Thank you. My background is in magazine publishing; I understand what a review is. Most UA-camrs have no real idea. To do a good, proper review takes A LOT of time. A read of a spec sheet (which is what most videos are) is just an advert.
What a perfect review. It’s not very often you watch a review video and are entertained by it at the same time. Seeing the kit out in the field being used for real to demonstrate the pros and cons makes such a difference to the reviews done at a desk.
Thanks, Andy. The only thing you can review whilst sat at a desk is a desk. There won't be many Tubers with the kind of background that I have in reviews as I used to run and contribute to many magazines back in the day and if I were presented with a review from a contributor that basically regurgitated the press release and spec sheets, I would refuse to publish it. Sadly, lots of once-respected publishing houses have had their budgets cut to the bone and awful content is everywhere including (especially) on UA-cam.
Ay-oh! well you did bring Freddie up🙂 I love those amethyst / purple deceivers - very photogenic . Nice looking tripod there. Freewell stuff is generally top-notch - well their filters are - so it should prove to be well built over time. Speaking as someone who has mislaid a tripod during a woodland shoot then I can see the value in the airtag holder!!
I am capable of losing a pound coin in an empty Smarties tube, but I will spend all day looking for it! I once lost my Lee Filter holder in a mostly empty field. It had a phenomenally expensive 105mm polariser on it too. Spent an hour retracing my steps and found it...
Hello Andrew, firstly I would like to say how lovely your images are, it's always great to see how folks spend their time to consider composition to create such wonderful photos. This brings me onto the tripod. I have pondered over tripods for weeks and weeks now, I started off with aluminium due to cost but oh my god they are cold, plus the carbon fibre ones are so much lighter. Having decided on spending extra for the warmer/lighter stuff, that rabbit hole is never-ending, I have come round in circles many a time and been spat out into different directions. I had looked at the Freewell Tripod but discounted it due to the leg set-up, one reviewer said that he was constantly frustrated by them over the period he had used it. I was somewhat disappointed by that. You mentioned the issue with the handle hitting the floor for vertical shots at low level in the video and you mention in a comment below that it's not great for macro......is this the same reason? I would like to have a tripod for macro work such a fungi etc to use the focus bracketing features as my hands aren't as steady as they used to be. I have a 2 tiny tripods (one is the base of my iFootage monopod and the other is a Joby GorillaPod (which I am beginning to hate). I have never used a tripod before, but since getting my OM1 mkii I want to get the best out of it and handshaking isn't doing that and neither is dodgy tripods. After all this waffle I would like to ask would their be a better tripod suited to macro or are you still using it for macro because it is a joy to have in your backpack? Apologies for the rambling.
Thank you. As for tripods... OK. If you want a great macro tripod, the freewell isn't it. It's good, but it's not great. You can overcome it's main deficiency using a couple of mount hacks that I will show in a video in a few days time and these will cost very little to buy and cobble together. The best tripods for macro have transverse centre columns. Giottos (I think) pioneered these but the company no longer makes many (if any) tripods. Vanguard have a number of these models and there are options from Manfrotto and loads of far-eastern names too. I have two from K&F, one I reviewed in this video ua-cam.com/video/N-IiwqOz7FA/v-deo.html which is pretty good and low-cost and another which I have been using for the past few weeks that knocks the spots off anything else I own - not in terms of build quality but in terms of flexibility of where you can put the camera. I haven't reviewed it yet and it might not even have featured as gear in any published video yet. Check it out here: geni.us/KFMacroTripod If you wish to buy, you can get 20% off with code KRACKEN (until end of November - this will work on any K&F order) . If you want more info on it. send me an email or maybe we can speak on the phone.
@@AndyBanner wow, this is great news, thank you ever so much for the info of the latest tripod. I had already seen your video of the earlier one and had almost bought that on more than one occasion, but this new one looks the bees knees.
They are Amethyst Deceivers. I called them Purple Deceivers in the opening line - I am sure I have seen them referred to as such in the past but the ole memory ain't what it used to be.
I have seen many reviews of this tripod and this is by far the best I have seen. The price is too high. I have an iFootage tripod that does all that. I do like the one twist and extend idea but I had something similar with a K&F and they too collapsed. Hope you sell loads Andrew, good luck. Nice Fungi shots mate.
