I never feel compelled to write reviews, but this little tripod deserves it.

I just needed something lightweight, but durable enough to withstand travel and some hiking in to remote areas for time-lapse photography and the occasional video with a FujiFilm XT2 and various lenses.

I was really surprised at the quality of the build and the attention to detail on things like the felt bag cover for the head and quality carrying tote. The tripod is well made with durable materials. The aluminum legs have a nice coat and finish and the Delrin (or whatever the plastic is) on the leg latches are solid. Even in the dark, I have had no problem handling the various parts. There is one foam pad on an upper leg which seems like durable/quality material that will last. I like that they only chose one leg for the pad, rather than the standard two pads on most tripods. Again, in the dark shooting astrophotography, it's nice to use the single pad as a directional reference. The pointed, rubber feet work well, although it would've been a nice touch to make them removable to reveal spikes underneath to mount on the ground in rough terrain/uneven surfaces. It is a great feature to be able to unscrew the ball head from the base so I can connect things like a small slider or equatorial tracking mount. It's thoughtful of the manufacturer that they included a worm screw for the ball head attachment that is a standard 3/8 thread (or could be 5/8, not sure) with one end stepping down to a standard 1/4-20 thread. I can reverse that screw and have the option of attaching most any accessory to the platform base while having the ball head available to use elsewhere. The ball head action is very smooth and locks in place nicely. All of the knobs and action of the swivel feature are very fluid and lock down well. The adjustment on the neck/center post is done by twisting the metal+rubberized collars to extend and contract the height, and these collars have a very nice, fluid action to them. This works well in conjunction with the red aluminum latches that click the legs in to place at various angles to obtain maximum/minimum height of the unit. It was another nice touch to add the spring hook to the end of the center post so that you can hang a sandbag or weight for added stability. I have a 5lbs. and 10lbs. bag. I was a little worried with the 10 that I was overdoing it, but it worked fine. The 5 has been the go to and it works for added stability.

The red accents and branding are classic and add a nice polish to the system, especially if you need to have gear on the job that needs to present well to your client.

My only complaint is the camera plate and female receiver portion. They decided to make that entire camera platform out of a hard Delrin/resin/plastic, instead of continuing the metal from the base housing, knobs, and ball head. It is much more solid/harder/durable than the latch plastic, but I don't think they should've skimped out here. It would have been a nicer touch to maintain the solid metal throughout the camera platform. Not sure why that decision was made. I would've gladly paid a bit more if it was a cost thing. It's not a deal breaker, by any means, but I'll just have to be aware of it when loading/unloading gear from a vehicle/location and when setting up/tearing down. I don't see this happening, but would hate for the plastic to crack or break by striking something hard or being crushed by a case, especially at the female receiver side. This is a drop-in/side loading plate, which is nice and should save from any shaving of the plastic had it been a slide-in type of mount. There is an Allen screw that sits flush inside the top of the female receiver side and attaches the platform to the ball head. I'm assuming you can remove this and replace the entire camera platform with one of your choosing, but I haven't tried this yet. Lastly on this complaint, there is a spherical spirit level at the top of the camera platform, right next to where the camera plate loads. It's basically useless as your camera will cover it as soon as it's loaded and a level above the ball head is useless as you will be adjusting the ball head for the frame anyway and if necessary using the camera level. I would've liked to have seen the level at the base below the ball head so I could level the legs from the ground.

All in all, this is a great product for the price and one I'm sure I'll get plenty of years of use and enjoyment out of. With a few modifications, it will be a trusted companion on a lot of shoots.

Purchase with confidence!

I have many tripods for various purposes amassed over the years. The lightest one I had I bought for an overseas trip. I was looking for one I could put in my luggage and not worry too much about it if it got stolen or whatever.

Lately I've been seeking something even lighter, preferably under 3 lbs. that I could take hiking. What I've found is, it's hard to find versatile, sturdy and lightweight all in the same package at a decent price. With this Bonfoto carbon tripod I've come close to the holy grail without spending a car payment. It hovers just over 3 lbs., it doesn't sacrifice a lot of height like many travel tripods, it has a good sturdy head, and can get down near the ground for macro shots and interesting viewpoints. It folds fairly small. Fully extended it doesn't feel shaky or scary, and while there is some flex when you click into a wider leg setting, it still feels supportive. More so than the one I mentioned in my opening which is taller and slightly heavier but a bit more flimsy at full extension. This tripod is a no-brainer for a mirrorless or point/shoot camera. But my system is not so dainty. I have tried it with my Canon 6d and 70-200. The head locks down fine. There is some settling in the legs under the weight, but every travel tripod I've tried reacts the same way and you need to compensate for it in your shot (frame above your subject knowing the tripod is going to settle into the shot). It wouldn't be the 1st tripod I grab for that setup, but if I'm backpacking my gear I know that the Bonfoto will handle my system.

Quality wise it seems to be built well. the twist leg action works well - no better or worse than my Oben that cost a lot more. The QR plate on the head would have been better with a lock mechanism. It simply has a tension knob, so you have to be a bit more cognizant and check it occasionally when you move shooting positions. The pan has a nice feel to it, sort of fluid-head like, and I could actually do a smooth video pan with it (not a tilt though).

The B690A may very well be the best travel/hiking tripod money can buy, and on sale for forty five bucks it was a steal. Verified the weight to be 2.61 lbs or 1.185 kg. 54.5 inch height fully extended as a tripod.

For travel and hiking, the smaller and lighter the better. Smaller to a point, though. If its too short, well, its obviously not going to work for some situations. I feel that 52 inches is that minimum height for me, so this tripod checks the box. As long as its strong enough, the lighter the better. You can always hang your bag from it for extra stability. I feel this tripod is definitely sturdy enough as is, probably wont need to weight it down most of the time.

Ball head is what you would expect from a minimum weight, small size tripod. It is adequate. Holds my Z6 with Sigma 150-600mm lens just fine. You can do better than rough pans for videos, but this is no a fluid video head obviously.

Comparing to the Geekoto AT24 Traveller, which I have had for a year, these are on par. The Geekoto is slightly heavier at 2.8 lbs, but it also feels ever so slightly beefier especially when weighted down with a bag full of gear. Honestly, both are a fine choice, and you cant go wrong either way. Unless that 0.2 lbs means the world to you, these are the best two travel/hiking tripods on the market. Get whichever is cheapest at the time. I managed to get flash deals on each of these, so I am happy to own both.

If you are serious about photography, do yourself a favor and stay away from anything smaller/lighter than these. They will be a lot easier to hump, but wont do the job well when you need it to. The Geekoto AT24 and Bonfoto B690A are worth bringing, even if it means I have to leave a lens or two behind.

Worth it

The media could not be loaded. This tripod has all the features I wanted for a tripod on my camera backpack

- Swiss arca quick release mount. This allows me to quickly remove my camera or lighting/flash that I have attached to the mount. Since this is a standard release I can use other base plates that I have accumulated to save time removing and turning the screw underneath the baseplate.
- Extension legs quickly expand using flip locks
- Light but durable metal. Will not break if dropped since majority of the tripod is metal and plastic components are durable composite.
- carrying bag and protection. The head comes with a protective velvet drawstring bag when storing in the carrying case. The bag is labeled with the bonfoto logo so I can easily know which tripod is inside this bag.
- weight clip can be used to keep my camera and tripod from tipping over
- sponge foam handle for carrying entire tripod with equipment attached.