MINI TESTS
3 LEGGED THING TOMMY TRIPOD £729/$800 3leggedthing.com
Funky styling and beautiful cosmetic details may not be top of the list when it comes to choosing a video tripod. Engineering excellence, clever design, reliability, usability and build quality are what most buyers value. Quirky British firm 3 Legged Thing has always managed to do the lot –merging cool details with well-designed and functional tripods that deliver. And this has definitely carried over into the new range of high-end video tripods. The biggest of the flagship Legends video range is called the Tommy, which has 35mmdiameter legs at the top, which we test here. There’s also a Nicky, which is a four-section tripod that’s slightly smaller and cheaper. The first thing you notice about the Tommy is that everything from the exquisite packaging to the included carry bag and even the tools to adjust it
RIGHT Using the optional ‘footwear’ you can replace the legs and use the tripod as a tabletop unit
are well designed andmade. Then the tripod itself has high-quality Japanese carbon-fibre legs, natty orange anodised details on the top plate and the top of the legs, classy metallic slate-coloured components and fat leg adjusters that are easy to use and solid. They clamp on to the legs well, meaning there is no creep at all. The legs can be adjusted through three different positions using the quick-adjust latch at the top. And you can really get the tripod low to the ground, too. The maximumheight is an impressive 1620mm/63.77in, while at its lowest it’s just 156mm/6.5in. The three legs are easily detachable, so can be used as a monopod or boom arm. 3LT also sells an accessory range of what it calls ‘footwear’, which screws into the tripod top spider to convert it into a tabletop tripod. And an accessory foot stabiliser unit can be screwed into the bottomof one of the legs used a monopod to give it extra stability. At the top of the tripod is a small spirit level and a flat base, which can be replaced by the included 75mm bowl adapter using hex head keys. The bowl head plate is essential for serious video use, as it allows you to fit a quick-levelling video tripod head. 3 Legged Thing does sell its own Airhed Cine fluid video head, but this doesn’t come with a self-levelling base. The 3LT Airhed Cine is a cool and stylish head and can be fitted with a standard 75mmbowl attachment, but with no counterbalance adjustment, drop-in plate or adjustable fluid drag, it’s not a perfect match for the
SPECIFICATIONS Head fitting: 75mmball or flat Leg sections: Three, carbon fibre Leg angles: 23°, 55°, 80° Height range: 156-1620mm/6.14-63.78in Maximumpayload: 60kg/132.3lb Spreader type: None Folded height: 730mm/28.74in Weight: 2.59kg/5.7lb Tommy, which deserves something more well-featured for larger kits. But it’s the tripod itself we’re talking about and it is solid, easy to adjust and takes a huge payload of 60kg/132.2lb. That’s shocking for a tripod that only weighs 2.59kg/5.7lb. Of course, put a tripod head on it and this payload will drop, as it’s the head that is usually the limiting factor. But it goes to show how solid the Tommy legs really are. In use it just feels like the top-quality kit that it is. It’s fast to adjust, locks in place with a quick turn of the locks and, because it’s made of high-quality carbon, cuts down on vibration and is much lighter than an aluminium version. At £730/$800, it’s not the cheapest on the market, but is certainly less expensive than similar carbon-fibre tripods from some of the boutique manufacturers. And it’s certainly the coolest andmost stylish tripod on the market that you can buy. AD. PROMOVIEMAKERRATING: 9/10 Good value for style-conscious owners of large cameras and rigs Pros: Solid, well-built and stylish Cons: No tripod spreader or illuminated level
BELOW The Tommy is a stylish and well-made carbon-fibre tripod system
“It’s certainly the coolest andmost stylish tripod on themarket that you can buy”
43
PROMOVIEMAKER.NET
Powered by FlippingBook