By Ken from Pasadena, CA on 7/22/2007

I bought a Bogen-Manfrotto tripod/head combo about a year ago and love it, but it's absolutely huge and heavy as can be. It's worked fine in the studio and locally, but I'm currently on the last leg of a Europe trip (Paris->Barcelona->Mallorca) right now and spent a lot of time looking around beforehand for something WAY more portable but still able to provide some serious stability.

I started looking at monopods 'cause they're light and can be used to swat at pickpocketers in the Metro ;-) but I love taking night pictures with a remote so 3 legs is definitely a must. Plus, I actually like being in the picture sometimes!

OK, this review is getting long already, so I'll try to cut to the chase... This thing ROCKS! So far, I've taken about 60 shots with the tripod, and this is what I've discovered -->

It was definitely weird to figure out how to extend the legs the first time. You have to twist them until each of the segments unlocks, pull them out then twist them the opposite way to lock them. The first time I tried it, only three of the segments unlocked, and I thought the thing was too short. Then when I tried thought I was locking them, it turned out that I didn't lock all of them, and the tripod tipped to one side. Then I started using my shirt or another available piece of cloth to grip the legs while turning them, and it's been seriously rock solid since then. Nearly all the shots I've taken so far have been with my Canon 30D body and 24-70mm 2.8L lens, which is definitely a heavy combo.

Last thing then I'll shut up... I really dig the ball head rather than the pan/tilt head for this tripod. It really gave me a lot of versatility for some interesting shots. I know I lost the ability to steadily rotate the camera for a 360-degree panorama shot in small increments, but who cares... all my panorama shots were taken in full daylight so I just stood straight up and rotated my body about 18-degrees for each shot. I'm sure I'll be able to patch them together nicely.

OK, I'm outta here. Did I mention I'm in Spain? Time for another round of Sangria!

Adios!
Ken

By Ashley the hack from Annapolis Royal, NS on 2/5/2007

I'm not sure this would be a workhorse tripod for a serious photographer over the long term. However, for a recreational photographer who packs light (because he's too out of shape to carry fifty pounds of gear up mountains) it's ideal.