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Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 Carbon Fibre Tripod with 701HDV Head and Opticron ES80GAED Scope by gillean55

Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 Carbon Fibre Tripod with 701HDV Head and Opticron ES80GAED Scope.

COMMENTS ON TRIPOD AND HEAD

Full specifications and comprehensive reviews for this Manfrotto tripod and head can no doubt be found elsewhere on the internet. These are merely a few notes based on my experience of using this kit for digiscoping with my Opticron ES80GAED scope and Nikon Coolpix P5100 camera over the past four months or so (ie since 11 February 13).

The only tripod I've used before for digiscoping is the relatively cheap Velbon Sherpa 750R (which comes with the PH-157Q head), and so this is my only point of comparison.

(Note: all the photos referred to here are arranged sequentially in my Flickr Digiscoping Equipment Set. Links will be added later!)

WEIGHT AND DIMENSIONS

The two essential requirements for my new tripod and head were that the combined unit had to be no heavier than my old Velbon Sherpa 750R and that it should still fit into my rucksack (Vango Trail 45) along with the rest of my digiscoping kit.

The 190CXPRO4 tripod weighs in at 1.34kg and the 701HDV head at 0.77kg, giving a total weight of 2.11kg, which is about 0.1kg less that the 750R.

However, after a few outings I realised that the pan handle was not serving any useful purpose for digiscoping, and wasn't that helpful for videoscoping either (see later). So in order to save about 90g in weight, and eliminate the need to repeatedly loosen/tighten the pan handle assembly whenever packing/unpacking the unit from my rucksack, I decided to dispense with it, thereby reducing the load to about 2kg.

The combined length of tripod (with legs closed) and head is about 60 cm. Although this is about 4cm longer than the Velbon, it still comfortably fits into my rucksack, and so both criteria are satisfied.

MANFROTTO 190CXPRO4 TRIPOD

The main problem I experienced with the Velbon tripod was the flimsy leg-locks which were prone to shearing. The locks on the Manfrotto are considerably more substantial, and so should prove to be more reliable - I've certainly not encountered any problems to date. If the worst were to happen, replacement locks can be bought for a tolerable price from manfrottospares.com (currently £6.30 each excluding VAT and P&P), and presumably can be DIY fitted. It's also worth noting that a small plastic tool is provided which allows the tension of the leg-lock springs to be adjusted. I've found this quite useful in the field, and as it weighs just a few grams, it's certainly worth carrying around.

My other relatively minor bugbear with the Velbon was the rubber feet which were frequently left behind in muddy terrain. Although the Manfrotto feet are more securely fitted, I still managed to lose one a few weeks ago in a muddy field! A set of three replacements cost me £12.60 from manfrottospares.com (including VAT and the cheapest P&P option).

There are, however, two fundamental design features of the Manfrotto tripod that I'm not particularly happy with. Firstly, although the legs can be set at four different angles, in reality only the most acute angle is usable when in a standing position (unless the centre column is extended, which rather defeats the object) - and this angle is noticeably sharper than on the Velbon, which makes the tripod feel less stable. There's a hook near the top of the tripod to allow a weight to be suspended to increase stability under windy conditions. I gave this a go using a carrier bag holding a boulder weighing about 5kg, but there was no discernible improvement. Whenever possible though, I do my digiscoping from a kneeling position, which allows me to use either the second or third leg settings, which greatly improves stability; hence in practice, this design feature is not generally a problem for me.

Secondly, unlike the Velbon, the centre column cannot be split, and the lowest practical position that can readily be achieved for digiscoping is about 38cm, as opposed to 16cm on the Velbon. Although it's possible to reduce the height further by rotating the tripod centre column horizontally (see photo) this involves a lot of fiddling about with both the scope and tripod and I don't think it's something I'd be happy to do in the field. A simpler option - where possible - would be to keep the centre column vertical and just dig a hole underneath it! (Incidentally, I found Manfrotto's instruction on how to return the centre column from the horizontal to the vertical position unfathomable, and I ended up just reversing the original procedure - which apparently you're not supposed to do for health and safety reasons!)

