Kingjoy A86 Tripod Review
After over twenty five years of using Manfrotto tripods (mainly a 055 classic pro) i came across Kingjoy through my good friend Marcus who has been now using them for maybe four or five years, i knew that if he was using them on the rugged and wild landscapes of Isle of Skye that they must be good, but also good enough to withstand the wild weather that comes with the territory, so last February i went up to Skye for some photography and to see Marcus, after several phone calls with him i had originally decided on one of the C models but on arriving on Skye he didn't have one in stock so decided to go with the A86 which was the right decision in the end.
Now this is a beast of a tripod but still weighing in a whole pound lighter than the 055, well that was a positive start to say the least. The A86 is also a very tall tripod, to tall for me but there has been several times in the past when the extra height would have been handy so i went with it, the 39mm wide upper carbon fibre legs make this a extremely strong tripod holding upto 30kg or 66lb in old money, the leg adjusters which are a breeze to use are o ring sealed which is a massive advantage for the coastal photographer, not allowing sand to travel up inside the legs. I use four different cameras on mine and the Kingjoy large ballhead(sold separately )never fails either. It handles all four cameras with ease, it also looks the part too especially when the large format camera is in use.
It comes in a zipped bag and is boxed with screw in spikes and rubber feet for different terrain, i bought the extra long spikes which gives the tripod amazing stability on soft ground and in extremely windy conditions. The legs also splay out to several heights, the lowest being a crazy shooting height of 4 inches!! All in all this is by FAR the best tripod i have ever owned and compared to other models with these stats i would say it's very reasonably priced to at £499 tripod only. So if you are thinking upgrading of buying a tripod i highly recommend these extremely well built Kingjoy ones, go on you know you want too.!!
To buy this model or browse other models go here..
https://www.skyephotoacademy.com/shop/equipment/heavy-duty-carbon-tripod
