MeFoto Backpacker Tripod Review
Christmas isn't far away now at all. If you're still thinking of what it is you would like for Christmas then this could well be a perfectly timed post for you. Today I want to tell you about the MeFoto Backpacker Tripod.
I have something of a disclaimer before I continue though...
I am not endorsed or sponsored by any company or product. Everything I ever review, good or bad, is a product I've purchased with my own money. As I have said before I would change brands at the drop of the hat if I genuinely felt that a different product made my work noticeably better and the change was financially sensible. I am well aware that I can often seem to be an Olympus fan-boy, but if I believe a product is a bad product I'll say so.
Don't get me wrong, If Olympus want to come and sponsor me I will welcome it because I believe that Olympus cameras and lenses have elevated and unlocked my creativity. But even if I were sponsored, I don't see that it would change the way I review or talk about products
So, with all that said let's get into the subject of this post: The MeFoto Backpacker Tripod!
The diminutive MeFOTO folded away to it's smallest size. Fits snug inside my small Caselogic backpack
Small Camera allows for smaller accessories
Since moving to an all-Olympus setup back in January 2015, most of my other gear and accessories have also shrunk in size too: smaller flashes and smaller bags for example. But one thing that I hadn't downsized until recently was my Tripod.
For the longest time I've relied on my trusty Manfrotto Tripod; a heavy-ish and not-so-compact tripod by any means, but it was certainly sturdy most of the time and able to support the weight of my old Canon DSLR's combined with battery grips, a 580EX II Flash and my old favourite Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L II lens (that was possibly the heaviest setup I would ever have had on it back then at about 4Kg's).
I had that tripod for around 4 or 5 years and used it for everything from landscapes to wildlife and sports to weddings. It traveled all over the UK and Europe and the Middle East with me and even went along with me to two Le Mans races where it took a bit of a battering. In addition to being a tripod I've used it as a light stand, a climbing pole and a stick to beat down fern bushes as I waded through forests to photograph Deer and the like. It's been in sand, mud and seawater and still to this day works pretty well. Every now and then when I extend the legs you can hear the 'crunch' of sand between the extending leg sections. Also, those latch-type / lever leg locks become a little loose over time too.
But, 'Ol' reliable' was getting exactly that; Old.
So, naturally when it came time to seek out a replacement I looked for something smaller, lighter and more in-keeping with the size and weight of the Olympus gear I choose to use these days. I made a list of the things I was looking for in a tripod, and this is what I came up with:
- Small & Compact when folded away (ideally could fit in to my bag)
- Lightweight
- Sturdy enough to support my Olympus OM-D E-M1 with a battery grip and my Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 PRO lens
- Twisting leg mechanisms to lock them in place (instead of levers) both to ave weight and to ensure that sand can't get into those parts and ruin the way it works
- Arca Swiss style plate* (reasoning explained later)
- £200 Budget
The MeFOTO Backpacker ticks all the boxes
I did a lot of research and tried out a few tripods at The Photography Show back in March here in the UK and the result was that the MeFOTO BackPacker just seemed to be the best of the bunch. And as a bonus it also came in at the lower end of my budget too which was a pleasant and welcome surprise.
The MeFOTO BackPacker has those twisting locking mechanisms on the legs, it's the smallest of all of the options and is one of the lightest too. At the same time it is able to support the required weight of my Olympus Gear. The included Ball Head is simply something to behold as well (especially at this price point!). In design terms it is relatively similar to the premium products on offer from Really Right Stuff.
One of my favourite things about it though is that the dials and knobs used to adjust the tension and movement are big and chunky, meaning even with gloves on I can make the most of this tripod!
Chunky Dials on the ball head. Finished in gold to match my iPad and iPhone :)
Why The Need for Arca Swiss?
