3 Legged Thing Charles 2.0 Aluminium Tripod Kit with AirHed Pro – Adjustable Camera Tripod with 3 Detachable Legs – Darkness (Matte Black) (CHARLESKITDARK2)

I’ve tried a good few big-name tripods in my time but this one from 3 Legged Thing tops the lot.

UPDATE after a few weeks: The more time I spend with this, the more I appreciate it. I find myself looking for excuses to use it. It’s incredibly well thought-out and cleverly designed, worth every penny.

Impressions start favourably with a quality build and rock-solid support. It’s also beautifully finished, a pleasure to handle. It’s made of high-grade magnesium alloy which is said to be best for absorbing vibrations, along with some aluminium. Magnesium alloy is apparently lighter than other metals too, including titanium and aluminium, while cheaper than carbon fibre.

In use, I particularly value the range of adjustment, from very compact to very tall. It’s easy to adjust, too, with minimal twisting of the clamps required and very smooth action on everything that moves. It also offers some clever tricks – more on that below.

The kit includes a ball head. You might want to switch to an alternative but the ball head’s a good one. It includes a useful release screw that enables panning only, with a scale to show how far you’ve rotated the head. And there’s a bubble level, of course. It seems odd, though, that the quick release plate doesn’t come with an easy way of tightening by hand; you have to use a flat blade of some kind such as a coin, or the supplied tool.

All three legs are detachable, enabling various configurations such as table-top tripod or monopod. And the ‘tri-mount’ plate is useful for accessories and cables. There’s the obligatory hook at the bottom of the centre column, for a weight. You get an excellent padded storage bag too.

There’s really nothing of significance I can find to complain about, certainly nothing that would stop me buying. Carbon fibre tripods are lighter but also less rigid and less able to stand up to the rough treatment that’s often handed out. This 3 Legged Thing Charles 2.0 is something special, cleverly designed and superbly engineered. If you can afford it, don’t hesitate.

This 3 Legged Thing Charles 2.0 tripod is impressive. Made largely of aerospace grade magnesium alloy, with rubber inlays for grip, the build quality and strength feels excellent. The tripod feels stable and serves its purpose well. It is quite a large tripod when folded, and at 2 kg is not the lightest, but nor is it too heavy or bulky for attaching to the backpack for dedicated nature or landscape photography treks.

Large rubberised leg-locks are tightened and loosened to adjust the leg length; while push-clips allow the leg angles to be locked. After a little playing around, I found the operation of the tripod to be pretty easy, although its flexibility, together with the screwing and unscrewing to make adjustments, does mean it takes a bit of time to find the optimum positioning. That said, the tripod offers an excellent height range, from very low, to nearly 190cm, and feels stable and sturdy once locked in place. The tripod also claims an impressive max load of 40kg., which is far higher than most of us would ever need.

The tripod can be pretty much fully disassembled; for example, being converted into a monopod. All the parts and threads feel strong, robust and well engineered. My only slight gripe with the tripod is that it is a little easy to start accidently unscrewing sections. For example I often accidently start unscrewing the legs when trying to loosen their lock to adjust their height. Not a major problem, but be prepared to spend a few seconds retightening the components when setting up the tripod, especially when you are still getting used to it.

The mount system includes bubble-levellers to help you check the camera is level. Like all the other parts of the tripod, these feel robust enough to withstand a good bashing.

The carrying case is also very well made. It is made from thick material and feels strong. As well as a detachable carry strap, it has a padded carry handle as well as a zipped side pocket.

Overall, an impressive tripod. Not the quickest to set up, but the quality, practicality and adjustability, more than compensate for this.

I’ve tried a good few big-name tripods in my time but this one from 3 Legged Thing tops the lot.

UPDATE after a few weeks: The more time I spend with this, the more I appreciate it. I find myself looking for excuses to use it. It’s incredibly well thought-out and cleverly designed, worth every penny.

Impressions start favourably with a quality build and rock-solid support. It’s also beautifully finished, a pleasure to handle. It’s made of high-grade magnesium alloy which is said to be best for absorbing vibrations, along with some aluminium. Magnesium alloy is apparently lighter than other metals too, including titanium and aluminium, while cheaper than carbon fibre.

In use, I particularly value the range of adjustment, from very compact to very tall. It’s easy to adjust, too, with minimal twisting of the clamps required and very smooth action on everything that moves. It also offers some clever tricks – more on that below.

The kit includes a ball head. You might want to switch to an alternative but the ball head’s a good one. It includes a useful release screw that enables panning only, with a scale to show how far you’ve rotated the head. And there’s a bubble level, of course. It seems odd, though, that the quick release plate doesn’t come with an easy way of tightening by hand; you have to use a flat blade of some kind such as a coin, or the supplied tool.

All three legs are detachable, enabling various configurations such as table-top tripod or monopod. And the ‘tri-mount’ plate is useful for accessories and cables. There’s the obligatory hook at the bottom of the centre column, for a weight. You get an excellent padded storage bag too.

There’s really nothing of significance I can find to complain about, certainly nothing that would stop me buying. Carbon fibre tripods are lighter but also less rigid and less able to stand up to the rough treatment that’s often handed out. This 3 Legged Thing Charles 2.0 is something special, cleverly designed and superbly engineered. If you can afford it, don’t hesitate.

This 3 Legged Thing Charles 2.0 tripod is impressive. Made largely of aerospace grade magnesium alloy, with rubber inlays for grip, the build quality and strength feels excellent. The tripod feels stable and serves its purpose well. It is quite a large tripod when folded, and at 2 kg is not the lightest, but nor is it too heavy or bulky for attaching to the backpack for dedicated nature or landscape photography treks.

Large rubberised leg-locks are tightened and loosened to adjust the leg length; while push-clips allow the leg angles to be locked. After a little playing around, I found the operation of the tripod to be pretty easy, although its flexibility, together with the screwing and unscrewing to make adjustments, does mean it takes a bit of time to find the optimum positioning. That said, the tripod offers an excellent height range, from very low, to nearly 190cm, and feels stable and sturdy once locked in place. The tripod also claims an impressive max load of 40kg., which is far higher than most of us would ever need.

The tripod can be pretty much fully disassembled; for example, being converted into a monopod. All the parts and threads feel strong, robust and well engineered. My only slight gripe with the tripod is that it is a little easy to start accidently unscrewing sections. For example I often accidently start unscrewing the legs when trying to loosen their lock to adjust their height. Not a major problem, but be prepared to spend a few seconds retightening the components when setting up the tripod, especially when you are still getting used to it.

The mount system includes bubble-levellers to help you check the camera is level. Like all the other parts of the tripod, these feel robust enough to withstand a good bashing.

The carrying case is also very well made. It is made from thick material and feels strong. As well as a detachable carry strap, it has a padded carry handle as well as a zipped side pocket.

Overall, an impressive tripod. Not the quickest to set up, but the quality, practicality and adjustability, more than compensate for this.