NEEWER LITETRIP LT38 Carbon Fiber Tripod

Neewer’s new Carbon Fiber LT38 Travel tripod is a gem to behold and to use, bringing together all the features they’ve gleaned from their own design experience, along with an ear to their customers feedback and wish lists. The LT38 is light, portable, easily adjusted and reconfigured, and with a load capacity of 22lbs., versatile and highly capable.From its octagonal carbon fiber leg design, its adjustment hardware, to the generous 40mm (1.6”) Ball Head, it is beautifully fabricated, exquisitely finished, and conveniently functional.The spring-loaded leg clamps make adjustments in height a breeze; when the clamp is flipped back to the locked position, the leg is held firmly; this clamping pressure is adjustable but I found it to be perfect as delivered. Although feather weight, the carbon fiber legs feel as rock solid as steel, with no flex whatsoever within its specified payload range, even with the thinnest leg fully extended. At the top of each leg, at its base, is a spring-loaded slip lock that is pulled down so that the leg’s angle can be quickly adjusted, clicking into one of three ratcheted détentes and held precisely in place. A lever on the tripod base, between two of the legs, is used to release and lock the carbon fiber center column, allowing for an additional 9” of height or a swift intermediate adjustment.The sandbag hook at the end of the center column is removable, so that the center column can be removed and reversed to place the Ball Head between the legs for shots from a low perspective. Or, the center column can be separated from the Ball Head’s base so that it doesn’t impede with the ground when the legs are separated to their maximum 83° angle; the head base incorporates a short column that clamps into the leg base. Both features allow for greater flexibility when choosing a shooting angle.The 40mm Ball of the Tripod Head provides plenty of clamping surface, and when locked securely, doesn’t budge. Any desired dampening of the Ball is done with fine adjustments of the spring-loaded clamping lever; the lever can be pulled out and reoriented if needed. The rotation of the azimuth provides a full 360° pan and is gently dampened for a consistently smooth movement throughout its entire range. The Arca style clamp incorporates a bubble level next to the QR plate and anti-slide-out safety pins at each end. On the side of the QR clamps base are 1/4" threads with Arri locating holes. A useful addition here would be to incorporate a bubble level into the end of the QR knob for use when an attached camera is oriented in the vertical position.The included QR plate is small, 1.5” square; square so that it can be clamped in from any direction. However, the safety pins on the clamps base are spring-loaded (and removable), so they won’t impede the use of any other industry standard Arca style QR plate the user may have on hand. In fact, the entire head is removable and replaceable, the head base incorporates a standard 3/8” threaded screw that can be accessed from inside the bases’ short column.To be clear, there are three components to this tripod and most others. There are the legs (the tripod), that are attached to their own base, from which they are folded and angled. Then there’s the round base for the tripod head, in this case sitting atop a short, 1.5” tube that clamps into the tripod (legs) base. And then there’s the Ball Head. Each of these components can also be used discretely; the included Ball Head can be replaced with, for example, a Fluid Head when shooting video. Or the Ball Head can be used on another tripod, perhaps a table top set of legs. Even the QR clamp of the Ball Head can be removed and replaced with another clamp of the user’s choice, to then sit atop the Ball. Each of the components that comprise the LT38 are of professional quality; therefore, this modularity provides the matrix for a system that can be designed around the user’s needs, without the necessity of purchasing redundant components.Neewers’ LT38 Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod is supplied with a substantially padded storage/travel bag complete with an adjustable crossbody strap, a few necessary allen keys and a user manual.