Cheers, Paul. It's fair to say that most Tubers don't really review things. They show them and give a bullet-point list of specs which is of very little benefit over viewing sales literature. For years, I was a magazine journalist (computing and photographic) so I understand the difference between a proper review and regurgitating bumph. As for the price, I can't agree. I think it's a very fair price - especially when you compare it against it's main rivals from Ulanzi and more notably, Peak Design. Here's the problem: The last 20 years has seen a MASSIVE growth in quality camera gear coming from the orient and, unlike the decades before it, it's not all badly designed garbage made for pennies. Much of it is really very good stuff (like this). But it's no longer dirt cheap - it's usually lower priced than the big photo brands because competing with Gitzo just isn't easy and, frankly, not worth it because of market positioning. Couple this with the fact you can buy a cheaper but inferior unit from another brand and you begin comparing golden eggs with chicken eggs and saying "well, eggs is eggs" and completely missing the point. I could argue that your Nikon gear is too expensive and does some things really badly (like pixel binning when you change ratios) and that a camera that's over 50% cheaper from another brand is just as good as, well, it takes photos like the Nikon does and all the time ignore the massive differences in quality in every department. If you have an Ifootage tripod that weighs 900g, I will eat your hat (the one with Nikon on it!). The Ifootage Gazelle TC3b is 400g heaver, bigger when at it's most compact, shorter at full extension, has a vastly inferior (in terms of specs) head and is only a few quid cheaper than the Freewell T1 - that's if you can be bothered to wait up to 4 weeks delivery.
If you carry a tripod on a backpack, it's quite amazing. The Daddy of Travel Tripods from Peak Design is over 400 grams heavier and nearly double the price and the more recent Ulanzi treeroot might be nearly 200 lighter, but it's also 50% more expensive. These figures alone are compelling reasons to consider the T1.
The purple mushies are Amethyst Deceivers and are edible if where they are picked isn't polluted. Great review and video Andrew, enjoyed watching. The Tripod retails at around £250-£300 which in my opinion is a bit steep when compared with some others...Or are they now all around this dreadful price range?
You can always buy a cheaper tripod and always a more expensive one. If weight is important though, you won't find a lighter one. It's significantly lighter that it's competitors and cheaper in many cases. Yes, it's quite expensive. But you get what you pay for I suppose. There really is no discernible difference to how my backpack feels on my back with or without this on the side. It's so small when folded that it slips in and out of the pouch with ease (unlike ANY other travel tripod I have ever used), it's deployed faster than any other and packed away again just as quickly. The problem that we often face with gear like this is we look at the price first and make a decision based on that. That's often not the best way of making a decision because if this thing is the difference between back pain and no pain, or whether you can walk all day with it there or maybe only half the day with something else, what are you loosing for the sake of £100 or so? It's the same with hand and power tools. A cheap sander from a DIY Shed might cost £35 whereas an excellent sander from Metabo might cost you £200. I guarantee that 10 minutes with the £35 garbage will make you want to take a break whereas the quality tool will have you wondering how long you've been working.
@@AndyBanneroh yes Andrew, I love a power tool analogy. And as a professional woodworker I would like to take the opportunity to chime in 😂. For a keen DIYer Metabo certainly make some great sanders and their cordless range share a battery fitment with Mafell tools which are Leica in tool form. Ludicrously expensive but on another level for build quality and performance. I personally have 4 sanders, all Festool costing over £400 each. But it’s my job and they have all paid for themselves many times over by never failing and being able to work all day long without overheating. Which is why £300 for a top tier piece of photography equipment that will get regular use and be a pleasure to use, is an absolute steal. 😂 I think I’ve just talked myself into another purchase. Hopefully I won’t be trolled in this comment section for having a job and money to spend. 😊
I never owned Festool gear as I couldn't justify the price. I ran a boatyard and most of the time, these sanders were employed to sand paint from GRP, often by someone with the care and handling skills of chimp. A £400 sander would be either ruined or taken home in the boot of someone's car. I lost a lot of tools like that. If you're tempted to buy, please do use my affiliate link: geni.us/FreewellT1
I actually have a MeFoto tripod with the same leg actuation. You need to be careful where you place the tripod or you stand the chance of getting mammal stool on your hands when you collapse it. Or in my case Goose turd 💩.
For sure. Of course, different types of tool are suited for different jobs. I don't much like taking my back-pack out for street photography and have a small padded insert that I use instead with my satchel that tends to go everywhere with me. I have at least 6 tripods now (I really need to sell at least one). Many I have bought, some I have been sent like this Freewell. The Freewell will now be my everyday carry as it's a perfect fit for the backpack, but it's not ideal for Macro in the same way that my Giottos tripods are so I flip between tools to suit.
This is not a product presentation called "review" like other makers, this is a real product review. Possibly the only one on youtube. Thank you.
Thank you.
My background is in magazine publishing; I understand what a review is. Most UA-camrs have no real idea. To do a good, proper review takes A LOT of time. A read of a spec sheet (which is what most videos are) is just an advert.
What a perfect review. It’s not very often you watch a review video and are entertained by it at the same time. Seeing the kit out in the field being used for real to demonstrate the pros and cons makes such a difference to the reviews done at a desk.
Thanks, Andy.
