Manfrotto Element Traveller Small Aluminum 5-Section Tripod Kit with Ball Head

This is the perfect travel tripod because it is very small and very light. In addition, the design of this tripod has a lot of really nice features. Pros: - This thing is tiny, you can see the size compared to a 15 inch Macbook Pro. Plus, it's made of carbon fiber so it is very light. - The design of the ball head allows the tripod to fold completely, unlike other tripods that won't close all the way on the top due to the ball head getting in the way. - Very easy to setup, the twist locks make setting this up extremely fast - Adapter under the ball head allows you to have both 1/4-20 and 3/16-24 threads - The pans on the ball head are smooth and I have not noticed any creep of the head - standard bag hook underneath. Cons: - Not a big deal, but you can see that on the arca adapter, there is a screw head sticking up right in the middle. This means that you can't slide your plate on, instead you have to place it. - The feet don't look like they're removable, so you won't be able to use any metal spikes if needed. While it isn't perfect, I think that most people will be buying this understanding the trade offs for size and portability. I would highly recommend this tripod as it is very small and light, while still performing well enough. You are paying for the size and weight, so I think that this tripod is actually a good value even with the relatively high price.

PROS: Quality fitment, clean lines, good operation of moving parts, free spares and tools included, good tote-bag included, nice and tall, can use as monopod, separate camera and pan screws. CONS: One leg shorter than the rest, a little heavy. REVIEW: Needed a taller tripod to replace my $20 cheapo model. Found this Manfrotto and I am very satisfied. It is clearly a quality product and I feel like I will be using it for the rest of my life (or until I lose it). The operation of the twist locks and leg position locks is clean and easy (though you may need to loosen the leg screws for quicker angle adjustment). The camera foot fits well and is easy to mount. There are two bubble levels for positioning at upright and at 90º angle for the camera. The ball joint works well and I really like the speed of the adjustments for height. This seems best suited for ‘local’ shooting and is a bit too heavy for a back country hike due to the weight, but being aluminum it should stand up for many a year to come. Additionally, it seems that one of the legs is shorter than the rest at the fully extended position. This is easy enough to compensate for, but should have been noticed in QA. SUMMARY: For the price, I don’t think you’ll find a more capable tripod. Fully recommend to anyone who wants something significantly better than the ubiquitous cheap Chinese knockoffs found in the “Amazon Preferred” category.

Manfrotto is one of those great tripods. My first impressions, light weight, solid construction, not very stable in some windy conditions or irregular terrains, it shakes a little on those conditions, tightening and shorting the legs may help, I've noticed this with a Nikon D7200 with a 70/300 zoom, with some patience I could take the shots I wanted. You can't expect to use this as a Studio Tripod of $300 or more... It is what it is, an affordable, light, traveller tripod, for taking some pictures or videos that requires a tripod for an optimal result, if you are looking for that then you wouldn't be disappointed. Easy to deploy and easy to store, also it is easy to dissamble one leg to make it a monopod, of course it is something that you can't do constantly, it seems that this feature was thinked only for those cases where with just a monopod were usefull instead of the whole tripod.

This is a very well engineered and well made tripod. I bought it primarily because of its very small size when folded. At a bit over 12 inches when folded, it fits in my range bag with plenty of room to spare. I use it to support a Minox MD50 spotting scope that weighs 24 ounces and it provides a sturdy and stable platform for observation with this scope. The controls are solid, allow for easy adjustment and securely lock the spotting scope in place. The twist lock legs lock without any play and convey a sense of quality. It is almost entirely constructed out of aluminum. The only non-aluminum parts that I see are the rubber feet, the plastic covered quick release plate, and the plastic knobs that control the ball head. The tripod is not a featherweight, for sure, but if it were any lighter, I doubt that it would be as secure and stable a platform for an optical device. For my use, the tripod represents an acceptable balance between weight and stability with the major plus of being only a bit longer than 12 inches when folded. The carry bag is nicely constructed as well. I would recommend this tripod to anyone with requirements similar to mine.

Edit 1: 4/28/2017: I have returned this product foe below reasons: 1. The tripod head feels cheaply made for 150$ tripod, the arca swiss clamp has a nut sticking out due to with it is not compatible with many arcs swiss plates. 2. Heavy lens creep: the ball head creeps when i put the 70-200 with my 750 body, at first didn't notice this but then it became prominent. Overall build of legs was amazing, but the tripod head gives away the pros, IMO its very very cheaply made for the price. I suggest Oben 3585 system which retails for 165$ which is far superior in all round to this tripod. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was first hesitant to buy this as there was no info on website. This tripod is amazing! It just the weight of a d750 + 70-200 easily even in portrait mode. Best thing is, it has 3 leg positions compared to 2 in Mefoto. Good height of 65 inches and sturdy tripod. Only thing is ballhead could have been more sturdier, but the knobs are well made and with just a simple twist the head locks in position

Overall, I've had a great experience with this tripod so far. It's easy to pull out of my bag and quickly assemble. Likewise, disassembly is a breeze. Converting to a monopod takes no more than 45 seconds. I wish it was maybe a pound lighter, but you get what you pay for - I'm pleased with my decision. I chose this over the Element Traveler Small because of the detachable monopod leg on this model and the sturdier build (though the small is very well built too). Pros: - Legs have enough tension to stay collapsed if carrying by holding just one leg - Sturdy with Canon 6D and 16-35mm lens (~3.1 lbs) at full extension - Foam grip on one leg (monopod leg) for cold weather - Easy assembly/folding - Fits in a Camelbak bag (just barely though) Cons: - Probably too heavy for true backpacking - Carrying case it comes with is too big - The ball head comes loose very easily - When converting to monopod or back to tripod, you have to ensure that there's enough threads in both the center shaft and the head and not too many in the other. It doesn't automatically stop halfway on each.

