andrewv8

There are almost no comparisons between these two tripods and the few that there are don't go into much detail so I bought both and I'm going give you all my thoughts.
 
Why I chose these two, I wanted a tripod but knew that if it didn't fit in my backpack I wouldn't carry it with me.  For me the priorities were 1 portability and stability and 2 quality feel.
 
 
CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY:
The mefoto has a smoother panning action but the Sirui's ball head is considerably smoother, the mefoto's ball head feels choppy and stiff.
 
The mefoto is a heavier duty tripod.  It feels more like a miniature version of a professional tripod.
 
The mefoto doesn't fold up quite as neatly as the Sirui.  To get the legs to fold uniformly and sit flush against the center shaft you need to extend it a bit so that the plate doesn't get in the way.
 
The Sirui is a hair longer when folded but considerably less chunky.  The Y shaped plate where the legs meet on the Sirui in particular is much smaller and made from thinner material.  
 
The rubber locks on the Sirui feel super cheap, it's that sticky sort of rubber and the ribbed texture captures all dest and lint.
 
The attachment point for the ball head also feel cheaper on the Sirui.

The integrated weight hook on the bottom of mefoto is much nicer than the tiny ring on the bottom of the Sirui.
 
The segments of the legs and central shaft on sirui seem to rotate when loose but not on the mefoto.
 
STABILITY
I had a really hard time finding a comparison of these two tripods from a stability perspective but the mefoto is definitely more stable.  On smooth surfaces the legs on the Sirui push out beyond their natural limit and slide around much more easily.  The fixed central shaft, wider connection plate for the legs, larger feet, and heftier legs of the mefoto make it a lot more stable.
 
OPENING
Opening up the Sirui, the legs flip right open, the spring loaded leg locks at the top of each leg click into each of the 3 positions as you open it.  To be honest I originally thought this was an advantage, but I'd be concerned that the spring might fail.  It feels like you really have to twist the cheap, sticky (or perhaps tacky), rubber locks pretty far to unlock the legs.  

Opening the legs on the mefoto is almost hard work, everything about the tripod (except for the panning action) is really tight, perhaps a smidge too tight for my taste.  The press in leg locks at the top of each leg are operated manually for both opening and closing which is kind of annoying, and there are only 2 positions unlike the Sirui which has 3.  The twisting leg locks seem to take less rotation to unlock than the Sirui.  
 
USAGE
On the mefoto, the plate, plate holder, and plate locking control knob all seem oversized.  This becomes a problem when you try to attach the plate on the fly.  It becomes really annoying to mount the camera to the tripod.  This issue is less severe on the Sirui because the knob is a lot smaller and you can actually get your fingers around in when the camera is mounted.
 
As mentioned before, the ball head on the Sirui is smooth like butter.  The panning seems either more heavily dampened or just not as smooth.  The degree marks on the pan are mostly hidden with the exception of a small window near the indexing point and I don't like that.
 
The ball head on the mefoto feels bad by comparison, it's just really clunky and sticky.  The panning on the other hand is butter.  The panning degree marks are all visible at all times, I prefer this to the Sirui.  The mefoto also has a bubble level, I didn't think I cared about that, but having it is nicer than I thought.
 
The plates for both are terrible and don't have a D ring.
 
The Sirui has a removable central shaft and a 3rd leg position which allows the Sirui to get considerably lower than the mefoto.
 
WHATS IN THE BOX
They both come with a bag, the Sirui comes with a crappy draw string bag while the mefoto comes with a nicer zippered bag.  To be honest, its actually kind of hard to get the mefoto in and out of the bag.
 
The Sirui also comes with a beaner clip to attach weights onto the ring on the bottom of the tripod.  It's cheap and junky, and covered on sticky terrible rubber and I don't like it.
 
I've attached some comparison pics.  Let me know if you guys have any other questions, I'll have both tripods for another few days and am happy to provide any feedback you're looking for.
 
WHATS IN THE BOX
I'm going with the mefoto.  Definitely more solid and it's small and light enough for me.  If I was most interested in saving space and weight I'd get the Sirui. 

> I'll be going to Germany and Egypt.
 
An interesting combination. I suspect you'll be doing plenty of 'candids' in the latter.
 
Roger

Hello Andrew,

Don't turn your nose up at the 60mm. It might not focus as quickly as either of the newer lenses -- although it's quicker than it used to be after recent firmware releases -- but it gives excellent quality in a light and inexpensive package. See here for some examples (not the first), taken with an X-T1 on a monopod.

It's an ideal focal length for portraits and its close-up abilities are superior to the other two lenses. Magnification on the 56mm is 0.09x, on the 90mm is 0.02x but on the 60mm is 0.50x (not actually macro, therefore, despite Fuji's misleading description).

I hope you enjoy your trip. Where's it to, might I ask?

Roger

I believe the OP wanted to add one lens to compliment his existing lens, from the following options 56, 60 and 90.
 
Personally and while I love and own the 90mm and its a fabulous lens, its a large lens.
 
