Manfrotto 055 Aluminium 3 Section Tripod

Unless you are going hiking up a mountain or along an un-mapped river source this is has got to be the best tripod investment you will ever make. It is very solid , a good weight enough to shout "pah" at all but the most destructive winds.. in that case you would be hands on equipment . An easy carry for a couple of hundred meters at least. Every click and lock and lever, slide leg, dial, or turn screw is engineered to such precision that you will just smile at its quality. The horizontal beam system is just a joy to lock and unlock . Before buying it I had some reservations about the legs not being braced by a tri-bar but the click locking mechanism in full , mid and virtual flat positions dispelled any concern at the very first try and the leg slide locks are easy , solid , and will not let you down if a plumb weight makes you feel happy. There is a catch hook at the brace position as opposed to a hook at the base of the vertical rise tube which is locked by a comfortable and solid turn knob. My choice was the flat base head fixing rather than the half cup because it is easier to add a ball head from many makers than to need a flat base adaptor. . I registered ownership with the Manfrotto website including the bar coding and received a 10 year warranty. This only applies to the original owner and by registered agent sellers also, Amazon are a registered seller agent..Most photographic equipment insurers accept Manfrotto as a "Replace with New" maker should there be an accidental loss/damage to equipment or freight/baggage loss if ever !!! . My Lumix GH5 is in safe legs!

I have owned several budget tripods which have been OK but have eventually let me down, most just seem to become progressively more rattly and struggle with heavy lenses. After a lot of consideration and looking I went for this tripod over the 4 section CF version from Manfrotto and other manufactures because I remain unconvinced that the CF tripods are any more rigid and the weight saving Vs price doesn't stack up. I use this with two different heads, a Camulet Heavy Ball head and a Skywatcher Star Adventurer tracking mount. Even loaded up with a Canon EOS60D and Sigma 150-600mm OS DG Contemporary lens and in both instances it holds up well for long exposure images and is rigid enough for Astro photographs up to about 300mm focal length when fully extended, beyond this I use an actual telescope and Goto mount because the Star Adventurer isn't up to much more. Obviously it is even more stable (less susceptible to wind and the resulting star trailing) when used with only one leg section extended. As for weight, there is not a great deal of difference between this model and the CF version, I have heavier lenses, so I have not found this to be an issue although to be fair if I'm out walking all day with the camera I will either have the Manfrotto Compact advanced tripod if not using the telephoto or a Monopod if out birding with the big telephoto. In short I wish I'd bought a tripod of this quality many years ago instead of messing aground with and throwing out the budget tripods I have used up to this point.

I've had the classic Manfrotto XPRO190B legs for the last 4 years and they were showing their age, lots of dunkings in sea and fresh water have taken their toll. I had a few criteria when looking at buying a new tripod, slightly lighter legs ( I'm not getting any younger! ), needed something a little taller as the 190's where always just a little too short and a little more stability. I got two of those sorted. It's absolutely rock solid, the second you to set it up out of the box, you can see the effort that's gone into the design and feel how rock solid it is. Despite its light weight feel it masks serious stability. With the legs full out and the centre column down the viewfinder is roughly at around 5' 11", raising the column gives you something like about another 12-18 inches! More than adequate for most average size people. Once I'd have loaded my 410 gear head and my L-bracket the weight more or less came back to where it was, not overly bothered by that as the frame is a lot larger and as you rest it on your shoulder for carrying it feels comfortable. I've not had a chance to test it out in cold weather but I have noticed that the legs don't feel anywhere near as cold as the 190's so hopefully when Winter comes around that's when I should get the benefit. I am extremely pleased with it and highly recommend it to anyone who's thinking of stepping up to carbon legs.

This thing is light and solid in build quality. Carbon fibre is more expensive, but it's an investment which will last you for years. I do a lot of astrophotography and use star trackers, so something like this is perfect for it. If you're sitting thinking to yourself, "I could just buy a cheaper tripod" then of course, if your budget can't stretch it's understandable. But this thing will last forever if looked after. It's light enough to carry around, plus it takes up to 19 pounds of gear before you go over the weight limit. Compare that to aluminium models which usually only do half that, so it's pretty incredible. The price might put you off, because it did with me to begin with. I ended up buying multiple tripods over the years, and some of them are fine for basic photography. But once you start putting heavy glass on them, they don't hold up unlike the manfrotto CF models. If your budget can afford it, then go for it. If not and you're just looking for a basic tripod, then it probably isn't for you.

