MeFOTO is known for their travel tripod collection for both casual and serious amateurs, as well as professionals on a budget. Their previous collection, which combined strength and versatility with an uncompromised feature set, was originally released in 2012-2013 to very positive reviews and customer response. It was resplendent in colorful accents and showed serious design chops. Well, MeFOTO announced today that the collection – under the new “Air” moniker – is now fully rebooted, in a very serious way.
Let me start by saying that this review is going to be very positive. I couldn’t find very much at all the quibble with or criticize, and found much to praise, in the new MeFOTO collection. So if you want to stop reading here and go buy their products, more power to you! But if you want to first hear a bit about some of the very innovative things that they’ve done with their tripods and monopod, I guarantee that it will be worth your time.
Here’s what I’m going to do. First I’ll discuss the similarities between the three new tripods. Then I’ll discuss the differences. I’m going to note the very minor criticisms I had. I’ll tell you about the monopod. Then – spoiler alert! – I’m going to make a recommendation to buy them.
Three Tripods: GlobeTrotter Air, RoadTrip Air, and BackPacker Air
MeFOTO’s new tripods come in three models, each one a bit more portable than the last. I’ll discuss the differences between them soon, and start here with the similarities. The one that jumps out at you is that these tripods come in bright colors. Unlike their previous line which used color as an accent, the new tripods are incredibly distinctive with even more color. The review units I had were olive green, titanium silver, orange, and a particularly beautiful shade of metallic blue. You will not lose your tripod, or mix it up with your friend’s, unless it’s in its included black canvas bag (whose thick drawstring is also a shoulder strap). Just keep it out of the bag, everyone will enjoy the color!
Each tripod comes with its own ball head and quick release (Arca-Swiss compatible) plate. (The plates also include stopping screws to keep them from sliding off the mount – with your camera – in case you didn’t tighten the mount all the way.) On the mounting base, each ball head includes a small bubble level to help you level your camera. The center column is reversible, includes a weight hook, and slides up and down with a quick turn of its locking collar. The legs fold backwards over the center column for compact storage, and click into place with a retractable, very easy to use, sliding lever. This is all pretty standard.
Unique Features
Where these tripods differ significantly from other tripods is in their locking mechanism. Most tripods use either a lever-lock system or a twist-lock system on the outside of each leg to lock each segment of each tripod leg individually. MeFOTO has completely rethought their tripods’ locking system, and is debuting a new system they call HyperLock.
HyperLock
What HyperLock does is make it possible to open, extend, and lock your tripod leg with one movement. It puts the lock system inside the tripod legs, instead of on the outside, and controls the lock by twisting the leg about a quarter-twist (give or take) to open, and another quarter-twist to lock. So all you do is grab the rubber foot at the bottom of the tripod, twist the foot a quarter-turn, pull the leg out as far as you need it, and twist back to lock it. It takes faster to do than it took you to read the last sentence. I’m not kidding.
And it works. I’ve only used my review units a bit, so I can’t comment on how this will work a year after you buy it. But it seems very rigid and stable. If this holds up under use, I can only imagine that MeFOTO’s competitors will be looking to invent their own quick-lock mechanisms, because this system kicks all the others I’ve seen.
Telescoping Center Column
But they take it to the next level. The center column uses the same HyperLock design to extend and lock, to about triple its retracted size. (And the cool thing about it is that the extension is totally invisible to you if you don’t know about it. Pull it out on a shoot and you’re going to see jaws drop.)
Selfie Stick
Once you extend the center column to its fullest length, you get to another feature that I liked. The center column converts into a selfie stick. Unscrew the weight hook at the bottom of the center column, pull out the column and extend it to its full length (HyperLock away!), screw the included spring-loaded smartphone holder into the quick-release plate, and – voila! – you’ve got a selfie stick.
At first glance this might seem gimmicky, but the reality is that since this is part of a full-fledged tripod with a head, you’re not limited to using your iPhone for selfies. You can use a GoPro, a mirrorless camera, or even a full-sized DSLR at the end of the “selfie stick” to not only take selfies, but also as a boom to extend to places and angles that you can’t get with a regular tripod.
Remote Shutter
And – icing on the cake – MeFOTO is so serious about this selfie stick function that they ship each tripod with a Bluetooth remote shutter release that clips into a special holder on the tripod. It’s nothing fancy – just an on/off button and a shutter release button – but it does the job. In my tests with my smartphone they paired immediately with no problem, and worked as they should. They should also work with Bluetooth-enabled cameras. (Note that although the manual doesn’t say this, the shutter release is rechargeable using the USB connector on its bottom.)