The only thing you can review whilst sat at a desk is a desk. There won't be many Tubers with the kind of background that I have in reviews as I used to run and contribute to many magazines back in the day and if I were presented with a review from a contributor that basically regurgitated the press release and spec sheets, I would refuse to publish it. Sadly, lots of once-respected publishing houses have had their budgets cut to the bone and awful content is everywhere including (especially) on UA-cam.
Ah that may well explain why you look familiar.
Ay-oh! well you did bring Freddie up🙂
I love those amethyst / purple deceivers - very photogenic .
Nice looking tripod there. Freewell stuff is generally top-notch - well their filters are - so it should prove to be well built over time. Speaking as someone who has mislaid a tripod during a woodland shoot then I can see the value in the airtag holder!!
I am capable of losing a pound coin in an empty Smarties tube, but I will spend all day looking for it! I once lost my Lee Filter holder in a mostly empty field. It had a phenomenally expensive 105mm polariser on it too. Spent an hour retracing my steps and found it...
Top Drawer ..
I've never once seen purple shrooms in my puff . Even in the local village woodland . Guess it's down to location , nutrients etc
As they age, they tend to become less purple and more pink, so you may have seen them.
Hello Andrew, firstly I would like to say how lovely your images are, it's always great to see how folks spend their time to consider composition to create such wonderful photos.
This brings me onto the tripod. I have pondered over tripods for weeks and weeks now, I started off with aluminium due to cost but oh my god they are cold, plus the carbon fibre ones are so much lighter. Having decided on spending extra for the warmer/lighter stuff, that rabbit hole is never-ending, I have come round in circles many a time and been spat out into different directions. I had looked at the Freewell Tripod but discounted it due to the leg set-up, one reviewer said that he was constantly frustrated by them over the period he had used it. I was somewhat disappointed by that.
You mentioned the issue with the handle hitting the floor for vertical shots at low level in the video and you mention in a comment below that it's not great for macro......is this the same reason?
I would like to have a tripod for macro work such a fungi etc to use the focus bracketing features as my hands aren't as steady as they used to be. I have a 2 tiny tripods (one is the base of my iFootage monopod and the other is a Joby GorillaPod (which I am beginning to hate). I have never used a tripod before, but since getting my OM1 mkii I want to get the best out of it and handshaking isn't doing that and neither is dodgy tripods.
After all this waffle I would like to ask would their be a better tripod suited to macro or are you still using it for macro because it is a joy to have in your backpack?
Apologies for the rambling.
Thank you.
As for tripods... OK. If you want a great macro tripod, the freewell isn't it. It's good, but it's not great. You can overcome it's main deficiency using a couple of mount hacks that I will show in a video in a few days time and these will cost very little to buy and cobble together. The best tripods for macro have transverse centre columns. Giottos (I think) pioneered these but the company no longer makes many (if any) tripods. Vanguard have a number of these models and there are options from Manfrotto and loads of far-eastern names too. I have two from K&F, one I reviewed in this video ua-cam.com/video/N-IiwqOz7FA/v-deo.html which is pretty good and low-cost and another which I have been using for the past few weeks that knocks the spots off anything else I own - not in terms of build quality but in terms of flexibility of where you can put the camera. I haven't reviewed it yet and it might not even have featured as gear in any published video yet. Check it out here: geni.us/KFMacroTripod If you wish to buy, you can get 20% off with code KRACKEN (until end of November - this will work on any K&F order) . If you want more info on it. send me an email or maybe we can speak on the phone.
@@AndyBanner wow, this is great news, thank you ever so much for the info of the latest tripod. I had already seen your video of the earlier one and had almost bought that on more than one occasion, but this new one looks the bees knees.
Loved the images Andy, that travel tripod seemed really good, I need one and may look into that one you had 👍
It really is so light, Steve. Barely know I have it on the backpack.
Inedible mushrooms and incredible tripod.
Your photography videos are amazing.
That's very kind of you.
The purple ones look like Amethyst Deceivers. Edible. Nutty flavour.
But obviously thats based on a brief view
They are Amethyst Deceivers. I called them Purple Deceivers in the opening line - I am sure I have seen them referred to as such in the past but the ole memory ain't what it used to be.
Thank you Andrew ! 🍄 👍🏼
No problem 👍
I have seen many reviews of this tripod and this is by far the best I have seen.
The price is too high. I have an iFootage tripod that does all that. I do like the one twist and extend idea but I had something similar with a K&F and they too collapsed.
Hope you sell loads Andrew, good luck.
Nice Fungi shots mate.
Cheers, Paul. It's fair to say that most Tubers don't really review things. They show them and give a bullet-point list of specs which is of very little benefit over viewing sales literature. For years, I was a magazine journalist (computing and photographic) so I understand the difference between a proper review and regurgitating bumph.
