Travelling Light with K&F Concept
Updated: Aug 31, 2021
Here is a first for me, I have been given the chance to review a product by K&F Concept. The item in question is a carbon fibre tripod, something I have wanted for quite some time, but always found to be extremely expensive. The K&F Concept one arrived in the post last week, and my first impressions of it were great. When folded away it is very compact, measuring only 35cm and weighing in at 1012 grams.
It comes in a nice zip bag with the colour scheme reflected in the bag that is used on the tripod. The tripod is black carbon fibre with black and orange spiral locking knobs. The legs are in 5 sections and the locking knobs have rubber around the centre to make them nice to grip. The centre leg doubles as a monopod when you don't feel the need to use the tripod. There is a locking tab at the top of each leg which allows you to lock the leg in one of three positions to maintain stability.
There is a 25mm ball head at the top which moves nice and freely but also locks really well. There is also a spirit level on the top plate to make it easy to get your camera level when setting up. The top plate connects to the camera with a 1/4 inch screw connection that will fit most cameras without an adapter. This plate is removeable when not in use so you can leave it on the camera if you want.
Right that's the technical bit out the way, what's it actually like to use?
Saturday at 4.45am I am getting ready to go out. Sunrise is my favourite time and the weather's great so I'm hoping for a really good trip to my local reserve. First thing I noticed is this tripod actually fits in my rucksack with my cameras. It's short enough when folded to fit comfortably inside and still do the zip up. Second thing that really surprised me is my bag didn't actually feel any heavier than normal, and we all know what a massive positive that is!
It's misty, but no cloud so not much colour unfortunately, but still it's great photography weather.
The tripod was quick and easy to set up, not really any different from others I have used. The ball head moves smoothly and it's easy to lock into the desired position. At first I had my Olympus M1 mkiii on it with the 40-150 f2.8 lens, no issues with stability at all, the ground wasn't exactly flat but it didn't seem to affect the tripods stability at all.
All set up and ready to go :-)
On the end of the centre column there is a sprung bag hook. I think this may be of more importance in some ways because of the lightness of the tripod. This tripod can take up to 8kg. Since I changed from Canon to Olympus I don't think I have anything anywhere near that weight anymore, but I did try it with my heaviest setup to check the stability.
Olympus M1X with 300mm F4 Pro attached
Even with the heaviest set up the stability was unchanged. I had my rucksack hanging under the tripod more for counterbalancing the weight than actual stability, but I don't think there was ever a need.
I tried the tripod out on a number of different terrains. The weather had been dry so the ground was hard. It coped well on all the surfaces around the lake from hard packed earth to long grass.
The full height isn't quite what I would choose for a standard tripod, as I am 6 foot tall. But for a travel tripod it is more than enough for use when you are hiking or away on holiday. The max height is 153cm which is about 5 feet. On the lowest height setting you can also reverse the centre column and mount the camera under the tripod. This gives you amazing low levels for shooting. The monopod has a reach of 159cm.
The ball head didn't feel floppy even with the M1X on it and I found the spirit level on the top plate really useful, especially on uneven terrain.
There are degree markings on the bottom part of the ball head which I found really useful for doing panoramas and for other set up purposes. The removable top plate with a 1/4 inch screw mounts onto the head with a screw tightening. There is also a scale on the top face so you can get the plate in the same place every time if you need to.
The design is really nice and the construction is very robust and sturdy. The three positions that the leg locks into allow you a great amount of choice for different terrains. This is definitely the lightest tripod I have ever used and the weight reduction hasn't been achieved by making it less stable. It was great to use and I didn't worry about the safety of my cameras at all.
When you look at carbon fibre tripods they are usually up around the £400 plus price point. This comes in quite a lot less than that. But please don't think cheap is inferior. K&F have made a quality product at a very decent price point. It's the perfect travel companion and ideal for hiking or mountain bikers that want to take a camera and tripod but don't have huge storage options.
I have to say a massive thank you to K&F Concept for giving me the chance to review this item for my blog. It has given me massive amounts of confidence in their equipment and especially in this product. The model number for this tripod is KF09.077V2. It is a great price for such a nice piece of equipment. There are some links and coupon codes at the end of this blog. Thank you for reading and I hope you found the information useful. If you are in the market for a travel tripod and didn't think you could afford a carbon fibre one look at K&F Concept.
K&F Concept company website:
Link to the tripod on the K&F site
K&F carbon tripod: https://bit.ly/3BfEPkr
Coupon code: KF10UK ( 10% discount, Valid until 31/12/2021 ）
Amazon link:
K&F carbon tripod:https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081DYTR9J
Coupon code: KFCUK008 ( 10% discount,Valid until 31/07/2021）
Thanks again for reading and I'll be back soon with another blog.