Review by David A Williams
Unpack:
Out of the box, the VEO 2 GO 265CB carbon tripod is about 12 inches tall – folded. Initial reaction is VERY nicely made piece. Initial reaction continues. Everything feels good about this. The knobs operate smoothly, the leg locks are positive. The little wee bag of accessories includes pointed metal feet for outdoors (or ruining your customers polished parquet floors, lol). Great that it has the choice.
All unlocking actions to extend the legs out and around to operating position are smooth and positive with pleasant, reassuring clicks and no sign whatsoever of sloppiness. A lovely touch for a wee tripod like this is the built-in hook for a weighted object or back off the central column.
The individual leg locks allow a very low approach and stability (there are three positions: normal, splayed, and ‘competition limbo’. I was continually surprised at how it felt really stable for it’s size.
The gun-metal grey finish appears very high quality, and if the accompanying bag is used – should stay that way.
Application:
It’s easy to dismiss smaller tripods. But hey, ‘horses for courses’ or in this case ‘miniature ponies’….and what are you putting onto it….
Will it function superbly with an Arca Swiss Monolith 8x10?.....highly unlikely. I think this little guy will work at its best and most useful with mirrorless – my accompanying shots have the 51.4MP Medium Format FUJIFILM GFX50S on it – and it worked really well. I didn’t feel as though my hand would get crushed if I released the ball head too casually.
With any mirrorless camera that has ‘ES’ or electronic shutter capability for silent shooting – the potential vibration from any camera actuation is limited to ‘organic interface difficulties’, in other words – how lightly your firing the shutter button (if indeed you are) Use of a self-timer or a ‘cable release’ will minimize that issue and the tripod helps immensely with the stabilization
I would be doubtful about using it for very long exposures, or in windy conditions with slow shutter speeds – but this isn’t about one piece of kit doing everything. Hey! I’m still waiting for my wide to long telephoto 18mm – 500mm f1.2 lens that weighs a pound and is 5 inches long……(still waiting, lol)
This is an excellent travel tripod for one to carry around a busy city, but you will still need a good full sized tripod for your studio.
Summation:
A really nicely built travelers tripod with great actions and quality.
ABOUT DAVID A WILLIAMS
David Anthony Williams is a Master (II) of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography, a Master of the WPPI Awards system, and Fellow Royal Photographic Society. He is originally from Melbourne Australia, and now lives and works in Toronto, Canada as a Portrait & Wedding photographer and educator in the professional photography industry.
Over the last 30 years, David has taught in Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, the US and Canada, the UK and Ireland. He has received standing ovations for his presentation ‘Cycles & Echoes’ at the PPA San Antonio conference and the DWF Conference in Phoenix - a presentation about the importance of family photographs and portraits throughout history.
Competition results include over sixty awards for excellence in wedding and portrait photography, including the AIPP “Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year” twice. He has won the Grand Award for excellence in portraiture twice at the American Wedding Portrait Photographers International convention in Las Vegas and ‘Grand Award – Wedding Digital’.
