Among the photographic equipment manufacturers in China, SIRUI becomes a standout in a shorter time. SIRUI was founded in 2001. It's not an early start date comparing other peers, but SIRUI's persistent pursuit of meticulous quality standard makes SIRUI win universal praise of photographers. Excellent industrial design and outstanding quality bring SIRUI the win-win effect of economic benefits and word of mouth. This time, one W-1204 tripod from SIRUI arrives at PHOTOFANS for trail and review. With expectation, editor starts the objective trail and review. Regarding its performance on all sides, let's find out together.
The color matching of this tripod follows the tradition of SIRUI. The main color of black makes us feel the stability supposed to have and the interspersed color of sky blue on the details shows the feeling of vivaciousness of youth and modern technology.
The whole kits of SIRUI W-1204
All included accessories
The accessory kit follows the uniform style of SIRUI, sufficient as always. Besides the necessary instructional manual and warranty card, various replaceable accessories included too. Various accessories mean better extensibility. As for how good is the extensibility, let's test and find out together.
General appearance and structure
SIRUI W-1204 general appearance
SIRUI W-1204 is one of the models in the W series tripod and it is the lightest in the whole series, the total weight is 1.4KG. The leg of W-1204 is made of 10 layers 100% Carbon Fiber, improving the stability a lot. 4 sections of leg design has a great advantage of portability.
Although the self-weight of W-1204 is the lightest in W series, its load weight reaches 15KG which can meet the loading requirements of most equipment mixes on the market. The max leg diameter of 25.8mm and min leg diameter of 15mm align the product positioning of this model.
Height comparison between editor and the tripod before and after lifting the center column
The maximum working height of W-1204 is 1650 mm (head not included). After adding the 96mm height matched head K-10X, the working height goes to 1746 mm which is higher than editor whose height is 172cm. If a DSLR added, the whole height is about 1850mm, almost all photographers with general heights can use this tripod conveniently.
China Photographer Association Logo
SIRUI W-1204 is designated product by China Photographer Association. With the designation, W-1204 is spreading out the professional disposition.
Detail of rubber washer
A rubber cushion is on the top of the center column, which is the continuity of SIRUI detail-oriented design concept. The rubber cushion can reduce the impact force to protect equipments when the center column slips off accidently.
Detail of the adjusting angel button
Different to the common angle adjusting button of tripods on the market, the angle adjusting button of SIRUI W-1204 is brand new design. The button will keep open after pressing it, no need to press when adjusting the legs. It is fast and convenient to adjust the angle and more convenient to use it with wet hand or with glove which are the favorite features of editor.
Detail of the joint point of legs and flange plate
The legs and flange plates are connected by hex screw. The friction can be adjusted by the Allen tooling.
The legs with sponge sheath
Two of the three legs have the sponge to improve the hand feeling. In summer, the sponge can use to anti-slips; in winter, the sponge is use to keep hand from freezing.
Legs with scale
The smallest legs have scale. When we don't need to open the smallest section fully, we can adjust the horizontal height by the scale. No more height adjustment by several trying, it improves the accuracy and the integral effect.
Detail of rubber/metal spikes
Detail of the hook
A scalable spring hook is available at the bottom of the center column. Stability can be increased by hanging extra weight.
Camera and lens matching image
The less of the leg sections the better stability for common tripods. But the 4 sections leg design of this model has no defect of stability. To test the actual performance of weight loading, the editor put the EF 70-300mm/4-5.6L IS USM lens and CANON EOS 1DX camera on the tripod. The total weight reaches 2.58KG (camera 1530g+ lens 1050g). There is no any waggling during usage. If we say its loading weight performance is as steady as Mount Tai, it will be acknowledged by all users.
Introduction of legs fold-up 180o and the application method
Image after 180o fold-up
SIRUI W-1204 adopts the currently popular 180o fold-up design, reducing the whole volume. The length of 490mm after folding - up is similar to the length of the forearm of an adult. It is convenient to hang on the bags or carry on the shoulders.
Image of the tripod in different leg angles
Benefit from the 180o fold-up design, SIRUI W-1204 has 3 different adjustable angles for photographers which makes this model adapts to different environments.
General view after detached to a monopod
One of the legs can be converted into a monopod by turning it. After the leg detached, we can use it with the adapter plate and waist strap in the accessories as a monopod.
Comparison of the height between monopod and editor (with and without center column)
The maximum height of the monopod without center column is 1620mm, which is enough for daily usage of common users. If special requirement, we can extend the length of monopod by adding the center column.
