Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB tripod review: a stunningly affordable, complete carbon fiber travel tripod kit

Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB tripod kit.

Vanguard has been making a variety of photographic kit, binoculars, spotting scopes, and gadget bags for many years now, starting its business back in 1986. Although the current product range is very diverse, if I had to sum up what immediately springs to my mind when I hear the word ‘Vanguard’, that word would be ‘tripods’.

The company makes a huge range of tripods – large, small, and in-between – to suit all wants and needs. The catalog includes some of the best tripods for photographers, best tripods for videographers and best travel tripods. The Vesta TB 204CB tripod kit that I’m reviewing sets its sights not only on being a travel tripod in general, but also one of the best budget tripods in particular. It seems to be impossibly great value for a complete carbon kit.

What price a set of carbon fiber tripod legs plus a ball head? This Vanguard kit is probably a lot less expensive than you might imagine. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB: Specifications

Material	Carbon Fiber
Folded height	37.5cm / 14.8"
Maximum operating height	130cm / 51"
Minimum operating height	30cm / 12"
Pivot center column	No
Weight	0.78kg / 1.72lb
Load rating	3kg / 6.61lb
Sections per leg/center column	4 / 2
Leg section diameters	20 / 17 / 14 / 11mm
Locking leg angles	3

Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB: Price

Think carbon fiber tripod kits and you’re probably thinking big bucks. And you’d nearly always be right. The luxurious yet lightweight material is used in some of the world’s best tripods, but they tend to command hefty purchase prices. As a complete kit with ball head, the Vesta TB 204CB is not only refreshingly lightweight but has a comparatively featherweight price tag of $120 / £100. The big question is, “Is it worth it?”

Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB: Design & Handling

When I’m travelling, there’s usually a flight involved somewhere along the line. That can cause a bit of a problem as I like to take my camera gear as cabin luggage, so it has to fit into one bag. The Vesta TB 204CB fits the bill perfectly, as its folded length of 37.5cm / 14.8" and weight of just 0.78kg / 1.72lb make it easy to slip into a small bag, along with the rest of my gubbins. Maybe that’s why this travel tripod isn’t supplied with a bag of its own. The more likely reason is that, unlike the vast majority of carbon fiber tripod kits on the market, it’s priced to appeal to those on the tightest of budgets.

Let’s kick off with the legs, which seems entirely natural. They’re made of carbon fiber, and not just any old carbon fiber but from an up-market cut that really looks and feels the business. And unlike some tripods that have carbon legs but a metal center column, the Vanguard is made from carbon fiber throughout.

The carbon fiber used for all sections of the legs and center column have an up-market look and feel. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

Each leg comprises four telescoping sections, which is par for the course when it comes to travel tripods. Unlike with three-section legs, the extra section enables a taller maximum operating height along with a smaller folded height, for easier stowage. As with almost every travel tripod on the market nowadays, the Vanguard has a swing-up design for the legs, so that the feet encircle the extended center column when folded. This tends to take about 20cm / 8” off the folded height, so that you can squeeze the tripod into the smallest of spaces.

The clamps for releasing and fastening the legs are twist-locks, which I tend to favor over flip-locks. They’re good ones, too, with only minimal rotation being required to release and lock the legs. It’s also easy to grab all the locks in one handful when the legs are retracted, saving time and effort.

The twist-clamps for unlocking and locking the extending leg sections feel nice and grippy, and only require minimal rotation. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

The outer or top leg section has a diameter of 20mm, and there’s a drop of 3mm as you work your way down towards the bottom. As a result, the very lowest section of each leg has a relatively thin and spindly diameter of just 11mm. That might compromise the rigidity of the overall tripod when the bottom sections are extended, but we’ll see how it works out later when I get to ‘performance’.

The four sections in each leg have diameters of 20mm, 17mm, 14mm and 11mmm so the bottom ones are pretty thin. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

A bit of a ‘must-have’ feature for any tripod, as far as I’m concerned, is ‘multi-angle legs’. These make it much easier to work on uneven terrain, or around obstacles, as well as making the tripod more secure in low-level shooting. I’m happy that the Vanguard has three locking leg angles, and they’re engaged by a simple spring-loaded lever at the top of each leg.