So, it was light, small and within the budget, but why was it I wanted that Arca Swiss plate so much you ask? Here's why: An Arca Swiss style plate offers more options in terms of compatibility with cameras and mounts. All tripods and monopods I know of work in the same way; that being a plate that screws in to your camera (or lens) and then a system of some description on the tripod head will latch onto said plate. Some monopod's so will screw directly into a lens, sure, but if you want to use a ball head you'll need some sort of plate to fix your camera or lens to it. Most manufacturers, such as Manfrotto, have come up with their own unique shaped plate that will then fit only their tripod (or tripod heads).
This is where Arca Swiss is different: You still have a plate, sure, but this particular plate mounts to whichever ball head is also Arca Swiss compatible, which you can find on offer from a wide variety of manufacturers. Arca Swiss style plates and tripod heads attach to one another using a dovetail approach with (usually) a screw mechanism to then tighten the grip of that dovetail.
Furthermore, because the Arca Swiss is considered a more widely adopted mounting system the plates themselves are usually a little more adjustable in terms of their positioning so that they can work and be better suited to the size and shape of the various cameras they may be used on.
This was really only apparent to me when I saw this video from David Thorpe over YouTube with his review of the Olympus PEN-F.
In his review David highlights the point that the awkwardness of the threads' position on the PEN-F, which is relatively forward on the camera, affects the possible compatibility of certain plates: When you mount one of the PRO lenses, such as the M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 or the M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 you may find that mounting a plate and therefore tripod of your choosing is a tight fit (or worse, not possible at all). It's for this reason that I wanted the Arca Swiss plate: they offer a little adjustment and movement and being something of a standardized type of plate, as opposed to a brand-specific plate like Manfrotto's, should mean that if the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark 2 (which I will be sure to get when it is released) features the same issue as the PEN-F, I should be able to continue to use the MeFOTO backpacker, or at least find a plate that works from a company such as Really Right Stuff (thanks Martin Bailey).
Now, typically I use a battery grip, so it would give me plenty of clearance no matter which one of my lenses I'm using. But, when investing in a new tripod I just wanted to be sure I wasn't going to encounter any issues at all. After all, as I've found out my Tripod should out-last my camera and so giving thought to this should mean I am future proofing myself (I hope)
So, that said, I've had the MeFOTO Backpacker tripod for a few months now and have had some to get out and use it and am thoroughly enjoying it. As you can see from the sample images here I've gone for the gold option. It may be a bit 'flashy' for some people's tastes, but my Wedding Photography branding is golden & yellow and thought that this matched quite neatly indeed. It also neatly matches my iPad Pro and iPhone too :)
There are also a series of other quite colours available, but I felt the yellow and the red were perhaps too loud and could even possibly get in the way when photographing Deer at Richmond Park and wildlife in general, where subtlety is your friend!
All in all the MeFoto is sturdy, folds up to a wonderfully compact size and comes with a generously high quality ball head with chunky, solid dials and mechanisms. It's build quality gets top marks too.
I've not been this excited and impressed with a tripod...well...ever!
Alternative Tripods to the MeFOTO & what I found
So now let's talk about the competition and why it is I felt the MeFOTO won out over them.
I stumbled across this comparison of lightweight travel tripods from Digital Camera World and found quite quickly that it was down to one of three tripods (and this was generally the consensus from many other comparisons too): The Manfrotto BeFree Aluminium, the Nest Traveller or the MeFoto Backpacker. Each of these most closely met my requirements and often came in among the best rated for travel / lightweight tripods.
Initially of course, being a previous Manfrotto tripod owner I was pleased to see the Manfrotto BeFree making the cut and being mentioned as one of the better Tripods available. Being a Manfrotto user all these years I felt compelled to remain loyal and to stick with a brand I know. But, then I realised it had the lever-type mechanisms to lock the legs in place. I wasn't a fan of that on my old tripod. It only took me about a week to lose the plastic tool that comes with the tripod to allow you to tighten those levers, due to them loosening over time. It also didn't feature the Arca Swiss head I wanted. So, the Manfrotto option was removed from the table, leaving me with the Nest Traveller and the MeFOTO BackPacker.
