Bogen/Manfrotto carbon tripods

[mike_smith2]

At a recent UK birdwatching fair, Manfrotto (Bogen to US readers)

launched several new carbon fibre tripods, have they reached the US

yet?

 

Two seem to be of interest:

 

Manfrot. 440 (Bog.3444) - 4 leg section rated at 5Kg load

Manfrot. 441 (Bog. 3443) - 3 leg section rated at 6Kg load

 

Both tripods come with strap (makes a change!) and appear to have

quick set legs that allow "low level" photography. The leg profile

is stated to be oval/channeled to prevent twisting and therefore it

would appear that a lot of thought has gone into the design.

 

Has anyone evaluated one of these tripods compared to the usual

recommended Gitzo (v. expensive in UK)- The cost appears to be

significantly lower. As I am trying to build a system, it seems

following the various threads that the cost saving in legs would be

better used to upgrade to a decent ballhead (eg Arca-swiss)

 

UK readers - Is there an Arca-swiss retailer in Britain, or do we

import direct?

[john_gardner1]

Mike

 

I saw these at the Bird Fair too. I seem to recall they weren't tall enough for me and they just didn't have the build quality (and admittedly price tag!) of the Gitzo. The other problem I found was that there was nothing to test them with - I didn't have my 500mm f/4 AFS and the Manfrotto guys didn't have any big lenses to use. I would be interested in a second look if you know of anywhere that has them in stock (in Yorkshire preferably).

 

Bob Rigby Photographic certainly stock Arca Swiss and would probably give you the best deal on one (apparently he's bringing them in from Germany but he wouldn't tell me from where so that I could import my own!). He also said they would beat any price quoted in the UK on Manfrotto gear. Bob was at the Bird Fair also as he is now the sole importer of the Wimberly heads into the UK. He had both Wimberly heads and the full range of Arca Swiss on display at the bird fair too. Bob Rigby is based in Macclesfield and will send you the Arca Swiss to play with if you leave a credit card number to cover the cost should you 'lose' it. Search on the web for Bob Rigby and you'll find an extensive site with lots of new and used gear for sale.

 

HTH

 

John

[john_marriott]

Don't know about the Bogen/Manfrottos, but I recently picked up a Velbon carbon fibre tripod and used it all summer backpacking with my 100-400 IS lens and a bit with my 500 4.5 and loved it (Arca-Swiss ballhead on it). It is virtually identical to the Gitzo, at half the price. Would highly recommend it based on my use of it so far, though am still somewhat sketchy on its ability to handle my 500.

 

John

[gary_watson]

They showed up in Canada in late summer to no fanfare whatsoever. The price(CDN$700-800)should keep them toasty warm in the warehouse all winter. Not exactly a bargain item.

[stuart_mitchell]

Robert White (www.robertwhite.co.uk) sell Arca-Swiss heads in the UK.

 

IIRC a B1 was #265 ($400) though I have no idea whether that included VAT or not!

 

Stuart

[richard_ditch]

I just saw an ad for these new Manfrotto Carbon Fiber models in Photo Life magazine out of Canada, and tracked down further specs at this URL: <http://www.amplis.com/pages/contents_p.html>. No sign of them here in the USA yet, and nothing on the Bogen website. I'd certainly like to find a lower cost alternative to the Gitzo tripods but can't find any Carbon Fiber models from any other manufacturer here in Phoenix, AZ.

[cowan stark]

Slik just came out with 2 carbon fiber models, they're on the B&H website. Pricing looks reasonable, but rated only to 13lbs, which I think is the same as the Bogen 3201/3221. It'll be interesting to see what people think of them.

[brian vega]

Doesn't Mamiya have some CF tripods out? There should be a thread about them somewhere. Have fun looking.

[andrew booth]

I was at a camera fair today, and took a look at the new tripods. My impression was that they were flimsy and poorly made. The 440 seemed very plastiky. I was quoted a UK price of #300 - which is up in Gitzo territory.

 

As a cheaper alternative to Gitzo these may have sold, but at the price they're asking, Gitzo seem to have a superior product (especially in their improved form).

[brian vega]

Andrew, what do you mean about Gitzo "in their improved form?"

 

Brian

[andrew l. booth]

Brian - Gitzo product literature suggests that they've made improvements to their carbon fibre range to address some of problems people have experienced with the first range. The joints are now screwed as well as glued to prevent them from coming apart, and centre columns are grooved to prevent rotation.