1) I would add the 60mm, he has the X-T10 so most of the adverse criticism of this lens being slow to focus can be ignored, I honestly notice no difference between this lens and the 18 and 35mm now.
 
2) Which brings me to my second reason the 60mm renders and colours the image in a very similar way to his existing glass. The 56 i find more clinical and less warm. Not a bad thing as its purely subjective, but if he wants his images to sit well together the 60 will get him there with less effort.
 
3) This is a travel kit having the versatility of the 60 in his kit will serve him well, it will allow macro shots plus it pack smaller and lighter.
 
4), Its also very versatile as a portrait lens for those of you interested I actually like it over the 56 as I can get in really close if I want to do abstract stuff like just an eye or over filling a frame etc, I think it gives more creative options for portraits out the box. The 56 is an amazing lens but its more of a I want to take a standard blow your mind magazine spread portrait. I find that the 60 serves the travel/street portrait better, in the same way that the 18 mm is a better street/travel lens than the 10-24mm, 14 or 16mm for my money.
 
My current go to street kit that I walk around london with at all times is X-T1, 18mm/35mm/60mm. The other advantage of this set up is that even the X-T1 while a decent size camera most people think its a flim camera when I have those lens in situ as they are so small. Soon as the 18-135mm goes on there people start getting a little more wary.
 
G

Thank you all for the responses!  My deal on the 56 was expiring so I nabbed it.  Little worried it won't be long enough but the 1.2 was so seductive, especially because the electronic shutter on my xt10 will let me shoot it wide open.  To be honest I sort of felt like I generally tend to work closer to my subjects and the 90 might become a specialty lens for me while the 56 might be something I could use more often.  Slightly concerned about the minimum focusing distance though... didn't realize how far it actually was.  Anyhow it will show up tomorrow so we will see.

There are almost no comparisons between these two tripods and the few that there are don't go into much detail so I bought both and I'm going give you all my thoughts.
 
Why I chose these two, I wanted a tripod but knew that if it didn't fit in my backpack I wouldn't carry it with me.  For me the priorities were 1 portability and stability and 2 quality feel.
 
 
CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY:
The mefoto has a smoother panning action but the Sirui's ball head is considerably smoother, the mefoto's ball head feels choppy and stiff.
 
The mefoto is a heavier duty tripod.  It feels more like a miniature version of a professional tripod.
 
The mefoto doesn't fold up quite as neatly as the Sirui.  To get the legs to fold uniformly and sit flush against the center shaft you need to extend it a bit so that the plate doesn't get in the way.
 
The Sirui is a hair longer when folded but considerably less chunky.  The Y shaped plate where the legs meet on the Sirui in particular is much smaller and made from thinner material.  
 
The rubber locks on the Sirui feel super cheap, it's that sticky sort of rubber and the ribbed texture captures all dest and lint.
 
The attachment point for the ball head also feel cheaper on the Sirui.

The integrated weight hook on the bottom of mefoto is much nicer than the tiny ring on the bottom of the Sirui.
 
The segments of the legs and central shaft on sirui seem to rotate when loose but not on the mefoto.
 
STABILITY
I had a really hard time finding a comparison of these two tripods from a stability perspective but the mefoto is definitely more stable.  On smooth surfaces the legs on the Sirui push out beyond their natural limit and slide around much more easily.  The fixed central shaft, wider connection plate for the legs, larger feet, and heftier legs of the mefoto make it a lot more stable.
 
OPENING
Opening up the Sirui, the legs flip right open, the spring loaded leg locks at the top of each leg click into each of the 3 positions as you open it.  To be honest I originally thought this was an advantage, but I'd be concerned that the spring might fail.  It feels like you really have to twist the cheap, sticky (or perhaps tacky), rubber locks pretty far to unlock the legs.  

Opening the legs on the mefoto is almost hard work, everything about the tripod (except for the panning action) is really tight, perhaps a smidge too tight for my taste.  The press in leg locks at the top of each leg are operated manually for both opening and closing which is kind of annoying, and there are only 2 positions unlike the Sirui which has 3.  The twisting leg locks seem to take less rotation to unlock than the Sirui.  
 
USAGE
On the mefoto, the plate, plate holder, and plate locking control knob all seem oversized.  This becomes a problem when you try to attach the plate on the fly.  It becomes really annoying to mount the camera to the tripod.  This issue is less severe on the Sirui because the knob is a lot smaller and you can actually get your fingers around in when the camera is mounted.
 
As mentioned before, the ball head on the Sirui is smooth like butter.  The panning seems either more heavily dampened or just not as smooth.  The degree marks on the pan are mostly hidden with the exception of a small window near the indexing point and I don't like that.
 
The ball head on the mefoto feels bad by comparison, it's just really clunky and sticky.  The panning on the other hand is butter.  The panning degree marks are all visible at all times, I prefer this to the Sirui.  The mefoto also has a bubble level, I didn't think I cared about that, but having it is nicer than I thought.
 
