benro A48FD Monopod.

For landscape photography in the wilds, negotiating tricky terrain can be more problematic than carefully composing the shot when you finally reach your destination. Again, the Freewell comes to your aid, serving as a trekking pole as well as a tripod or monopod. The trekking pole configuration is essentially the same as the monopod setup, except that you can attach one of the rubber feet to the top for comfort, instead of fitting the head. Down below, you can use either a rubber pad or a spike at the bottom, depending on the type of ground that you’re covering.

The Freewell can serve as a tripod, monopod or selfie stick for your smartphone. You won’t need an additional phone mount, as the supplied Arca-Swiss compatible quick-release plate converts into a self-contained phone mount. It’s spring-loaded with hinged sides, and gives a safe and secure grip.

Last but not least, this full-sized tripod works particularly well as a mini-tripod or tabletop tripod. Unlike many of its kind, it features adjustable carbon fiber legs based on dual sections with a twist-action clamp. Couple that with the three leg angles enabled by the tripod chassis and you get a generous range of adjustment.

The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1: Verdict

There’s a lot to love about the Freewell The Real Multi Tripod 5-in-1. It definitely lives up to its claims with amazingly versatile, multiple modes. Better still, it’s highly effective in all of them, as a regular tripod, tabletop/mini tripod, monopod, monopod with feet, trekking pole and smartphone support.

The build quality looks and feels very good, based on luxury 10-layer carbon fiber and an aluminum alloy chassis. Everything works with smooth simplicity, enabling quick and intuitive setup and similarly straightforward takedown. The ball head follows suit, and I like that it has dual panning mechanisms. As an incredibly comprehensive, multi-mode tripod with a premium build, the Freewell is outstanding value for money.