The spring-loaded lever at the top of each leg makes it easy to engage any of the three lockable angles, or to swing the legs up for stowage. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

At the bottom of each leg, the feet are of the rubber pad variety. It’s a safe bet that works well on most surfaces but the pads don’t feature retractable metal spikes, which can work better on loose ground or carpet.

Although the feet don’t feature retractable or interchangeable spikes, the rubber feet can be poked into soft ground. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

To further shrink the minimum shooting height, the center column has two sections rather than one, each of which has its own twist-clamp, similar to the ones featured in the legs. I’m a little surprised that the outer section of the telescoping center column isn’t full-length, which would enable a greater maximum operating height when the inner section is extended. As it is though, you can shrink the minimum shooting height down to 30cm / 12”. If you want to go lower still, you can reverse the center column and shoot right down to ground level with the camera inverted.

The center column has two sections, enabling a slight extension and a more extensive contraction, compared to its storage position. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

Up on top, there’s a ball head that fits nicely with the design of the legs. It’s quick and easy to use, with just a single lock/release knob. There’s therefore no pan-only release (despite a calibrated panning scale being featured), nor an independent friction adjuster. What you do get is a bubble level to aid leveling the head, as well as an Arca-Swiss type quick-release plate.

The ball head is simple but effective, with a single lock/release knob and no separate panning lock or adjustable friction damper. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

The platform at the top features a bubble level and plays host to an Arca-Swiss type quick-release plate. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB: Performance

The legs have quite a large number of adjustments, based on nine leg section twist-locks, two center column twist-locks and three multi-angle levers. Given that you’ll most likely swing the legs upwards for minimum stowage size, the net result is that the tripod can take a bit of time and effort to set up for shooting and to fold down again afterwards. Even so, it’s a relatively simple and painless procedure.

With the multi-angle legs splayed to their widest setting, you need to raise the center column for ground clearance. If you need to go even lower, the center column is reversible. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

I like to explore all the angles when shooting and I’m particularly pleased that the multi-angle legs and telescoping 2-section center column enable ultra-low-level shooting without having to invert the camera and shoot with it upside down. That’s still an option if you feel the need.

At its tallest setting with all of the leg and center column sections fully extended, the tripod feels a little wobbly and prone to vibration. (Image credit: Matthew Richards)

Despite the reservations that I expressed earlier, it turns out the tripod legs remained pretty rigid and resistant to flexing and vibrations at full extension, even with the thin bottom sections brought into play. At least that’s what I found during testing, with the center column retracted. To gain extra height by extending the bottom section of the center column, I found that the tripod felt rather less rigid. Extending both sections of the center column to enable the full operating height of 130cm / 51" made the tripod very susceptible to vibrations and oscillations. That’s rather disappointing, especially considering that the maximum height is pretty modest anyway.

Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB: Verdict

There’s a lot to like about the Vanguard Vesta TB 204CB tripod kit. As a travel tripod, It’s suitably small when folded, measuring just 37.5cm / 14.8", and it’s refreshingly lightweight at just 0.78kg / 1.72lb, despite having a decent maximum payload rating of 3kg / 6.61lb. It also has a luxury look and feel, based high-quality carbon fiber for the legs and center column. The ball head is none too shabby either. The whole kit is outrageously inexpensive, considering its feature set, but it’s disappointingly wobbly at its maximum height. If you can set your sights a little lower, so to speak, and can avoid the maximum operating height, it’s a smart bit of kit.

Features ★★★★☆	Clever features include swing-up legs, multi-angle leg joints, a telescopic center column and a neat ball head.
Design ★★★★☆	The design is somewhat typical of recent travel tripods but Vanguard has done well to make this kit especially travel-friendly.
Performance ★★★★☆	Performance is mostly good but rigidity is impaired when extending the center column, especially both sections of it.
Value ★★★★★	It’s a well-made and very attractive carbon fiber kit that’s incredible value for money, if you can get by without using the maximum operating height.

(Image credit: Matthew Richards)

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