"I went on a 2-week photography road trip across America and this $20 pocket tripod was a complete lifesaver"

For our recent epic two-week road trip around America, I was keen to capture some great travel photos of all the iconic locations my family and I would be visiting from Vegas to LA and San Francisco. But as I was arriving in the US by airplane, I wanted to travel light. I mean very light. So this meant I only took one Canon camera, one Canon lens, and I certainly didn’t want to bring a big and bulky tripod.

Aside from the fact that I wouldn’t have room in our suitcase for a standard tripod, I didn’t want to lug a long and heavy tripod around in the California weather, nor did I want to draw attention to myself while I was wandering around Venice Beach after dark.

But I wanted some sort of support so I could take long-exposure scenic shots at sunset and night while on my American travels. So instead, I carried this very affordable Manfrotto PIXI mini tripod with me. It was a real lifesaver. Not only could I just keep it in my jacket pocket without anybody noticing, it was super-quick and easy to set up to take shake-free, sharp shots with my Canon kit.

In a matter of seconds I could take great shots with my camera on the mini tripod, nice and stable and level on a wall, on the rail of a wharf – or for my shot of the famous Baywatch lifeguard house on Venice Beach in LA at sunset, I simply popped my camera and tripod on the top of a plastic trash bin that was on the beach. For these low-light shots at sunset, I could confidently shoot at f/11 with shutter speeds of 1-2 seconds and ISO100 - for a good quality, sharp shot .

I took this mini tripod with me everywhere. I kept it in my pocket when we were out for dinner at a restaurant, so for example; I could pop out and position it on the barrier of Santa Barbara pier and get some great sunset shots in the evening, safe in the knowledge that my camera was steady for sharp shots as light levels dropped.

It was me when we were walking about on the Vegas Strip at night, so I could capture night shots with very slow shutter speeds, again reassured that my shots would be sharp, and also higher quality as I didn’t need to resort to high ISO settings and shooting handheld – which equals lower-quality, grainy images.

The Manfrotto PIXI mini tripod simply screws straight into the bottom of your camera thread (you don’t need a base plate to use this little tripod).

It’s also strong enough to take the weight of my old Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens (combined weight of 60oz / 1685 grams) without undue drooping.

With the push of the red button you can easily get your camera straight and level for your scene to avoid any converging verticals or unlevel horizons. I always use the digital level on the Canon DSLR's rear screen for this as there’s nothing worse than landscapes or leaning buildings in photos.

Check out our full guide to the best mini tripods