Nest & MeFOTO - Neck and Neck!
It really was neck and neck between the two remaining tripods. Both had everything I was looking for; they were nearly identical, even on price!
Both Tripods were available for between £120 - £140 each online. Both featured the Arca Swiss ball head, twist-to-lock legs. Both even featured a recessed hook hidden in the central column so you can hang some weight from it to keep it steady and a bonus in-built bubble to level the tripod. Each came with a padded shoulder bag too. Handy! The only remaining thing to tell them apart was their size and weight.
In terms of weight, the Nest comes in at 1.75Kg (or 3.8lbs). The MeFOTO BackPacker was lighter at 1.18Kg (or 2.6lbs). That's a pretty decent difference in weight.
The size difference when folded away was a similar story: the Nest is a neat 415mm (or 16.3 inches) whereas the MeFOTO was smaller still at 320mm (or 12.6 inches).
In fact, the only thing that the Nest won a point on was it's maximum height when extended. The nest could reach a maximum height of 1500mm or 59 inches, beating the MeFOTO, which can only go to 1300mm or 51.2 inches.
For these reasons, the MeFOTO better met my brief and it was my new tripod of choice.
Criticisms / Issues
So far, so good. The built quality is superb and the moving parts are expertly machined I have to say, but if there was one thing I would say about the MeFOTO is that when it's extended to it's absolute maximum height (the legs are out and the center column is as tall as it can go) there does seem to be a little bit of wobble going on. The legs slide into one another to hide away. It's the thinnest legs at the very end that seem to have a little bit of flex. Typically speaking when I use a tripod I am shooting with a trigger or using a 2 second delay time to ensure I've not touch the camera when the image is captured, so this isn't too much of an issue, but I would prefer if it were stiffer.
I haven't yet tried to tackle this issue by attaching a weight to the concealed in-built hook, but I'm sure that would go some way to helping reduce or prevent this behavior by centering the weight of the tripod to keep it grounded.
It could well just be me though and my expectations of a travel tripod are way off the mark. After all I am coming from a massive, heavy and rather clumsy aluminium Manfrotto.
All that said, the shake in question doesn't appear to have impacted the resulting images at all. They're sharp to me and I'm happy. The fact that it fits inside my backpack is a bonus and one that I don't think I would be willing to lose moving forward. It's a good compromise.
Conclusion
I'm not shy of spending good money on good accessories in the belief that they'll last longer, but having not looked at tripods in such a long time (not needing to) I was surprised to find that generally I was able to find far more value for money than I was 5 years ago when I picked up my Manfrotto.
I imagine, thanks in part to the growth in popularity of mirrorless cameras, that the tripod market is now far more diverse. Historically purchasing a tripod meant you spent a lot of money or your purchase would involve some sort of compromise of weight, the weight it could support or it's general quality:
- A heavy tripod could support a heavy weight and cost less.
- A light tripod that could support more weight was typically made of carbon fibre and as such the price would soar too.
- Alternatively you could pick up a cheap tripod from eBay and throw it away after just a few uses as plastic components broke and aluminium parts would buckle or dent!
These days though, with my gear weighing less I can focus more on the weight of the tripod and be less concerned about how much weight it can support. As such I've found that Tripods in the £100 - £200 region appear pretty reasonably equipped and very well reviewed indeed!
The MeFoto was my pick of the bunch for a mirrorless-ready tripod and so far I'm very happy with my choice. Time will tell. For now though, The old manfrotto comes along with me to most weddings as a stand for the video light or ends up staying in the boot of the car, with my MeFoto backpacker more often out in the field.
The Street Photographer's Manual
I often go for a short walk during my lunch breaks from the day job, and a few weeks back I found myself in the local Waterstones (a book shop here in the UK). Inevitably I ended up browsing through the Photography section. Whilst all the usual suspects were on the shelf; such as Humans of New York and various great books on Magnum Photographers, (many of which I have), there was one book I came across that was new to me: "The Street Photographer's Manual".
