Neewer Litetrip LT35 Travel Tripod

A couple of months ago, I was offered the chance to use the Neewer Litetrip LT35 travel tripod. As I was due to head to Paris for the weekend for a holiday, this would be an excellent opportunity to try a lighter way of travelling. Any pictures I would take would be just for me and weren’t to make money from. My usual heavy-weight tripod was left behind, and I packed the tripod along with a camera body and three lenses into my ThinkTank ShapeShifter bag. The best-laid plans didn’t exactly work out, as most of the weekend in Paris was spent dodging heavy downpours. Nonetheless, I could still get a few shots on the tripod, which I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do if it hadn’t slipped easily into my camera bag.

The rest of my thoughts on using the Litetrip LT35 had to wait until I was back in Edinburgh. I have my personal rule of tripods. Imagine a triangle, and on each point is an attribute of either weight, sturdiness, or cheapness. It’s possible to have two of the three, but I have yet to see a tripod which meets all three. The Litetrip LT35 is exceptionally light, weighing in at 1.13 kg (or 2.49 lbs for those used to the imperial system). A retailer-recommended price tag of £345.44 isn’t cheap, so hopefully, this travel tripod will tick, for me, the two most important attributes: sturdiness and lightness.

What’s in the bag?

The great thing about the Litetrip LT35 is that it isn’t just a tripod for use with your DSLR or mirrorless camera. Kit arrives with the tripod and ball head in a neat and stylish carry bag. The internal pocket in the bag reveals a mobile phone attachment, a short central column, a quick-release panorama plate and a couple of L-shaped hex keys. As always, there is an instruction manual that is all too easy to throw to one side. There are only nine pages of instructions, and I recommend reading through them for a few minutes. Pay particular attention to the section on the two-stage locking mechanism when attaching your camera to the tripod head.  For any content creator on the go, this will provide you with all your stability needs.

Out and about with the Litetrip LT35

My one use of the Litetrip LT35 in Paris was at Les Pyramides outside the Louvre. If you know the location, you will know that three sides of the square have the gallery’s buildings and one open side. An ideal condition for whipping up winds coming from the north-west, which is precisely what was happening. Checking back, the wind speed was around 19 km/h (or 12 miles per hour). That’s not a strong wind, but I have seen some travel tripods blow over in similar conditions. The Litetrip LT35 stood up well to the conditions, helped by the almond-shaped leg tubes designed to provide extra stability. Even more stability can be added by attaching your camera bag to the hook at the bottom of the central column. This is something usually missed off travel tripods and adds a little more confidence to the stability. Would I be confident in using this tripod in the strong winds of Iceland? Probably not, but I would happily rely on the Litetrip LT35 for most short trips.

Versatility in use

Quite often, travel tripods will have limited options to reduce weight. The surprising thing about the Litetrip LT35 is the number of options. With the central column attached, the tripod height ranges from 46.5cm (18 inches) to 155cm (61 inches) with the column extended. For stability purposes, I tend not to extend the central column, which gives a maximum height of 130cm (51 inches).

For those wanting to go even lower, such as macro photographers, the legs can be angled to 22°, 55° and 85°. The latter requires the short central column to be used, which is simply a case of unscrewing the existing column from the head and replacing it with the supplied short version. Both these central columns can be inverted, allowing the camera to be slung between the legs for those ultra-low shots.

Designed for content-creators

The Litetrip LT35 will appeal to content creators who will be using a combination of mobile phone video and DSLR/mirrorless cameras. The triangular central column has two 1/4″ screw holes. The supplied mobile phone holder can be attached alongside the camera or all manner of accessories, such as LED lights, microphones or action cameras, which use a similar standard fitting.

Can it take the weight?

My one concern with lighter tripods and heads is whether they can carry the professional gear I like to use. If I am travelling light, the heaviest lens I will likely use is a 70-200mm f2.8 RF lens. The combined weight of this and my Canon R5 is 1.8kg, well within the advertised 10kg weight capacity. In my tests, I shot this setup with an exposure time of 8 seconds and couldn’t identify any movement in the resultant shot.

Final thoughts

I have to say, I was impressed by the stability of this travel tripod. I could easily see myself popping this into my bag for weekend trips and city tours. Its carbon fibre frame and innovative leg design make it lighter than most of the competitors at this price point. Outdoor photographers would also love these legs with the 1.2kg weight. I could also see the Litetrip LT35 used by estate agent photographers who usually shoot at chest height and could save a few kilogrammes of gear. The maximum height of 155cm would prevent me from making the Litetrip LT35 my only tripod, and I would be slightly concerned about the stability in very strong winds. However, as I transition from being a pure stills photographer to taking other types of content, the Neewer Litetrip LT35 will be an addition to my bag.

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About the author

As well as running Edinburgh Photography Workshop, Rich Dyson is a professional photographer. His photographs are regularly used in newspapers such as The Times, Guardian and Daily Telegraph. He also had two solo exhibitions and was featured in a members-sponsored exhibition in the Scottish Parliament. You can see and buy his photography at richdysonphotography.com.