First let me say I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

My requirements are, lightweight, reasonably strong, and carry-on luggage compact. Oddly enough, I was under the misconception that carbon fiber was significantly lighter. After starting my tripod research I have found that's not always the case, and in some brands, carbon fiber can add considerably to the cost.

Which means I have eliminated any bias I had for carbon fiber and will consider only the three requirements listed, in addition to reasonably priced. Truthfully, tripods are of limited value to me because 80% of my wildlife shots are spontaneous hand-held shots. I do plan to do some night, low-light shooting in Paris and London though.

Thanks again!

Hi Mike,
I have been reviewing some of the comments about your tripod concerns for your trip. I noticed that you mentioned you were taking a Canon 7D MK II. and that you were planning to take you CanonL 100-400 mm IS II USM with a 1.4 tele-extender. That confused me some. The 7D MK II has a APS-C sensor that magnifies your image by 1.6 all by itself. That makes that 400 mm equal to the reach of a 640 mm full frame sensor camera. When you add the 1.4 ext. it bumps you to a reach of almost 900 mm. Your 16-35 mm gives you a reach of 26-56 or wide to normal focal length. The 7D MK II is a great camera. I think I would lighten my load some. Take a CanonL 70-200 mm lens instead. The L series will still accept your 1.4 extender. This gives you an overall reach of 320-480 mm and is no where near as heavy! Buy something like a Benro mono pod with the fold down tri-feet base. You can still shoot at night and low light and lower ISO settings without all the extra weight.

I use Sirui T-2205X and L10 tilt head, also use head with monopod. The L20 might be better choice for tripod. I find them very light and compact but still tall enough to use comfortablly. I travel with them every week and can fit them in my carry on bag along with other gear. I thought they were reasonably priced at the lower end of usable gear. I don't think you'd break them unless they were ran over or crushed in some way. So far I have no complaints and like using the gear for travel and plan to use for a long time. Used it last week in Mohave desert at night in the wind and stable enough for MW captures.

I recently bought the Slik CF-522. It is designed as a relatively sturdy travel tripod. It is ~14" collapsed. The other stats are max height - 58in., min height - 7.0in., max load - 6.6lbs., weight - 2.3lbs., and material - carbon fiber. It lists for ~$300, but can be found on sale for ~$150/170 from time to time. It works perfect for my 4/3rds system. And the system plus tripod will meet most airline's smaller personal carry-on size let alone the bigger baggage carry-on size. There is another Slik tripod, CF-422, that is similar but longer collapsed. It won a prestigious innovation award last year for design. Both are worth consideration.