We think you can’t get much more portable than the Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit tripod. Portability is a big factor when it comes to finding the right travel tripod.
Main Specifications
Payload: 3 kg load capacity
weight: 463 g
Head Type: Arca-Swiss Compatible Ball Head
Height: 30 cm
Leg Type: flexible legs, non-extendable
material: aluminum, rubber
It’s the perfect solution for photographers and vloggers and weighs just 463g, making it ideal for travel and will easily fit into a suitcase as it’s only 30cm tall.
With its flexible gripping feet, you can attach it to almost anything, meaning you can get angles and perspectives you wouldn’t be able to get with a regular tripod. It also has a maximum payload of 3kg, which is actually more than enough for a regular mirrorless camera and lens setup, especially with mirrorless cameras being much lighter than DSLRs. It has a precise 360-degree pan and 90-degree tilt to get the camera at virtually any angle and easily switch between portrait and landscape.
Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit tripod review: Design
- Flexible Rubber Gripping Feet
- very light
- small and compact
Design-wise, the Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit is a great little tripod that’s perfect for travel photographers and vloggers alike. It’s incredibly small and compact, measuring just 30cm in length, which means it’s easy to fit in the side pocket of a camera bag or even in your hand luggage when flying. It’s also very light and portable, weighing 463 grams, making it a pleasure to carry around while shooting. It also features machined aluminum sockets, rubberized ring and foot grips, and a removable Arca-Swiss ball head. There are two control knobs on the head, one for loosening and tightening the quick-release plate clamp, and the other for controlling the ball head.
However, the main selling point of this tripod is the flexibility of the legs. This allows the tripod to wrap around and hold onto anything, anywhere, making it an extremely versatile tripod that full-size tripods can’t do. This, combined with the 360° pan and 90° tilt, means you can move the camera to basically any position and angle. Not only is it great for photographers looking to get unusual, hard-to-get shots, but this design feature also makes it a great tripod for vloggers and videographers.
You can also get a separate mount to attach your phone to the GorillaPod, opening up possibilities not only for photographers and videographers but other content creators as well.
Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit tripod review: Functionality
- Easy to hold things with flexible legs
- Can hold weight up to 3kg
- Ball head with panning capability
As we mentioned earlier, the main star of the show with this tripod is the flexible legs functionality. However, as flexible as the legs allow you to do, we noticed that the legs can be stiff and difficult to move at times. The ball and socket attachment on the head end is simple to move, but the joints on the bottom of the legs seem to be a bit more difficult. Although, to an extent, they should be. If the feet were too flexible, they probably wouldn’t be able to grip things well, so they need to have an element of stiffness. We just noticed that sometimes they felt a bit sticky, so it was difficult to get them in the exact position we wanted, and it took a few tries to get the positioning right.
For such a small tripod, it’s surprisingly sturdy. It’s designed for premium mirrorless cameras, and can hold up to 3kg, which is more than enough to hold the weight of a full-frame mirrorless camera with a long and heavy telephoto lens. In many instances, it is a matter of balancing the weight by distributing it evenly so that it does not topple over.
GorillaPod also includes an Arca-Swiss compatible ball head with 90° tilt and 360° panning capability. Not only is it great for any type of videography you want to shoot, but it also means there are almost zero limits on how you can set it up as you can mount the camera to basically any Can get in shooting position.
Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit tripod review: Performance
- Feet can be made fidgety to get level on a flat surface
- easy to set up
- no fall or fall
Overall, we think the Joby GorillaPod performed very well. When we tested it, it was very easy to set up and start shooting. As this is a small travel tripod, there are no legs to extend, making it much steeper than a traditional full-size tripod. The only difficulty you may encounter is once the legs are wrapped around or clamped to something else. And as there’s no spirit level, it can be difficult to make sure your shot is straight and you don’t end up with any unsightly horizons. Thankfully, many newer cameras have an in-built spirit level that you can see on the screen, so there are ways to deal with this. You just need to be careful that it’s level enough that it doesn’t drop and destroy your camera or lens, as some customers have reported in Amazon reviews.
We found that once installed, it held its position incredibly well, with little to no sag or sag. However due to its size and light weight, it probably won’t hold up well in high winds unless it’s strapped to something, so some care should be taken when you take it out shooting. We tested this with a heavy camera and zoom lens, which weighed around 1.5kg, so about half the weight, and it took a bit of trial and error when wrapping the legs around the railing to make sure it didn’t slide. Was not only secure enough, but also distributed the weight evenly. Once it was in good condition, however, it was very secure. We also noticed that the quick-release plate needed to be secured very tightly, as it slipped around on a couple of occasions.
Should I buy the Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit Tripod?
There are advantages and disadvantages to buying any piece of photography equipment, but we think that for everything it does, the Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit is definitely worth the investment, provided it’s suitable for the type of content you create. be friendly Several customers who wrote Amazon reviews have said that they initially bought a cheaper version, which either broke after a few uses, wasn’t good quality, or completely fell apart and ruined their device, and they finished buying. Joby in an end anyway.
This tripod is definitely a perfect fit for travel photographers who need a lightweight, portable and versatile tool, as it ticks all those boxes. It would also be great for vloggers and videographers who want to be able to shoot video on the go without lugging around a huge recording system. However, if you shoot more landscapes or astrophotography, or simply have a very heavy camera and lens setup and need something sturdier, this tripod may not be right for you, and you may want to choose something larger and higher load More stable with load.
If the Joby GorillaPod 3K Pro Kit Tripod Isn’t for You
The Joby GorillaPod certainly isn’t for everyone, so if after reading this review you feel it doesn’t quite meet your needs, here are some other options to consider.
For an excellent travel tripod at the high end of the price spectrum, you might want to check out peak design travel tripod (opens in new tab), It’s incredibly small and light yet still a full-sized tripod, so it’ll be a good investment if you don’t need to attach your tripod to things.
Another great travel tripod worth considering is Vanguard VEO 3GO 235CB Travel Tripod (opens in new tab), It’s very light at 1.2kg and still has ample payload, more than enough for a DSLR and several different lenses.
For a travel-friendly tripod that sits at the more affordable end of the spectrum, definitely check out manfrotto element mii tripod (opens in new tab), This tripod is great for heavy setups (up to 8kg), and will hold its own in high winds and adverse weather.