The only other quibble I have with the tripod is that the housing for the bubble-level can at times interfere with the rotation of the pan lock. This can easily be overcome by pulling the lock outwards, but it's still an irritation - especially as it's redundant when used in conjunction with the 701HDV head, as this is provided with its own bubble-level.

Despite the above negatives, overall I'm happy enough with the 190CXPRO4.

MANFROTTO 701HDV TRIPOD HEAD

An important design feature of the 701HDV tripod head is the slider, which allows the position of the 501PL quick release plate to be varied in order to balance the load - within limits. The QRP is provided with a spring-loaded anti-rotation pin (see photo) which fits into a hole in the body of the scope. If this feature is employed then the scope is fixed at the forward end of the QRP, but if the pin is not fixed in the hole, the scope can be moved backwards by several cm.

Fortunately, in the case of the ES80GAED scope (fitted with 20-60x zoom eyepiece), use of the anti-rotation pin allows the scope to be balanced both with and without the P5100 camera fitted (see photos).

The advantage of a balanced set-up is that there's generally no need to apply the pan or tilt locks, which makes it much easier to track and photograph moving objects. Also, even if an object is stationary, applying a lock can affect the framing of the shot, especially at high magnification. This used to be a particular problem with the Velbon tripod, which made shooting high magnification videos a very tedious - and at times impossible - process. It can be seen from the 701HDV test video that framing such shots is now considerably easier.

The only major problem I've encountered with the 701HDV head is that the QRP balance position varies with the angle of tilt of the scope, ie the load must be moved forwards if the scope is tilted upwards, and backwards if the scope is tilted downwards. Although there's a fair degree of tolerance, I've sometimes found it easier just to use the tilt lock, rather than trying to find the new balance point after tilting the scope.

Another - but lesser - problem is that the pan and tilt locks tend to be either on or off, and so it's difficult to incrementally increase the drag, which would be useful in certain circumstance - eg for video tracking shots. In fact I've not found the 701HDV to be much of an improvement over the Velbon in this application. However, as videos are of secondary importance to me, I can live with this.

The only other point worth noting, is that I initially encountered some difficulty in loading and unloading the scope from the slider, but these problems were easily overcome (see the latch photos and associated text).

Overall I've been very impressed with 701HDV, and it's certainly made the black art of digiscoping a heck of a lot easier!

13 June 13

URBEX by xX-SMK-Xx

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Travel Gear by Shawn Gibson

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So, I'm heading off to the Far East for a couple of months. This is my essential travel photographer gear. I'll be using 'Photogene' for basic editing on the iPad and 'Flickstackr' for uploading on the move. Watch this space!

Thanks to Paul for inspiration here. www.flickr.com/photos/pmalsop/4868426420/in/photostream

check-out the notes for more details

Nice combination Benro and Manfrotto / compatibility by Karel Julien Cole

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BENRO TMS07A Macro tripod

MANFROTTO 492 Micro Ball Head

Closed 38cm

Working height 0cm-70cm

Together 830 gr

50mm Macro on Bellows FL T1i setup by Harry Pulley

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Canon 50mm f/3.5 SSC macro on Bellows FL to FD to EF converter to Canon EOS Rebel T1i on Manfrotto tripod and ball-head.

by Gruppo Manfrotto

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www.manfrotto.com

www.manfrottoschoolofxcellence.com

www.joemcnally.com

Manfrotto by vibedkdk

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Manfrotto

Macro Mondays_It’s All About the Shadow 011 by VinceFL

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Reverse Shadows; Abstract Shadow Urchins :-)

Manfrotto by jungene

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The Gear of Nanie

20110616_9268_panorama with manfrotto 303plus by Borut Peterlin

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Žužemberk, Slovenia

done with Nikon D3 and manfrotto 303plus

I've done a video log about ther picture on my blog:

wp.me/p1EuY-1pV

Row row row your boat, gently down the... canal by Tom Van Herreweghe

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The shot:

3 Exposures HDR (-2,0,+2 EV), Nikkor 18-70, ISO 200, F3.5, Manfrotto tripod

Photomatix

Tonemapped using the detail enhancer.

