Sturdy tripods that will last you a lifetime

When amateur and professional photographers talk tripods, there’s usually one brand that gets all the limelight: Manfrotto. The Italian brand has been in business since the 60’s, and has been servicing the needs of photography buffs around the world. Their products are beyond reproach – in fact, we still use a Manfrotto tripod that was bought back in the 80’s which has survived numerous falls and is coincidentally, an Ondoy survivor. That’s the kind of quality that you’d expect from an established brand like Manfrotto, and tonight they unveiled two new products – the BeFree Compact and 190 Series of tripods – through their distributor ThinkDharma, a subsidiary of the Tao group of companies.

The BeFree compact tripod does exactly what it says – it’s a compact tripod that you can take anywhere you want it to go. In the fully closed position, the BeFree compact tripod is only 40cm long. The BeFree is easy to manipulate as well, and only takes seconds to setup from its fully closed position.

It’s amazingly light too, and only weighs in at a paltry 1.4 kilograms. But even though its small and compact, it still retains the quality craftsmanship that Manfrotto is known for. Its maximum payload is 4 kilograms, and will stay nice and rigid even with the heaviest zoom lenses.

For more serious photographers, Manfrotto also unveiled the 190 Series of tripods. The 190 Series is the tripod to get if you’re looking for a photographer’s tool that you can depend on. Like the BeFree, the 190 Series of tripods are easy to setup – you can even do it one handed if you’re so inclined.

The 190 Series also allows you to unleash your creative side when it comes to different shooting angles, as the center column can swing to the horizontal position, opening up more shooting angles for you. The 190 Series of tripods also has the ability to take on LED lights and other accessories via the Easy Link attachment system near the top casting, opening up even more shooting possibilities for the photographer. The 190 Series of tripods comes in either 3 or 4 sections. You can also choose between the aluminum variant or the lighter and tougher carbon fiber variant.

Of course, quality doesn’t come cheap. The BeFree Compact tripod retails for Php 11,590. The 3 section, aluminum version of the 190 Series is Php 11,890, while the 4 section version is Php 13,890. The carbon fiber version of the 3 section 190 Series is priced at Php 24,290, while the 4 section version is priced at Php 24,390.