The best tripod company for all needs

I am not endorsed by SLIK, however, I wish I was. This company has been the one who has saved my ass more than once on photoshoots, in traveling, even in the long exposure work I do, and on podcasts. Yes, even in my podcast.

Any links I have in this post will be some sort of affiliate link with Amazon because I need to make money and I am giving this information and opinion out to the world so you can see what and how they have done to help me in my work.

I will start out by saying this, I have tried a few different companies for Tripods in my work. From the lowly Amazon Basics tripods, to Manfrotto, Joby and Gitzo. I have truly spent some time and lost some equipment to them all.

Not all tripods are created equal.

It was after losing backup cameras due to weird locking mechanisms, unreliable heads, and horrible legs that I had to figure out a better means to hold and protect my gear. Just like when I had finally purchased a real strap for my cameras while I was on the go, (Shout out to Blackrapid and the OG Breathe Strap that has held 2 of my cameras now for 7 years.).

I had to figure out what worked best for my needs for a tripod. If I was setting up cameras, phones, long exposure shots, landscape work. Anything that was really and truly demanding that my cameras being held in place, snuggly, and most important, without any jittering or movement.

Now, I may have done something quick about tripods before with SLIK and I touched on Manfrotto and Gitzo and dove deep into my MAIN baby the SLIK Pro 700 DX. It is still my workhorse tripod all these years later.

What I want to really talk about now is, what other models I have and truly tested in life now for a year.

The Real World

So, the real world is very different than a “test environment”. Tossing gear around, shoving it in the car, knocking it over, dust storms, rain, and endless other elements that truly tested my gear. So, let’s start with the two other SLIK tripods I have in my arsenal. The Mini Pro V and Sprint III MINI Black.

Let’s really get in the weeds about both of these guys. First, let’s talk about the travel option, the Sprint III.

SLIK Sprint PRO III MINI Travel Tripod

That’s it’s official name. I generally just call it the Sprint III and that is what I will refer to it as.

I will start with the pros and cons of this. I’m not going to sugar coat it, they may be my favorite tripods, but nothing is perfect.

So, I bought the Mini so I could get it in my luggage, sling it to the underside of my camera bag, and most importantly, not have to worry about the incredible heft of my Pro 700 DX. Sure, it’s half the price of my Pro 700 DX, however, it’s half as durable, 1/5th the weight, and is meant to go anywhere you go without being a burden. I love my Pro 700, but hiking with it is definitely a burden.

So, with the Mini or the standard Pro Travel, what you get is an extremely versatile travel tripod that has applications in every place you can think of due to it’s smaller form factor.

When I am not traveling, it’s my web cam stand that I use for my podcast (Go check out Navigating Neurodivergence and subscribe!)

Here is a video episode so you can see it holding my camera on me. This is from the latest episode at writing:

It’s honestly my favorite tripod for multi-use camera purposes.

So, if that is my favorite for multi-use purposes, then why did I get that little Pro V?

SLIK Mini-Pro V Tripod

Well, it’s super compact and could be used for travel too (and it is, constantly). It really has some fantastic use. Let’s do another pro/con list to show what is going on with the Mini Pro V.

So, this seems counter intuitive to have such a small tripod that doesn’t extend all the way and has a limited range of motion on the head.

That may be true, but what I found is the tripod isn’t just amazing for cameras, it’s amazing for everything that can attach to the mount.

Sure, I can bring it anywhere, put phones and cameras and even my go-pro on it. This will generate great low angle shots that are stable on the ground, on a table, up on top of a book case for interesting angles. You can even mount security cameras to it.

However, what is intense is… you can hook anything you want to it.

I use it to hold my secondary microphone’s shock mount.

Yes, it can hold a studio condenser microphone with a shock mount with no problems at all. It’s amazing to see it hold it for podcasting and recording, because it’s the most efficient and space saving mic stand I have ever seen.

Please sponsor me SLIK

One day SLIK will be the brand who will sponsor everything I do, from podcasting and photography. Because I have recommended them for years and tell people about them all the time.

I trust them with my cameras, recording equipment, lights, and more.

The pricing for them is always great, you can get a top tier tripod for under $200 USD. Which is insane because I know that there are offerings out there for thousands. Sure there carbon fiber and cinema tripods that are hundreds from SLIK, but, that’s it. Even their top tier, a pro Carbon Fiber, is under $500 right now. I’ve seen Gitzo tripods go for over $1,500 before.

So the price and quality are un-matched.

Maybe one day they will sponsor me and let me take some of their high end products for a test drive. Until then, I will keep buying them all.