As for the price, I can't agree. I think it's a very fair price - especially when you compare it against it's main rivals from Ulanzi and more notably, Peak Design. Here's the problem: The last 20 years has seen a MASSIVE growth in quality camera gear coming from the orient and, unlike the decades before it, it's not all badly designed garbage made for pennies. Much of it is really very good stuff (like this). But it's no longer dirt cheap - it's usually lower priced than the big photo brands because competing with Gitzo just isn't easy and, frankly, not worth it because of market positioning. Couple this with the fact you can buy a cheaper but inferior unit from another brand and you begin comparing golden eggs with chicken eggs and saying "well, eggs is eggs" and completely missing the point.
I could argue that your Nikon gear is too expensive and does some things really badly (like pixel binning when you change ratios) and that a camera that's over 50% cheaper from another brand is just as good as, well, it takes photos like the Nikon does and all the time ignore the massive differences in quality in every department.
If you have an Ifootage tripod that weighs 900g, I will eat your hat (the one with Nikon on it!). The Ifootage Gazelle TC3b is 400g heaver, bigger when at it's most compact, shorter at full extension, has a vastly inferior (in terms of specs) head and is only a few quid cheaper than the Freewell T1 - that's if you can be bothered to wait up to 4 weeks delivery.
@@AndyBanner some fair points mate.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
As always some useful information
I might have to look into getting one of these.
If you carry a tripod on a backpack, it's quite amazing. The Daddy of Travel Tripods from Peak Design is over 400 grams heavier and nearly double the price and the more recent Ulanzi treeroot might be nearly 200 lighter, but it's also 50% more expensive. These figures alone are compelling reasons to consider the T1.
@@AndyBanner yeah I carry a tripod in my backpack, and it does my back in.
You won't notice this one on your back.
@@AndyBanner, brought one last week, and wow, I'm loving it.
Magic ! 😂
The purple mushies are Amethyst Deceivers and are edible if where they are picked isn't polluted. Great review and video Andrew, enjoyed watching. The Tripod retails at around £250-£300 which in my opinion is a bit steep when compared with some others...Or are they now all around this dreadful price range?
You can always buy a cheaper tripod and always a more expensive one. If weight is important though, you won't find a lighter one. It's significantly lighter that it's competitors and cheaper in many cases. Yes, it's quite expensive. But you get what you pay for I suppose. There really is no discernible difference to how my backpack feels on my back with or without this on the side. It's so small when folded that it slips in and out of the pouch with ease (unlike ANY other travel tripod I have ever used), it's deployed faster than any other and packed away again just as quickly.
The problem that we often face with gear like this is we look at the price first and make a decision based on that. That's often not the best way of making a decision because if this thing is the difference between back pain and no pain, or whether you can walk all day with it there or maybe only half the day with something else, what are you loosing for the sake of £100 or so?
It's the same with hand and power tools. A cheap sander from a DIY Shed might cost £35 whereas an excellent sander from Metabo might cost you £200. I guarantee that 10 minutes with the £35 garbage will make you want to take a break whereas the quality tool will have you wondering how long you've been working.
@@AndyBanneroh yes Andrew, I love a power tool analogy. And as a professional woodworker I would like to take the opportunity to chime in 😂. For a keen DIYer Metabo certainly make some great sanders and their cordless range share a battery fitment with Mafell tools which are Leica in tool form. Ludicrously expensive but on another level for build quality and performance. I personally have 4 sanders, all Festool costing over £400 each. But it’s my job and they have all paid for themselves many times over by never failing and being able to work all day long without overheating.
Which is why £300 for a top tier piece of photography equipment that will get regular use and be a pleasure to use, is an absolute steal.
😂 I think I’ve just talked myself into another purchase.
Hopefully I won’t be trolled in this comment section for having a job and money to spend. 😊
I never owned Festool gear as I couldn't justify the price. I ran a boatyard and most of the time, these sanders were employed to sand paint from GRP, often by someone with the care and handling skills of chimp. A £400 sander would be either ruined or taken home in the boot of someone's car. I lost a lot of tools like that.
If you're tempted to buy, please do use my affiliate link: geni.us/FreewellT1
I actually have a MeFoto tripod with the same leg actuation. You need to be careful where you place the tripod or you stand the chance of getting mammal stool on your hands when you collapse it. Or in my case Goose turd 💩.
That's pretty true of any tripod....
I think tripods are a bit like camera bags…. There isn’t a perfect one and over the years, you end up with several
For sure. Of course, different types of tool are suited for different jobs. I don't much like taking my back-pack out for street photography and have a small padded insert that I use instead with my satchel that tends to go everywhere with me. I have at least 6 tripods now (I really need to sell at least one). Many I have bought, some I have been sent like this Freewell. The Freewell will now be my everyday carry as it's a perfect fit for the backpack, but it's not ideal for Macro in the same way that my Giottos tripods are so I flip between tools to suit.