I want to share with you today my views on what I think is a pretty spectacular find and one that anyone with a love for both Street Photography and a good book should pick up.
This is a relatively new book, first being published back in September 2014. I've had it for a few months now at the time of writing this post and have read it through a few times already. The Street Photographers Manual is a book you can pick up and put down quite easily thanks to it's bite-size sections. On occasion I've found myself pondering something related to Street Photography and have turned to the book to get David Gibson's (the author) opinion on the subject. For example recently in a number of Street Photography groups I've seen photographs of homelessness. One of my own rules when it comes to shooting on the street is to not photograph the vulnerable (those who are homeless). Upon having a look at the contents page you can quickly see that there is a section on Ethics, and it is in this section that Gibson discusses the fine lines and approaches, again giving examples of how the differing approaches worked for 'the greats' of street photography.
The Street Photographers Manual introduces the reader to the world of street photography by first diving into what it is, the variations, where it came from and how it's developed over the years. It's then from here that we can study each aspect of this art in further detail by studying compartmentalized chapters, discussing ethics, humour and more.
Whilst the book itself may be called a manual and does in fact offer instruction to help you create more thought-out and intentional street photographs, this is also a very impressive and vast study of street photography. This book looks at both various techniques and elements that contribute towards stronger imagery and makes use of examples by the greatest street photographers of our time such as; Elliott Erwitt, Bruce Gilden, Saul Leiter, Trente Park and more. These examples give the book's instructions conviction and only serve to show that this thorough - yet concise - book is something you can not only read for inspiration, but learn from at the same time. Within each chapter we are introduced to either another master of Street Photography or another technique of shooting on the street, each accompanying a sample of that master's work or an example of that technique in action to best explain and demonstrate the case in point.
The Street Photographer's Manual is filled with both fantastic photographs and practical guidance in equal amounts.
The author; David Gibson is a street photographer and well respected photography tutor, having taught in many countries and some rather prestigious establishments. It's clear that Gibson has drawn upon his educational experience when writing this book.
I can see this being a book i refer back to time and time again already.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in street or documentary photography. And, if you're unsure if that is you or you're not certain what street photography is - that's all in the very first chapter :)
3 Photography Books to Inspire You for the Year Ahead (including Free Book!)
If you want to read this post then keep scrolling down, or if you'd prefer (and if you have headphones) click play below to hear me talk about the 3 photography books I've recommended right here in this post. If you're reading this in your mailbox you'll need to open this in your browser to list
All over Facebook I see posts with quotes that I imagine are trying to be inspirational and thought provoking. Whilst some of these I believe are rules to live your life by: "You must be the change you want to see in the world", others I've pretty much got into the habit of skipping past. These inspirational quotes are becoming so common now that it's just my instant reaction to keep on scrolling past them.
However, one did jump out at me recently: "Reading books is the way humans upgrade their firmware". Whilst to some this may just be another one of those quotes you skip past, it did make me think for just a second that when it comes to education and learning (especially with photography) some of the best lessons I've picked up over the years have came from books.
Sure, blog posts (like this one I hope) can provide all sorts of useful and Interesting information, books still tend to contain some of the best and most thoughtfully curated information. I guess if they didn't they wouldn't go to print!
The other advantages of reading books are huge - of course there is the benefit of learning from the actual content, but the act of reading improves your memory, reduces stress and can improve your language skills. We should all be reading more.
So, with that in mind I wanted to share with you some of the books and eBooks that really have stood out for me over the past few years. Some of these books I'll read every few months to remind myself of technical information. Others I thumb through when seeking inspiration, whilst others are fantastic motivators and are almost, to an extent, self-help books that have the ability to help you coach yourself through slumps in creativity and confidence.
