Sirui W-2204 – the ultimate tripod?
After using the Sirui reporter series for a year, I was very satisfied. The carbon R-2214X quickly became my workhorse; compact, light, quick to set up and extremely stable.
But he suffered from the harsh conditions I exposed him to. Sessions with a lot of drifting sand and dust in Africa, invading sea water during light painting workshop or coastal landscape sessions. The tripod soon creaked and squeaked under this use. Nothing a good cleaning can't solve, but we'd rather take pictures than polish... right? Recently I got acquainted with the Sirui W-2204
Finding a good tripod – a nightmare?
Over the years I have seen a number of tripods pass by, from the entry-level models from Velbon to the high-end Gitzos. They all had 1 word in common; "at". They were too heavy, too expensive, too unstable, too low, too complicated to set up, too long in the transport position, etc.
The Sirui reporter series came very close to my ideal tripod, but the penetrating dust and water threw a spanner in the works.
Finding a good tripod for a good price is a nightmare. The market offers a wide range of products at all different price levels and there are far too many brands available. This is because countless manufacturers are trying to capitalize on the current boom in photography by rushing poorly designed products to market.
Unless you've personally tested some of the brands, it's really hard to know what's actually a well-designed product at a fair price.
When you go to the top segment of the market, everyone will traditionally refer to Gitzo as one of the top brands. But when you dive into the mid-range brands, it becomes an opaque situation very quickly. Sirui has committed itself to also compete at the top and through my recent experiences with the reporter series I now know that Sirui is head and shoulders above the other brands in terms of build quality, design, price and value for money.
My experience with this W-2204 proves once again that this model is no exception to Sirui's great quality.
Wind & Wave proof
The tripod is an absolute joy to use and it has many useful features that I can appreciate. I've used the tripod in general wildlife and landscape photography and it excelled at that. The biggest question with regard to this tripod is of course what that watertight name association means. Saying a tripod is water resistant can mean many things and it's one of those titles that manufacturers can easily abuse in their advertising.
With Sirui, this means that when the joints are locked / tightened, water no longer enters the joints or legs. This is a particularly useful feature, as the worst enemy of any tripod is water entering the joints. If it's clean tap water, then there's no problem, but if it's sea water or muddy lake or river water, you're in trouble. A tripod's joints are finely tuned and when submerged in water, the liquid finds its way into all those little interconnected parts. When it finally evaporates, it leaves behind all the salt, sand, and dust that the water contained and, over time, destroys the tripod by collecting in the joints. This tripod prevents that because the water cannot penetrate the joints. If you're a seascape photographer like me, this is an invaluable feature to have.
That's not the only thing that makes this such a great tripod, though. Let's take a look at what else it has to offer.
Construction
SIRUI follows a simplistic design philosophy using durable, high-quality materials. The tripods have a combination of excellent features that make them very pleasant to use. The first feature is the twist connections; they are simple in design, easy to operate and easy to maintain. This Sirui tripod has legs that can be folded up 180 degrees for shooting from a low angle.
Usually in such situations the center column of a tripod gets in the way, which is why this included center column consists of two parts: just remove the long part and the tripod has a minimum height of only 15.5 cm. The tripod comes with two sets of feet, normal rubber ones for everyday terrain and a set of stainless steel spikes for ice.
At the bottom of the center column is a stainless steel hook, which can be used to hang something heavy for extra stability in the wind, or to hang an accessory like a filter bag. Another useful feature of this tripod is that one of the legs can be removed to be used as a monopod. Simply unscrew the screw connection at the top of the leg, attach the additional platform and wrist strap and you have a waterproof carbon monopod.
Below are the specifications and features of the tripod:
- Carbon fiber design for a lightweight tripod with extra strength, increased payload and vibration reduction properties. Waterproof leg design helps protect the inside of the tripod from water damage. (“Wind & Wave” proof)
- Three fixed leg angle settings for convenient setup positioning.
- Legs fold up to 180° for compact transport and also for tricky settings when shooting.
- Spirit level on the tripod to indicate horizontal alignment.
- One of the legs detaches for use as a waterproof monopod, which integrates with the center column for extra height.
- Monopod wrist strap that can be attached to the monopod.
- Ergonomic, self-returning leg angle locking mechanisms.
- Center column can be shortened for shots close to the ground.
- Hook on the bottom of the center column to allow extra weight to be added for added stability or to hang filters/accessories.
- Interchangeable Feet - Non-slip rubber feet and stainless steel spikes for ice.
- Variable size tripod screws
Specifications
| - Material: | Carbon |
|---|---|
| – Sections: | 4 |
| – Max Diameter: | 29.4mm |
| – Minimum Diameter: | 18.6mm |
| – Min Height: | 155mm |
| – Max Height: | 1470mm |
| – Max Height Ext: | 1800mm |
| – Retracted Height: | 560mm |
| – Folded Height: | 520mm |
| – Monopod Max Height: | 1770mm |
| – Monopod Min Length: | 470mm |
| – Weight: | 1.7kg |
| - Tax: | 18kg |
The W-2204 in use
I am completely blown away by this tripod. The number of features and everything it can do fits my photographic style perfectly. It can be used with my larger lenses when shooting wildlife AND it allows me to shoot landscapes in running water without fear of damaging the tripod, it allows for extremely low working angles close to the ground and is light enough to carry when hiking.
The ultimate test, the use with the relatively heavy Pentax 645Z medium format camera, passes it with flying colours. The locking rings on the legs are easy to turn, and I've also found out that turning or adjusting the leg angle works fine even with gloves. The specially padded bag is a welcome feature when transporting the tripod.
The tripod is very stable in strong winds and the 10 layers of carbon fiber help to further reduce vibrations. Personally, I removed the longer column from the center. I opt for the shorter column purely because I shoot pretty close to the ground for a nice low angle, and I prefer to keep my setups as simple as possible. The shorter center column also reduced weight on the tripod.
After using this tripod I can only conclude that Sirui is a brand that can be mentioned in the same breath as Gitzo. It should be a brand that everyone at least researches when purchasing tripods to support their photographic gear.
Disclaimer:
I am an ambassador for the Sirui tripod line. However, no requirements are set for the statements I make about Sirui products. However, value is attached to my feedback and user experiences and this review should be read in that light.
Best
I am looking for a good, large monopod and read in your review that the monopod of this tripod is 177cm high.
How is that possible if the maximum height of the tripod without center column is only 147cm?
Best regards
Kim Provincial
Dear Kim,
When using the tripod with the three legs extended, the legs are skewed, so the tripod will be less high than a leg that is upright.
The monopod is therefore higher than the working height of the tripod.
Hi,
Hope there's still someone here… Just a quick question: can I detach the center column to turn it over?
Many thanks!
ADN
Indeed you can, great if you want to use it a macro tripod.