[didier_godreau]

Mike,

I recently bought the Manfrotto 440 carbon tripod,

and find it a nice tool . Its price here in Belgium

( really a good price ! ) is $400. ( with a 128RC head ) !

I live in France and bought it directly from Belgium, as

Manfrotto official shops have expensive price. ( +40%

for them !)The 440 seems to be more stable than

the other 3 sections one .

Didier Godreau - Paris

;-)

[leif pigott]

Hi,

I just brought a the 441 last week and spent the weekend playing. These are my first impressions.

I was previously using a Manfo.144 that weighs in at about 2.6Kg that only has one leg position. Both tripods were using a Manfotto large ball head, with large hex plate. Cameras- EOS50 with a 300mm F4 L and 380ex with better beamer, or a Pentax 67 with a 75mm lens.

 

Good points

The legs have three sections with nice locks

 

The tripod with head is tall enough for me to use ( I�m 180cm or about 5 11).

 

The three position legs are nice

 

The tripod feels dead, it doesn't seam to ring or carry vibrations nearly as much as the heavier aluminium tripod

 

I like the way you can remove the centre column and place it parallel to the ground allowing for good macro work on the forest floor

 

It is light, it feels much better with a camera on over my shoulder than the 144.

 

Possible issues

 

There are three angles for each leg and the first position (i.e. tallest), is too narrow resulting in the tripod not being very stable, not really stable enough for the P67. when the legs are set to the next position the tripod feels very solid.

 

Cost, it cost me about 900 New Zealand dollars (about $430 US), not cheap but much less that the others on offer

 

I�ll write a more complete review after a two-week holiday at the end of February- taken nature photos in the lower half on the South Is of NZ.

 

Leif

[dan_cogan]

I have to agree with Leif's observation. In particular, the leg spread at the tallest position is only 20 degrees. The Gitzo legs spread at an angle of 24 degrees, which gives a substantially wider footprint. In addition, the tripod is so light that with an F5 and 80-200/2.8 lens on it, it felt terribly top heavy. I did not like the lack of stability.

For very low angle work, it is necessary to take the head off the post, mount it to a removable plate, and then clamp that plate where the post was. Besides being a slow procedure, I found the plate was somewhat wobbly even with the clamp very tight. And the lowest position is about 12", which is too high for many of my needs.

I thought the tripod was well made, but I was ultimately disappointed with its usability. Mine is on its way back to Camera World of Oregon (or are they now Camerworld.com?).

[leif pigott]

After two weeks and 50 rolls of film latter�

 

Not many photos suffered from camera shake, those where often due to the ground being a bit squeegee.

 

Longer lenses used where canon 300 f4 L and 70-200 f2.8 on EOS50 and a pentax 67 with 55, 75 and 135mm lenses. Mirror lock was used for almost every shot with the P67, but the shutter shake is still an issue.

 

Positives

 

Weight, it is still light and easy to carry hence it got used a lot

 

Leg locks are very quick to operate and lock

 

I love the three position legs

 

Negatives

 

Not quite tall enough for panning shots of birds, I was taking Royal

 

Albatross photos. They where gliding around the headland but I had to be almost on my knees when they came overhead.

 

It is a bit light is strong winds, 20 to 40 knots or 40 to 80 km/hour winds. I guess this would have been a problem with anything not bolted to bedrock.

 

Going low is pain, mind you with any �normal� tripod it is a problem

 

I had to use the second (wider) leg setting to increase the stability with my Pentax

 

Would I buy it again?

This is the hard one, the other choices in New Zealand are the gitzo and it is about 40% more expensive or staying with aluminium tripods at about 1/3 the cost.

 

Weight is important, the lightweight makes it easy to carry and I love the leg locks

 

If I didn�t need to fly with it or carry it large distances I wouldn�t bother. Airlines are getting very strict on the weight they allow between 20-30kg luggage and 5kg for carry-on (even if my minitekker is 12kg, it looks too small to be noticed � yet). By the time I get my camera gear and camping gear I having weight problems.

 

If I had the spare cash I would buy it again, but only just.

 

Design changes-

Increase the spread of the legs by a few degrees.

Increase the length of each leg section by 5cm.

 

Rgds

Leif