There are thousands of photography and art related books out there, but here are my top three books to inspire, educate and motivate you for the year ahead:
1. Gregory Heisler: 50 Portraits
I've mentioned a few times that I love this book. Visually this book is awe-inspiring. The portrait photographs made by Gregory Heisler are incredible: engaging, amazing use of light and composition and need no words to tell a story. Despite that though this isn't just some coffee table book packed with images: it's a fantastic read too: Great stories surround each set of images and Heisler also provides us with an insight into the thought process behind each image.
The cover alone begs you to read this book! (image from Amazon)
This book actually contains more than just 50 portraits. For example the portraits of legendary basketball player Shaquille O'neal actually include photographs of his hands (sounds odd, but you have to read the book to see how incredible the photographs are). His hands are of course his tools as a basketball player and through images like this Heisler thought about more than just a head and shoulders-type portrait in great light, he sought to tell a story through his images.
This is a book that is not only a great read for the stories and what is written if you have the time, but as a book you can thumb through simply to look at the photographs themselves this is a book that will inspire you to raise your game to reach a new level and think more creatively.
Well worth a read. This is first on my list for a reason and is, at this point in time, my favourite photography book.
It's available both as an eBook (on Kindle) and a Hard Back. I bought the Kindle Edition with some vouchers I was gifted, but was then given the hard back as a present from my wife. The print version of this book does it far more justice and so I would recommend you pick up a hard copy and get away from a screen to enjoy this book in the format that it was intended to be read in. Print.
Download or Purchase '50 Portraits: Gregory Hesiler' right here on Amazon
2. The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
Personally, (and fortunately) I'm not someone who has yet struggled with a serious creative slump or had any sort of crisis of confidence. That's not me showing off, some people in life are like that. I do occasionally feel criticism getting to me when it's venomous or not constructive but then I remind myself that people are going to hate on you and your work in the world of photography. So I move on. That's life!
Having said that, when I started out making photographs I felt quite alone. Like I was the first person to be walking the path of frustration. Most of us experience that same learning curve where when we start out we believe we're close to learning everything we need to know (or with some people they think they already know it all). But, the more we learn, we realise how little we know and how much farther we have to go to get to the heady heights of those sitting atop the photography industry; those famous and legendary photographers that win plaudits & Pulitzer Prizes and accolades that many photographers aspire to.
Well, If I had known about Steven Pressfield's 'The War Of Art' when I first started, I'd have realised as I do now that this process is very, very common place indeed and that nearly all of us go through these stages at various times and that we all, in our own ways, battle with ourselves and our own creativity. Pressfield's book is about our internal battles. How we are truly the only ones who can both motivate ourselves to achieve the incredible, all the while being more capable than anyone else of being the person to completely destroy our own motivation and give in to resistance. Having known about this book and possibly had I been more willing to acknowledge what I could learn from books at a younger age / earlier stage, it would have made me realise it was okay and natural to believe that wanting more and better gear was the key to becoming better. (which I'll talk about more with my next book recommendation). Although this book, in my opinion, is perhaps more aimed at those in the literary arts, this makes it no-less relevant to us photographers. Upon reading this book I have no doubt you'll immediately identify yourself as the person that Steven Pressfield is talking to.
On page 63 of The War of Art, Steven writes (about being professional):
Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. "I write only when inspiration strikes", he replied. "Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine O'Clock sharp."
As soon as you pick up The War Of Art that passage will have more context. This book is full of gems and reads like a massive, entertaining kick up the backside to motivate you.
It's not a huge book either. I've read this book a few times now and each time it's taken just two evenings from one cover to another.
