Review: Jessops Major Carbon Fibre

Overview and features

Carbon fibre tripods are notoriously pricey, often costing upwards of £300 once you include a head. That makes the Jessops Major Carbon Fibre look an absolute steal at £99 RRP or as low as £80 if you shop around, especially as it comes complete with its own three-way head.

It's not only easy on the wallet, but also easy on the back, weighing just 1.8kg. That's a whole kilogram less than most aluminium tripods. But is it all good news?

Jessops stipulates a maximum load of 5kg for the Major Carbon Fibre tripod legs and 6kg for the three-way head that's supplied as part of the complete kit. That's pretty respectable, especially considering that the tripod itself only weighs 1.8kg.

By contrast, the Hama Omega Carbon II carbon fibre tripod and ball head has a lower 4kg load rating, yet it's a weightier 2.7kg to carry around.

With three sections, each leg has two quick-action clip locks, and comfort padding is fitted to the upper sections of all three legs. The leg sections have diameters of 22mm, 20mm and 17mm, which is rather thinner than normal and the main reason that the tripod weighs so little.

The camera tripod's centre column can be inverted for ultra low-level shooting, and there's also the provision of no less than four different leg angles to choose from, where most tripods only offer three.

Using wider leg angles, you can shoot at a minimum height of 48cm without inverting the centre column, which also features a weight hook at its base.

There's a bubble level on the shoulder of the tripod legs, plus another one in the head. The second is rather superfluous, because it's not mounted on the camera platform, so simply duplicates the information provided by the lower bubble level. The upshot is that it's easy to level the tripod legs, but there's no indication of whether or not the camera itself is level.

Build, performance and verdict

Build quality

We wouldn't expect fully professional build quality at this price and, sure enough, the Jessops Major Carbon Fibre feels a bit flimsy compared with heavier tripods.

Then again, the light weight makes it very travel-friendly and it folds down reasonably small, to a length of just 64cm. The flipside is that the maximum operating height is a meagre 161cm, even with the tripod's centre column fully extended.

The clip locks work well in combination with the spiral-etched carbon fibre leg sections, enabling smooth operation when making height adjustments.

There's not much else to get excited about, however, as there's no pivot facility for the centre column or other advanced features.

Performance

Thin legs inevitably mean more flexing, and the Jessops Major Carbon Fibre lacks the stability of heavier-duty tripods, even when the bottom leg section isn't extended at all.

The head feels a touch wobbly as well, despite the ability to fasten it to the platform with three grub screws, using an allen key. The quick-release plate is a strangely oversized affair, measuring 8x5cm. This should enable a firm, solid connection to the camera, but the D-ring for mounting is very small and difficult. The screw also lacks a slotted head, so you can't use a coin to aid tightening.

One neat trick is that any of the four-position, multi-angle legs can be used in an almost vertical upward direction. The extreme rotation of one of the legs can come in really useful when you need to shoot very close to a wall, or when you're pinned into a corner.

We liked

For hiking or holidays, the 1.8kg carrying weight is a joy, and the ability to rotate any of the legs almost vertically upwards is great if you're pinned up against the wall.

We disliked

Typical of lightweight tripods, it's prone to flexing and can't match the stability of a sturdier alternative.

Final verdict

A reduction in stability is often the sacrifice you have to make for reduced carrying weight in a tripod and, sadly, the Jessops Major Carbon Fibre is no exception. It has a lot to offer as a travel tripod, where weight saving is at a premium, but it simply can't match the sturdiness of most full-sized aluminium tripods.