rcfees

Anybody have any experience with the Manfotto MT0055XPROB Pro tripod with the MHX Pro-BHQ2XPro Head or the Benfro TAD 28A1B2 Series 2 Adventure tripod with a B2 Ball Head both in AL? Thanks.

out4life2016 Loc: Bellingham, Washington

Ball heads are nice but if your using big lenses then get a Gimbel Head. I tried using the Tamron 150-600 G2 lens on a ball head and it will work with a heavy enough tripod but because you have to lock it down when your not holding the camera I missed a lot of good eagle shots.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Providing the lens, camera, subject matter and how you will carry it are all important to deciding which is a good tripod.

For example, if you are a landscape shooter and rarely use lenses longer than 100mm on a full frame camera, you have a very wide range of choices, and you generally can get great performance for a modest price

If you shoot wildlife, often in marginal light, or if you shoot macro, you will need a lot more stability and you won't get that in a lower cost tripod.

From the standpoint of stability and vibration damping it's hard to come up with a better leg material than carbon fiber.

As far as the two tripods you are asking about, the Benro is more likely to be a bit more stable, plus it has a greater load capacity, which allows you more leeway in the event the choice is made to go with something lighter duty and use the hook under the apex to hang some extra weight in hopes of providing a bit more stability.

Either of these would be fine for landscape work, but less desirable for high magnification situations - macro/closeup or longer lenses at or near their minimum focus distances.

The Benro is 4 lbs and has four leg sections, the Manfrotto is 5.5 lbs and has three sections, making the Benro a bit more portable.

Providing more information will help posters provide better information.

rcfees

Could you recommend a tripod for Macro and landscapes? Thanks!

billnourse Loc: Bloomfield, NM

I have had a Benro Travel Angel FTA28C with a V2 head for the last 4 years. It works very well for all that I do. My biggest lens is a 70-200 f2.8 II with 2x converter.

On a photo shoot some time back I set the tripod on top of my jeep and drove off with it there. At 50 MPH I saw it skidding across the highway. Stopped and retrieved it and found that the only damage was a little cosmetic scratching. No loss of functionality at all.

Bill

CO

I have the Manfrotto 055CX3 carbon fiber tripod which is the previous version of their current MT055 tripods. It's an excellent tripod. I would avoid Manfrotto's MSQ6PL Quick Release Plate. It doesn't have a rubber pad to prevent rotation of the camera on the plate.

I purchased an Acratech Nomad ballhead for my 055CX Manfrotto tripod. The Acratech is a great match for that tripod because the fluted base extends just past the edge of the tripod's base. The flutes give you something to grip when tightening or loosening the head.

The flutes of the Acratech head extend just past the edge of the tripod base

(Download)

You can mount an L-bracket to a head with Arca-Swiss dovetails

(Download)

rcfees

Thanks to all for the advise!