Now I'm a camera newbie-ish, so I've never had a proper tripod, but I am SO glad I picked this as my first one. Sturdiness: This thing will not budge in wind, I had it on the beach, and it was really windy, and even on sand, I was never afraid of my camera falling over or anything! Rock solid! Size: It is kinda heavy for lugging around, and it was too big for me to fit in a normal gym bag, but if you take the attached head off, it fits into a bag with a small extendable bit, and once you have a comfy bag it really won't be an issue! It has taken a couple of bangs and all, no damage, this is a proper piece of equipment. The attachment as well is super easy to use, very smooth for moving the camera, and once it's locked it's locked. Very happy with it! :)

Really like this .. excellent for aurora shooting and will use for a lot of other uses !!

I’ve had this tripod for just over a year now and it hasn’t seen a great deal of use – other than in my home ‘studio’ and the garden. It is very heavy and while 30 years ago I used to carry a heavier Benbo everywhere, those days are long gone. I’ve bought the appropriate Manfrotto carry case and that makes it easier to carry quiver-style on my back, but that then means I can’t use a backpack for camera gear. This tripod has three section legs, two of which have a thick rubber grip at the top. This makes it much more comfortable to carry by one of these legs, particularly in cold weather. I’m 5’ 11” and, with legs fully extended, I only need to lift the centre column a couple of inches to bring the camera to eye level. Leg extension is restricted by click stops. There are three of these and then the leg moves out to horizontal. To move past these to allow the tripod to be lowered, or used on uneven ground, means pushing back a little on the leg and simultaneously pressing down on the silver lock button. With the legs fully extended this is simple enough. With legs at their shortest,the camera in place, and the legs splayed wide, I found it very awkward to move the legs past the stops. I found I had to lift the tripod, guessing where I wanted the legs and then trying to position it again. I have fond memories of using the Benbo to do the same thing – slacken the bolt slightly, re-arrange the legs and re-tighten the bolt. It was dead simple. The Manfrotto is not, and my major use of it is for flower photography so easy manoeuvrability at low levels is important to me. This tripod does not get my recommendation for ease of use for low-level photography. The centre column comes up and out and tllts to horizontal. To get it out of its housing you have to press a little red button at the bottom of the column while at the same time pulling on the column. I strongly advise not to do this with the camera on the tripod. Getting it back down again afterwards is a struggle. You can’t get at the button, which seems to block the column’s downward progress. I’ve found that jiggling and pushing with a little force applied eventually pops the centre column back down again. Also you need to get at that red button to move the column from horizontal to vertical before pushing it back down. The trouble is bits of tripod get in the way of my fingers, so again it’s awkward/clumsy. It works, but it’s far from the elegance I would expect from Manfrotto. With everything tightened up this tripod is rock solid. I have no complaints on that score. It does however have a slight flex if you push on the fully extended legs. No problem with steadiness with hands off and a cable release. The leg extension clips are big and easy to use. My only problem with them is the deisgn makes them look as if they open the opposite way, so I’m forever grabbing the wrong end of the lever and wondering why nothing is happening. I bought a Manfrotto video head for use with this and that fits and works perfectly. But for stills it doesn’t do portrait orientation so I have to resort to my Manfrotto small ball head for that. The tripod’s head mounting plate is a bit big for it and the tripod’s built-in spirit level gets in the way of the locking lever on the ball head. The spirit level rotates so it can be moved out of the way. Because the locking lever on the head hangs below the level of the mounting plate it has to be positioned horizontally in order to screw the ball head into place. These are minor niggles, but I would have expected a manufacturer of Manfrotto’s reputation to make all their bits and pieces fully compatible. It’s an ok tripod, and solid enough for me. The centre column mechanism for shifting from vertical to horizontal (which you need to do if you have the legs fully splayed) is far from slick – but the whole thing is solid enough when finally adjusted. One other thing the centre column is not cylindrical so it doesn’t rotate to ease positioning of the camera when used horizontally. I like its height, and although its heaviness is a problem for portability, it’s a bonus for solidity. I like that the legs splay horizontally. I don’t like the mechanism for rotating the centre column through 90 degrees. I like the rubber grips for carrying. I don’t like that the size of the base plate interferes with a Manfrotto head.

This is a top notch Tripod which is what you would expect from Manfrotto. The legs can extend to a rediculous length and you have the ability to extend the mounting arm and pivot it through 90* which is ideal for overhead shots. The legs are also able to move to the horizontal allowing you to span a gap with them and again help with over head shots. Although it folds away to a nice compact size its not a travel weight and doesnt come with any form of bag. If you are looking for a leight weight travel tripod this is not the one for you. This has been a great investment for my YouTube channel and would highly recommend it for amateurs, professionals, photographers and film makers a like. No its not cheap but you get what you pay for and this is quality