Just be sure to have a notepad to hand (or a highlighter if you're that way inclined and pick up the hardcover version)
3. Ten Ways to Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear by David DuChemin (Free to download)
If you read any sort of photography books, then I'm sure that you've heard of Craft & Vision. A fantastic company that has pulled together some of the most talented photographer / writer / educators / business people to produce a variety of photography books. Some are aimed to educate us on the technical aspects of photography, whether it be lighting, getting sharper shots or even post processing, whilst other books are more business-oriented, like 'Ten Ways To Improve Your Craft Without Buying Gear By David DuChemin'
The author of this great book; David DuChemin has a saying: "Gear is great. Vision is better". I asked David DuChemin about this when I interviewed him for the Ready Steady Pro Photography Podcast, and the premise is not to discount what better quality or even different gear can bring to your work, but instead to realise that your own vision and creativity is what will make the most difference and that that should come first. It's ourselves we should look to constantly educate, rather than looking to upgrade our cameras every six months for the latest and greatest.
'Ten' is a concise eBook of just 18 pages. This book more than makes up for quantity with quality. In 'Ten' DuChemin provides us with 10 exercises to practise to improve our photography without the need to go out and buy more gear.
Yes, with each image in this fantastic eBook David shares with us his settings and gear used; this is to help educate. As the years roll on and this book becomes older and older the lessons here only become more relevant as the camera used is a Canon 5D (mark 1). By today's standards many photographers would turn their nose up at such a camera, citing it to have not enough focus points or not enough megapixels. But the fact is, it's the photographer that makes an amazing photograph, not the camera.
An easy read and one that you can pick up and put down after each of the 10 exercises to be consumed in bite-size chapters. This is a book not to be overlooked, especially considering it's FREE!
Ready Steady Pro Members Recommend
I'm only one person and can only read so many books at a time and so I reached out to the members of the Ready Steady Pro community and asked them what books they think you should be reading too. Here's what they said:
Chris Szulwach: 'Personal Best' by Elliott Erwitt
"Inspires me to be concentrating on moments, looking for the out of the ordinary that happens every day and not worry so much about technical perfection."
Paul Griffiths: 'The Decisive Moment' by Henri Cartier-Bresson
"A wonderful book that comes with an insightful commentary on his work and career"
Rob Dodsworth: 'Early Colour' By Saul Leiter
"The subject matter would otherwise be relatively mundane but the interplay between subject, his eye (his framing, composition) and the use of colour is often otherworldly! You find something new each time you revisit a frame!"
Simon Dewey: 'Minutes to Midnight' By Trent Park
"I don't know anyone who uses light as dramatically - the grainy black and white pictures have an otherworldly feel, yet are classified as Street. It's also beautifully bound - so a wonderful item to hold. Really looking forward to his next project"
What do you think?
Know any great photography, art or business books that you think we should all be reading? Drop a link in the comments below, I'd love to know what you have on your book shelves, saved on your KIndles & eBook Readers etc.
Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO Deal
I'll keep this blog post very short and very, very sweet. I don't usualy do this either, but this deal from Olympus is too good not to share. It's better than anything I saw on Black Friday as well...
Olympus curently have their 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens down to just £837 on Amazon.co.uk! That's not bad for a lens that usually retails at £1,200!
This is via the official Olympus Shop on Amazon. It's not a knock-off or grey import either. If you were looking to buy one now seems like a pretty good time to go for it!
Some may still see the 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO as an expensive lens, even at this price, but if you ask me I'd call this a bargain. I purchased mine along with the 1.4 teleconverter back in early 2015 not long after it's release and so far it's been worth every penny (and I paid the full price of over £1,300!). So, this may explain a little why I'm writing a dedicated post to promote the amazing deal currently on offer.
I wrote a full review of the 40-150 right here on the blog (which you can check out here: http://bit.ly/Olympus40-150review) so if you're in any doubt about the pedigree and quality of this lens, please do have a read!
Here are some sample photographs, but there are also some more over in that review as well:
I apologise if you already have this lens and this is spammy. As I say I don't usually share this sort of thing at all, but as I'm sure you'll agree - those who don't own this lens - perhaps because of the price being a barrier - should go and buy this now!