Photography Accessories

The Quality Choice. 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 Tripod Review

Chris Gampat
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10/20/2021
6 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 review product images 41-250s400 1

There isn’t anything more anxiety-inducing than a tripod that might suddenly drop your camera. Luckily, that didn’t happen with the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 Tripod. In fact, I was astounded at how sturdy it is. This tripod is designed to be lightweight, reasonably compact, and sturdy. If I were traveling, I could see it being a fantastic travel tripod. But even if you just wanted something versatile and sturdy, the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 is very tough to beat. 

Too Long, Didn’t Read

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 hits all the nails on the head perfectly. The tripod head is very sturdy, as are the plates. The tripod is amazingly light yet well built. It collapses down pretty well. And it also gets surprisingly tall. It does everything that a tripod of this kind should while remaining versatile and not getting in the way.

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • Well built
  • Rugged
  • Can hold a decent amount of gear
  • This plate can easily be affixed with a car or house key
  • Compact
  • Strong

Cons

  • Sometimes twisting to unlock can start to unscrew the leg

Gear Used

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 was tested with the:

Innovations

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 doesn’t necessarily have anything really unique about it. Each leg can become a monopod, but we’ve seen that in other tripods before. It’s also incredibly light for what it is. But perhaps the best thing about the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 is that it does everything very well. We’ve tested other tripods where some feature is thrown off just enough to annoy us. But that’s not the case here. The center column can also extend upward twice.

Tech Specs

Specs provided by 3 Legged Thing

  • Max Height with AirHed Neo 2.0: 1.66m / 65.3”
  • Min Height without centre column, without AirHed Neo 2.0: 11.8 cm / 4.6”
  • Folded Length: 45.7 cm / 17.9”
  • Kit Weight, including AirHed Neo 2.0: 1.57 kg / 3.46 lbs
  • Maximum load capability: 18 kg / 40 lbs
  • Suggested retail price in US $ is $339.99

Ergonomics

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 is a very special tripod. Here’s what it looks like unfurled. The tripod legs can allow the whole thing to go even lower if you wish. And, of course, the center column can come down even lower than this.

Here’s a closer look at the tripod legs. The feet are rubber with a screw-on attachment to protect the metal inside. Then there are the height adjustment knobs. I’m not the most giant man, and I can only put my hand around three of these at a time. That basically just means that I can’t undo all the sections at once. But all you need to do is grab and twist. Be careful, though, because you can inadvertently twist the legs off.

Higher up on the tripod legs, you’ve got these angle adjusters. They work well enough. here’s nothing innovative or unique about them per se.

Now here’s the super fascinating part. The center column has two adjustment knobs. It can be raised up twice! Be careful here, too, as sometimes the knobs can be a bit confusing and end up loosening the tripod head. Around this area, you’ve also got places for you to hook a carabiner if needed.

The head on the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 is well built. There are three knobs. One for panning. One for overall adjustment. The other is for tripod plate securement. That’s it. It’s a common thing.

The big black knob is for overall adjustment and includes this marvelous little detail.

Here’s what one of the tripod legs looks like in monopod formation. They can come off or be reattached with ease.

Build Quality

This tripod is built pretty amazingly. The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 has a carbon fiber body with some metal parts to it. There’s also rubber where appropriate. Granted, we didn’t take it into the sand or rain. But it took a tumble at one point onto the ground, and it was just fine. 

Everything about the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 made it feel like a much more expensive tripod. The knobs turned with a good amount of resistance. The tripod plate got right in there with no issues at all. The security was pretty shocking. One of my biggest issues with lots of tripods is the security of the ball head. Most brands I feel use cheaper heads and parts. But with the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0, it feels like there was no compromise. 

More importantly, taking it around with 22lbs of gear in my backpack and the tripod was easy. Quite honestly, this is everything a travel tripod should be. With that said, the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 introduces a new problem that you have to be careful of. Every leg can be turned into a monopod. That means that sometimes you can accidentally use a bit too much force and start to unscrew a portion. You’ll feel that, though, and then make adjustments where needed.

Ease of Use

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 is a pretty simple tripod to use in real-life use. Like most other tripods, you’ll have to undo the legs and get it set up. To extend the legs, you have to use the extension knobs. In my hand, I can only grab three at a time. And often enough, this is all I really need. Once that’s in place, I usually lower the tripod center column down all the way. This center column can extend upward twice. In real-life use, I’d probably never use this unless the camera I had included image stabilization. Just in case, I’d want the tripod and the stabilization to work together. This is more paranoia because of the laws of physics. Sure, your tripod can be raised up twice. But it’s also just not going to be as stable as it could be if it were lower to the ground.

All of the torque and tension are very smooth. To truly understand it, imagine turning the focusing ring on a Zeiss or Leica M-mount lens. If you’re one of those folks who love the tactile experience the way I do, you’ll adore this tripod for sure.

Like the other tripods, there’s a carabiner with a tool that can come with the tripod. This is just in case you don’t want to bring their unique tripod bag around. And honestly, that’s often the case. I’ll stuff the tripod in a side pocket or secure it with tripod straps if I’m using a backpack. Again though, this is a minor qualm. The alan key to secure the tripod plate into the camera will surely get it super tight. But with some effort, you can do the same thing with house keys.

Conclusions

Likes

  • Size
  • Durability
  • Weight
  • Tactile knobs and feeling
  • Three monopods
  • The center column can go up twice

Dislikes

  • Monopod legs are easier to unscrew than I’d like.

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 is overall a great tripod. Again, what I’m most shocked about is that it seemingly does everything right. You’d think that this wouldn’t be difficult with a tripod, but you’d be shocked. We’ve tested lots of them over the years. Sometimes a knob turns awkwardly. Other times there are various qualms with the ball head. But the 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 doesn’t have those. Instead, I’m more peeved about the tripod legs turning into monopods a bit too easily. It means that I’ve got to be much more careful when prepping the tripod to shoot. Again though, that’s a minor annoyance more than anything else.

The 3 Legged Thing Brian 2.0 receives five out of five stars.Want one? Check out Amazon for the latest pricing.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.