Difference between the Models
The main differences between the models come down to size and capacity, the ball-head functionality, and the intended audience.
Size and Capacity:
The $225 GlobeTrotter Air is the big brother of this trio. It extends to 68 inches high and has a capacity rated to 17.6 pounds, way more than the average shooter will ever need. But it still folds down to about a foot long and weighs only a bit over three pounds, easily fitting in your camera bag.
The $175 RoadTrip Air is middle of the road, size-wise. It only extends to 61 inches, is rated to a 13.2 pound capacity, and only weighs two and a half pounds. It will take up a bit less room in your camera bag.
Lastly, the $125 BackPacker Air is the most portable of the bunch. It’s under 60 inches fully extended, and you can tell why it’s rated to an 8.8 pound capacity, as it sacrifices some strength in the interests of portability. (I did test it with a Canon 7D and a medium-length zoom lens, and I found it usable in a pinch, especially if the center column is not fully extended.) But it only weighs two pounds and is quite small in your bag.
Ball Head Functionality
Again, as the beefiest of the bunch, the GlobeTrotter Air is equipped with the best ball head. Besides the pan lock and the ball lock, it also comes with a friction control knob to keep your camera from flopping forward when you unlock the ball. I was a little surprised that the head on the GlobeTrotter Air didn’t have panning degree marks (the RoadTrip Air does).
The RoadTrip Air does have a pan lock and a ball lock, but no friction control knob. It also has those panning degree marks, which can be very helpful if you’re into shooting panoramas. Both the RoadTrip Air and the GlobeTrotter Air have 3-in-1 screws to attach your camera to the quick release plate. You can use either a swivel lever attached to the screw, an Allen wrench, or a coin to tighten or loosen the screw.
The BackPacker air differs from the first two tripods, in that its included quick release plate is half the size of the standard plate, though you can use a full-size plate in the mount if you want. And you’re going to need a coin or an Allen wrench to tighten the screw – it doesn’t have the built in lever the other models have. It also doesn’t pan side to side. MeFOTO definitely made compromises here to save on space and weight.
The Intended Audience
These tripods slot themselves into categories fairly easily. If you need a portable tripod that can easily hold your DSLR, that you can still put into your camera bag but not sacrifice performance or functionality, go for the GlobeTrotter Air.
The RoadTrip Air is your best bet if you’re more concerned about portability, but you still need a solid tripod that is more than comfortable with a mirrorless camera and a long lens, or a light-ish DSLR.
And if your primary concern is weight, you can’t go wrong with the BackPacker Air. It gives you bang for the buck, and takes the least space and weight in your backpack. (That’s probably why they named it BackPacker. Just a guess.)
Quibbles:
I really only have two minor quibbles. One is that you really need to use the rubber feet as a knob for leverage to turn the tripod leg with enough force to engage and lock the HyperLock mechanism. If you don’t use the rubber foot, it’s likely you won’t have tightened it hard enough.
Which brings me to my second quibble: Since you have to use the rubber foot to lock and unlock it effectively, if you’ve just used your tripod in dirt or mud, you’re going to get your hands dirty when you break it down.
These points would not keep me from recommending these tripods.
The WalkAbout Air Monopod
We finally come to the $65 WalkAbout Air monopod. This monopod is small when retracted – 13.4 inches long. It has a rubber non-slip sleeve/grip on the top half of the outside segment. It doesn’t come with a head – either screw your camera straight onto the ¼” 20 screw on top, or attach your own head. It does come, though, with a carry bag, as well as a very thoughtfully supplied wrist strap.
The standout feature of this monopod is the HyperLock mechanism, which allows it to fully extend and lock in less than a second. Again, I’m not kidding. The other standout feature is that it extends to a bit over 59 inches while weighing under a pound! (And this is aluminum, folks, not carbon fiber!) And it’s rated to a 22 pound capacity, so feel free to load up your vintage VHS camera onto it.
The only thing you need to worry about with the WalkAbout Air is to make sure you tightened it enough that the HyperLock engaged in all six segments. Since it has so many more segments than the tripods, you have more locks to engage, and if you don’t fully tighten them all you’ll only notice that one is loose when you put a little weight on the monopod. You’ll get used to it and you’ll learn to tighten them.
The Verdict
MeFOTO builds solid products with great attention to detail. These are very good and I have to give an unqualified “buy” on these tripods and the monopod. (And, in case you were curious, my own favorite is the WalkAbout Air monopod, which is a great buy at $65.) I think that this new line is going to become the favorite of many customers who will appreciate the bang for the buck and the unique features MeFOTO brings to its tripods and monopod.
Happy shooting!