General view of short and long center column
It is a novel design of the center column of SIRUI W-1204. The center column can be detached into a long and short one. We can use the long column to extend the monopod or use the short column for macro shooting.
Image of the low angle macro shooting by using the short center column
Low angle shooting is realizable by using the short center column detached from the center column. The lowest working height of 145mm makes this model capable of macro shooting task which is multifunctional.
The function of center column reversing
Since the center column is in detachable, the center column reverse function is necessary. When using this function, turning the hook is required to detach the center column. After the center column detaching, the center column can be installed inversely and realize the low angle shooting. After detaching the center column, we can reverse the center column and achieve the inverse effect. The lowest shooting angle can be basically close to the ground which provides multi-angle shooting possibility.
The composition of the detail design of head and quick release plate
K-10X head
The sample sent to PHOTOFANS studio includes the matching K-10X head besides W-1204 tripod. The head adopts unique lock mechanism. The load weight can reach maximum to 20KG but the self-weight is only 0.39KG.
The images of the 2 knobs
The head base adopts separate design of locking knob and main knob. The main knob controls the position of the supporting ball; the minor knob controls the friction of the head base. The micro knob is combined on the main knob which makes the friction adjustment more convenient.
Detail of the head scale
Scale is on the head bottom. The base can rotate 360 degree horizontally which makes the panoramic shooting easily. The base locking knob can be used to lock the head based.
Details of the adapter plate
The screws used on the adapter plate meet the international standards, interchangeable between 1/4 and 3/8 and convenient to adapt various professional heads.
Detail of horizontal bubble level
The K-10X is not big, but adopts the 3 horizontal bubble levels design which helps to realize the accurate horizontal adjustment in key photographical situation. It is absolutely good news for photographers pursuit of perfect.
Detail of quick release plate
The quick release plate that matches SIRUI K-10X head is TY-50. There are 3 slots and 6 anti-slip rubber pads. Side hole for camera waist strap is available and provides more convenience to the friends who like to hand-hold the camera.
Detail of control secure button
The obvious red button on the plate is the control securing button to prevent the accidently dropping of the quick release plate incurred by opening the clip carelessly. To remove the quick release plate, first to pres the red secure button, then it will slide out.
Feature of waterproof design and real test
When you see the title of this article "all-weather waterproof &dustproof", you must have a lot of expectation. We introduced various basic specifications of this model, and we are going to talk about the specialty pf waterproof and dustproof.
Detail of the common leg lock mechanism
Above is the leg lock mechanism adopted by most of the tripods on the market. We can see that there is a obvious gap between the leg and lock ring and a big gap on the lock ring used to fix the legs. If using this kind of tripods in water and dust environment, the water and dust will leak into the leg tube causing damage and wear to the leg tubes.
Detail of the W-1204 leg lock mechanism
Now we can look at the leg lock ring of W1204. After special design, the lock ring and the leg tube are connected closely. The lock ring is sealed wholly and the exposed gap on the lock ring is wrapped inside refusing any dirty going inside. Of course, action speaks louder than words, let's test the proof capability of this new design.
Downstairs pool
We choose the pool downstairs as the test site. We can see few fountain is in the pool and the waves formed by the fountain can be regarded as the sea weaves, close to the reality.
Putting the tripod in the pool
Pull 25cm out of the last section and put the tripod into the pool, immersing the legs completely into the water.
Taking out the tripod
Take out the tripod from the pool and check the result after pulling out the whole last section. We can see that the legs below 25cm are totally wetted but above are totally dry. Above all, it matches the reputation of "all-weather tripod".
General view of carrying and conclusion
The appearance of the bag
A bag will be given as gif when you buy the W-1204 tripod. The bag is made of high quality nylon material and the protection layer is thick which works well to protect the tripod.
2 different ways of carrying
A professional should strap is equipped on the bag. The shoulder strap can b attached to the bags and also can be attached to the tripod. The shoulder strap has sponge cushion and anti-slip cushion which are utility.
sample photo showing
To test the ultimate protective function, the editor takes the tripod to Zhongshan park in a thunderstorm day. Without auxiliary counterweight, the tripod supports my NIKON D700 and SIGMA APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM and completes a satisfactory long exposure works.
In conclusion:
The editor feels again the SIRUI ceaseless pursuit of product innovation through this trail. 10 layers pure carbon fiber leg gives consideration of light weight and durability. The specialty of waterproof and dustproof makes the adaptability reach a new summit. If you like to take photos in rainy days or have eyes only for sea or sands photography, this all-weather waterproof and dustproof tripod is your solid choice.
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