One of very few tripods that FLM makes, the CP-26 is their travel offering. The design is very similar to many other travel tripods, but the CP-26 features FLM’s high build quality and unique styling touches. Unfortunately, the performance of the tripod isn’t anything exceptional, falling right in line with the performance that we typically expect from a lightweight tripod with five leg sections.
| Name | FLM CP26 |
| Class | Travel |
| Yaw Stiffness | 292.3 +/- 1 Nm/rad |
| Yaw Damping | 0.128 +/- 0.013 Js/rad |
| Pitch Stiffness | 1059 +/- 6 Nm/rad |
| Pitch Damping | 0.516 +/- 0.052 Js/rad |
| Retail Price | $381 |
| Weight | 2.91 lbs (1.322 kgs) |
| Manufacturer weight rating | 26.4 lbs |
| Maximum Height | 47.6 in (120.9 cm) |
| Minimum Height | 13.1 in (33.3 cm) |
| Max Height with Center Column | 55.6 in (141.2 cm) |
| Center Column | Yes |
| Base Diameter | 2.0 in (5.1 cm) |
| Folded Length | 15.2 in (38.6 cm) |
| Folded Circumference | 13.0 in (33.0 cm) |
| Folded Volume | 204.0 cu. in. (3.3 liters) |
| Leg Material | Carbon Fiber |
| Leg Sections | 5 |
| Primary Leg Angle | 22.5 deg |
| Leg Locks | Twist |
| Top Tube Diameter | 26.5 mm |
| Second Tube Diameter | 22.0 mm |
| Third Tube Diameter | 19.0 mm |
| Fourth Tube Diameter | 16.0 mm |
| Fifth Tube Diameter | 12.0 mm |
| Exchangeable Feet | Yes |
| Foot Type | Rubber |
| Bottom Hook | Yes |
The stiffness and damping data are the averages of 10 trials for each measurement. The reported error is the standard error, except in the case of the damping data. I have set the error in the damping at 10% as the standard error metric does not appropriately capture the error in fitting to the data. All of the reported specifications are measured, with the exception of the weight rating. The tripod is measured at full height, with the center column down.
Example data for oscillations about the vertical axis of the tripod:
Exceptionally clean data, as is typical on tripods with low damping levels. No doubts about the resonance frequency here.
Example data for oscillations about the radial axis of the tripod:
The damping is much better for the pitch direction which results in the much broader peak in frequency space.