Sirui Traveler X review - the best super-light travel tripod?

Amateur Photographer verdict

The Sirui Traveler X manages to combine a useful maximum height with extremely light weight, without compromising too much on stability. It’s an excellent travel tripod if you need to pack light.

Pros

Compact folded size and super-light weight
Good maximum height
Quick setup
Smooth pan and tilt movement with lighter loads

Cons

Awkwardly positioned camera clamp knob
Pan handle can only be set straight, and not angled

If you like to travel with a tripod, you’ll know that it’s hard to find one that manages to be simultaneously tall, lightweight, and reasonably sturdy, while packing down small. The Sirui Traveler X aims to square this circle by using 5-section carbon fibre legs that do without conventional twist or lever locks. The result is a tripod that can reach a very useful height of 1.5 metres, yet somehow weighs in at less than kilogram, including the head.

Sirui Traveler X at a glance:

£142
152cm maximum height
36.4cm folded length
950g weight
5kg rated load
5-section carbon fibre legs
Includes AT-10 2-way video head
store.sirui.com

The Traveler X model that we’re primarily looking at in this review includes the AT-10 pan-and-tilt head for video use. For photographers, Sirui also sells the Traveler X-1, which uses the same leg-set paired with the low-profile B-00K ball-head, for £170. This head includes an Arca-Swiss type camera clamp, independent panning base, and friction control via the main ball locking lever. The combination weighs just 860g but is rated to hold 10kg.

To achieve the Traveler’s impressive combination of height and super-light weight, Sirui has used what it calls a ‘Single Twist Lock’ mechanism. To extend a leg, you grab the foot and twist it, with each section unlocking in turn. Then pull the foot right down, and twist it back again to lock everything tight. To retract the legs again, simply reverse the process.

Sirui Traveler X folded for transport — The Traveler X folds down short for transport. Credit: Andy Westlake

This approach is by no means new – Velbon has been using it for decades – but it’s unusual on a carbon-fibre travel tripod. It makes for extremely quick setup, but it does have some disadvantages.

Most obviously, it’s not so easy to set intermediate leg lengths using only two or three sections. And because you have to grab the foot to pack up the tripod, it’s not ideal for working on wet or mucky surfaces.

Sirui Traveler X set to low-angle shooting — A split centre-column enables low-angle shooting. Credit: Andy Westlake

The legs reverse-fold around the head to minimise the packed length, and each can be set to three different angles, including almost flat. You can also unscrew the lower section of the centre column for ground-level shooting. But you can’t remove a leg to make a monopod.

Sirui Traveler X key features:

Weight hook: A sprung hook on the centre column lets you hang your bag off the tripod for extra stability
Accessories: Two 1.8in threads on the central ‘spider’ enable the attachment of accessories via magic arms
Camera plate: The Arca-Swiss type camera plate has a pair of fold-up red plastic arms to prevent twisting
Case: A good quality carry case is included, with a small external zipped pocket for accessories

Sirui Traveler X carry case. — The tripod comes with a nice nylon carry case. Credit: Andy Westlake

AT-10 pan-and-tilt head

The AT-10 pan-and-tilt head that’s included with the Traveler X is primarily designed for video. It offers fluid pan and tilt movements, but no option to flip the camera up 90° for vertical shooting. You don’t get a counterbalance to return the camera to level when it’s tilted, either, but that’s fair enough at this price. There’s no levelling bowl, so to level the head, you need to adjust the legs, which is most easily done via their top sections.

While the head is rated to 5kg, there’s a big difference between the load it’ll support when static, and that it can move smoothly. As a guide, I found it worked fine with the Panasonic GH7 and 12-60mm F2.8-4 zoom (1.1kg), but panning became jerky with the Sony A7R V and 24-105mm f/4 (1.4kg). However if you don’t need to move the camera, it’ll happily support much heavier lenses, such as a 70-200mm or 100-400mm telezoom.

Sirui AT-10 pan-and-tilt head Arca clamp knob — The knob for the Arca clamp can be awkward to undo, as it’s very close to the camera’s baseplate.

One annoyance is that the pan handle can’t be set at an angle, but only at 90-degree intervals, and requires a hex key to change it. I left it set horizontally; the tripod will still fold around the head, just as long as the camera plate isn’t attached.

Another irritation is that the head’s Arca clamp knob ends up very close to the camera’s baseplate. I never had any problem tightening it up, but it can be distinctly awkward to undo.

Sirui Traveler X bubble level and accessory attachment points — Here you can see the built-in bubble level and one of two 1/4in accessory attachment points. Credit: Andy Westlake

It’s also worth noting that the camera clamp is set up to work with plates that run front-to-back on the camera body. This is pretty much standard for video heads. However, it’s the wrong way round to work directly with the Arca baseplates or L-brackets that photographers often fit to their cameras.

Sirui Traveler X: Our Verdict

While the Sirui Traveler X certainly has its flaws, I can forgive them for its incredibly low weight. If you need a super-light yet reasonably tall tripod, it’s difficult to beat. But if you’re more interested in shooting stills rather than video, I’d go for the Traveler X-1 instead.