I now have 4 travel tripods, sadly. Finally with this one I have one that doesn’t fall apart or tremble in a mild breeze. Slightly heavier than the super lights, but that’s what I’ve been needing. Fits in carryon, legs lock nicely, sturdy overall, ball head is acceptable, though I changed mine out for a minimally lighter one I took off a MePhoto tripod that fell apart at a critical moment with a very rare owl. That shaved a few ounces and gave me a slightly better head. I think w this one Manfrotto got the weight/portability ratio just about right. Carrying this in a pack long distances with a bunch of other gear might not be the most pleasant experience, but for general air & car travel & reasonable portability on foot, this one’s ideal. I’ll soon take it to South Texas for a birding trip (w a Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 & Canon 5D M4 & 6D II w shorter lens)), where I’ll walk 5-8 miles per day for 5 days, then to NYC (biggest lens there a 70-200mm f4), where I’ll carry it part of the time & put in approx. the same mileage for 3-4 days. I believe it’ll work fine for both.

This review primarily focuses on long-term durability, as it is nothing groundbreaking in terms of actual functionality - the element is a lightweight workhorse tripod with features that can best be described as "industry standard". It works fine; the ball head is Arca-swiss compatible. I'd rate it higher than 3-stars if it didn't fail after 2.5 years. It had a good run but I expected this carbon tripod to last longer than this. It is just barely past its warranty date, and that sucks - I am out $200; to boot, this tripod can no longer be found on amazon, and Manfrotto is difficult in terms of identifying the correct part for replacement. But the way this thing failed - there's no "part" I could buy to fix it, because the part that failed is now captured within the carbon tubing and it's stuck very loose. Imagine the top column stuck in the tripod, unable to be removed - but also it flails around like a soggy wet noodle now. I can't use this thing for video like this - I need a tripod that remains completely stationary in high wind and which keeps the camera from flopping around. This did that for 2.5 years. Now it does not; after seemingly no particular action. It just kinda started coming loose on its own. I had an aluminum Element tripod for a couple years before I bought the carbon one. Shockingly it was even less durable than the carbon one. The leg joints failed in multiple spots after a couple years. Like all tripods that use twist lock legs of this style, the bottom couple joints on each leg freeze in place due to dirt accumulation unless you clean the whole thing out regularly. That means after practically any outing in which your shooting conditions are nothing more than 'pristine'. That's not really my style; I put these tripods through their paces in wilderness and they all break doing what I do. I go out for 3-8 days on backcountry trips and do about 600-800 video shots in a semi-professional setting in extreme conditions - snow, ice, hot 105F+ desert, the "bush" as they call it. Trails, no trails - sometimes the thing is setup within a creek's streamflow itself. I make money from youtube doing backpacking videos basically, so I expect my use-case is at the extreme end of what any tripod in existence is capable of withstanding. The camera that sat atop this tripod is a Panasonic Lumix G9. The aluminum full size Element felt like overkill but the short 56" carbon one feels perfect for a small to mid weight micro-four thirds system with a reasonably small standard range variable lens. The place the carbon tripod broke at is at the aluminum "spider" interface between where the legs connect to the upper column that the ball head sits on. The failure mode appears to be how the carbon attaches to the aluminum. It sits loose but has not come completely undone. Eventually it will probably just fall apart into two pieces. I can see no way in which to repair it. So now I always carry the tripod by the part the camera is connected to. The legs will probably just fall off any day while I'm walking around looking for the next shot. Like how a lot of carbon parts fail on things like bikes - it appears to be the the epoxy between the carbon and the aluminum that kinda crumbles or delaminates; that fails first. Manfrotto probably should use better small parts and better epoxy in their carbon parts. This is probably how your tripod will fail too. 3 Stars at best, and that's generous.

Product is as advertised. Lightweight and suitable for travel. Easy to handle and use.

Habe mir das Stativ als Alternative zu meinem schweren "XPROB" von Manfrotto gekauft. Ich verwende einen eigenen Stativkopf (Videokopf) und zusammen mit einer GH5, Batteriegriff und einem adaptierten 24-105. Zusammen vielleicht 2 bis 3 kg Gewicht. Das Stativ ist nicht ganz so schnell aufgebaut, wie die Modelle mit Klappverschluss. Die Drehverschlüsse habe ich noch nie gut gefunden, leider gibt es keine wirkliche Alternative in diesem Fall. Ohne Mittelsäule ist das Stativ stabil genug, um die rund 3 kg und auch noch mehr ohne Bedenken zu halten. Mit ausgezogener Mittelsäule würde ich persönlich nicht mehr als 3 kg auf das Stativ setzen. Da können Vibrationen (bspw. von vorbeilaufenden Menschen in Innenräumen) schon mal Verstärkt werden. Wer so arbeitet, dass das Stativ wenigen Vibrationen oder Wind ausgesetzt ist, hat hier ein sehr fähiges Modell. Draußen, bei Wind und Wetter würde ich jedoch auf ein Stativ mit größerem Beindurchmesser setzen.

Apenas lo estrenaré pero se siente resistente

I needed a tripod that wasn't to heavy and a able to support a larger camera as well as a compact. Excellent build quality and value for money

È da tempo che ne cercavo uno da mettere nello zaino, che avesse come caratteristiche ...peso... ingombro...ma anche stabilità. Promosso, visto il costo anche se leggermente superiore ai concorrenti...ma ricordiamoci che è un Manfrotto e le competenze per costruire prodotti di qualità non mancano.