Punk Billy, A 3 Legged Thing Tripod

One of the pieces of gear that Blonde Robot loaned me for my trip to New Zealand was the Punk Billy Tripod from 3 Legged Thing. I was give the option of a couple to choose from their range and thought the Billy would be a good fit.

Punk Billy, A 3 Legged Thing Tripod

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to use it was the weight. At around 1.4kgs it was ideal for travelling. It is carbon fibre so that makes it light as well. Though the smooth legs almost look like polished metal. I like that they don’t have that obvious CF look.

Plus it is basically my height. Well, I’m only 5’2 so most tripods are either my height or too high. The Billy is 1.37m high, so when my camera is on it I don’t have to bend much to see through the viewfinder. That is a massive advantage for me. One advantage to being short, I don’t have to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars to get a tripod that is right for me. See, being short can be good. It can cost less.

Now, take a look at it above. How cool does it look? While orange isn’t really my colour, I can’t wear it, makes me look green. Meaning people keep asking if I am okay because I look sick. Okay, I’m digressing, but still I love the orange highlights on it. The one I borrowed also had an orange plate. There is also the blue tripod head. Very nice. I know my friend Chris will be reading this wondering if she should get one because she loves orange. She is sailing around the Whitsundays now I think.

Travelling with it

There wasn’t anything not to love about it. It was easy to pack into my bag. While walking around it was light enough to carry and wasn’t an issue at all. Easy to set up and put my camera on it. The Arca Swiss plate and head means I can use what I already have as well.

You can see it in the above image. I was using it at the Wanaka Tree in New Zealand. The Fujifilm X-T3 is on it and the 3 Legged Thing L bracket is on the camera. My Formatt Hitech filters were on the front of the lens.

I like that little thing that you can see hanging in the front. It is basically your tool kit for it. It is easy to get on and off. Of course, the best part is that it is with you always. It is just there when you need it.

Using it

I have used it several times for long exposures and there haven’t been any problems with it. Obviously, if there was a strong wind you would have issues, but for what I was doing while away and here there wasn’t a problem.

There are levels on it in several places if you feel you need that sort of help. I never use them, to be honest. I’m lazy, I’ve told you that before, so that is just expecting me to do too much, don’t you think? I try to wing it, though my current camera has a level on it and I tend to use it more.

There are options with how to use it, though the middle column only goes up and down. You can’t put it at an angle.

Conclusions

It was great to travel with. I really enjoyed using it. My friend Suzzanna has been looking for a new tripod and she used the Benro one while we were travelling most of the time, but at the end of the trip she wanted to try this one. The main reason being that this one was cheaper. The Benro one had the centre column that comes out and goes at different angles, which makes it more expensive. She liked it and decided she would get one.

I loved that the head came with it, so there wasn’t an additional price for that. You had to go with that head, but it was great. I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want it.

So after travelling around New Zealand for 16 days with it and then Suzzanna saying she wanted one, I thought, “do I need a new tripod?” I have three now, so do I need a fourth?

Of course, I do. So I loved this tripod so much I purchased one. I can see that it is going to be a great one for going into the city with. It has already been used for that. It is the same size folded up as my Benro, but it is lighter and will be used for different things.

So four tripods aren’t too many. Maybe I need a small one, maybe one for those times I don’t think I will need one, but you know, just in case. lol. Who knows.

The tripod sells for between $400 and $450 in Australia.

3 Legged Thing

If you want to check out their range of tripods go to this link.