The plates for both are terrible and don't have a D ring.
 
The Sirui has a removable central shaft and a 3rd leg position which allows the Sirui to get considerably lower than the mefoto.
 
WHATS IN THE BOX
They both come with a bag, the Sirui comes with a crappy draw string bag while the mefoto comes with a nicer zippered bag.  To be honest, its actually kind of hard to get the mefoto in and out of the bag.
 
The Sirui also comes with a beaner clip to attach weights onto the ring on the bottom of the tripod.  It's cheap and junky, and covered on sticky terrible rubber and I don't like it.
 
I've attached some comparison pics.  Let me know if you guys have any other questions, I'll have both tripods for another few days and am happy to provide any feedback you're looking for.
 
WHATS IN THE BOX
I'm going with the mefoto.  Definitely more solid and it's small and light enough for me.  If I was most interested in saving space and weight I'd get the Sirui. 

There are almost no comparisons between these two tripods and the few that there are don't go into much detail so I bought both and I'm going give you all my thoughts.
 
Why I chose these two, I wanted a tripod but knew that if it didn't fit in my backpack I wouldn't carry it with me.  For me the priorities were 1 portability and stability and 2 quality feel.
 
 
CONSTRUCTION AND QUALITY:
The mefoto has a smoother panning action but the Sirui's ball head is considerably smoother, the mefoto's ball head feels choppy and stiff.
 
The mefoto is a heavier duty tripod.  It feels more like a miniature version of a professional tripod.
 
The mefoto doesn't fold up quite as neatly as the Sirui.  To get the legs to fold uniformly and sit flush against the center shaft you need to extend it a bit so that the plate doesn't get in the way.
 
The Sirui is a hair longer when folded but considerably less chunky.  The Y shaped plate where the legs meet on the Sirui in particular is much smaller and made from thinner material.  
 
The rubber locks on the Sirui feel super cheap, it's that sticky sort of rubber and the ribbed texture captures all dest and lint.
 
The attachment point for the ball head also feel cheaper on the Sirui.

The integrated weight hook on the bottom of mefoto is much nicer than the tiny ring on the bottom of the Sirui.
 
The segments of the legs and central shaft on sirui seem to rotate when loose but not on the mefoto.
 
STABILITY
I had a really hard time finding a comparison of these two tripods from a stability perspective but the mefoto is definitely more stable.  On smooth surfaces the legs on the Sirui push out beyond their natural limit and slide around much more easily.  The fixed central shaft, wider connection plate for the legs, larger feet, and heftier legs of the mefoto make it a lot more stable.
 
OPENING
Opening up the Sirui, the legs flip right open, the spring loaded leg locks at the top of each leg click into each of the 3 positions as you open it.  To be honest I originally thought this was an advantage, but I'd be concerned that the spring might fail.  It feels like you really have to twist the cheap, sticky (or perhaps tacky), rubber locks pretty far to unlock the legs.  

Opening the legs on the mefoto is almost hard work, everything about the tripod (except for the panning action) is really tight, perhaps a smidge too tight for my taste.  The press in leg locks at the top of each leg are operated manually for both opening and closing which is kind of annoying, and there are only 2 positions unlike the Sirui which has 3.  The twisting leg locks seem to take less rotation to unlock than the Sirui.  
 
USAGE
On the mefoto, the plate, plate holder, and plate locking control knob all seem oversized.  This becomes a problem when you try to attach the plate on the fly.  It becomes really annoying to mount the camera to the tripod.  This issue is less severe on the Sirui because the knob is a lot smaller and you can actually get your fingers around in when the camera is mounted.
 
As mentioned before, the ball head on the Sirui is smooth like butter.  The panning seems either more heavily dampened or just not as smooth.  The degree marks on the pan are mostly hidden with the exception of a small window near the indexing point and I don't like that.
 
The ball head on the mefoto feels bad by comparison, it's just really clunky and sticky.  The panning on the other hand is butter.  The panning degree marks are all visible at all times, I prefer this to the Sirui.  The mefoto also has a bubble level, I didn't think I cared about that, but having it is nicer than I thought.
 
The plates for both are terrible and don't have a D ring.
 
The Sirui has a removable central shaft and a 3rd leg position which allows the Sirui to get considerably lower than the mefoto.
 
WHATS IN THE BOX
They both come with a bag, the Sirui comes with a crappy draw string bag while the mefoto comes with a nicer zippered bag.  To be honest, its actually kind of hard to get the mefoto in and out of the bag.
 
The Sirui also comes with a beaner clip to attach weights onto the ring on the bottom of the tripod.  It's cheap and junky, and covered on sticky terrible rubber and I don't like it.
 
I've attached some comparison pics.  Let me know if you guys have any other questions, I'll have both tripods for another few days and am happy to provide any feedback you're looking for.
 
WHATS IN THE BOX
I'm going with the mefoto.  Definitely more solid and it's small and light enough for me.  If I was most interested in saving space and weight I'd get the Sirui.