Gimp:

- Bumped up contrast a bit

- Unsharp mask

- GREYCstoration for noise reduction

Background:

When I first walked around in Amsterdam, I was excited about the canals. So the first canal I encountered, I set up the tripod and snapped away. Then when I was satisfied, I would pack up the tripod again, and walk off to the next point of view. There the exact same sequence would happen again.

So in an hour, I must have advanced about 500m. Now when I'm back home, I look at all of those shots. And they all look exact the same. Canal in the center; some boats; some bicycles; a bit of trees; with a topping of sky.

That's why I need to go back to Amsterdam. To take pictures of everything else.

Made it to explore #477

Manfrotto 561BHDV Monopod Review by Dave Dugdale

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Watch the video here:

www.learningdslrvideo.com/manfrotto-561bhdv-1-review/ Feel free to use this photo just link to my learningdslrvideo.com site.

Manfrotto versus Éléments | Manfrotto vs. Elements by Édouard Puginier

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▌ À voir en grand ici ! • Please view it large here!

▌ Vous pouvez me suivre sur Twitter • You can follow-me on Twitter • @Tazintosh

▌ Retrouvez cette image sur mon blog • This picture is also visible on my blog

The setup by fotosanook

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5D mark I

ISO 100

F 11

S 100

AB1600 with Vegabond II

Beauty dish white with sock 22 inch with Manfrotto 024b mounted on 1004bac over head to the left

580ex II x 2 right and left attached to RadioPopper PX receiver, full power 1

RadioPopper PX transceiver on 580ex II

RadioPopper JRX attached to AB1600

Sekonic L758DR metered compensated -0.7 adjusted

Location Thailand Park called train garden

Thank you to her Kik

Setup for Pierre Stealing Julie's Bike by Tom Miles

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Setup shot for Pierre stealing Julie's Bike. The notes should explain everything really, and for another angle, look here.

Blog: www.photosmudger.com/

www.tmphoto.co.uk/

selfie setup by Yasin Öztürk

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3x aurora flashlights

beauty dish with barndoors front left

walimex fresnel behind right

barndoor with honey come grid for the background

the bike helmet on the projector screen for measuring purpose

Gorillapod SLR Zoom & Manfrotto 484RC2 [explored] by Volker Stevens

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My Gorillapod SLR Zoom with Manfrotto 484RC2 ball head attached. Like it very much.

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Mein Gorillapod SLR Zoom mit Manfrotto 484RC2 Kugelkopf. Optimale Kombination, macht Spaß!

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Explored on Jul 13, 2007 #163

Befree one｜Manfrotto by 里卡豆 Ricardo

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FaceBook｜Blogger ｜Instagram ｜500PX

You can licence images through My Getty image

Photo by Olympus E-PL7 + Panasonic Leica DG 15mm f/1.7

volkswagen #vw #golf golf7 #golfr #golf7r... by Daniel Böswald

#volkswagen #vw #golf golf7 #golfr #golf7r #graz #manfrotto #photoshop #instacar #instacars #instagood #car #carporn #auto #carsofinstagram #picoftheday #photooftheday #SnabshodPhotography #automotive #danielboeswald #snabshod #automobil #transportation #vehicle #ingolstadt www.snabshod.com - www.fb.com/snabshod & @lightartkw

94 Likes on Instagram

3 Comments on Instagram:

jerne_app: follow us and see what the jərnē app is all about

duvalvolkswagen: wow!

amarietibbs: Cool!

Manfrotto Ball Head 488 and Induro Set by panchev1

Manfrotto Ball Head 488 and Induro Set

Manfrotto Photo Shoot 1 by Jonathan Goddard

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Shot on a Pentax K-1 with the Pentax D-FA 24-70mm f/2.8 DC WR at Manfrotto's UK headquarters during a Manfrotto Brand Champions training day.

Make-up by Sarah at The London Body Painting Co., model Abbie Latham.

Manfrotto Pocket Led ML-360 by Victor van Dijk

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Strobist info:

Left image:

- 430EX with pringles gridspot from above, slightly behind subject

- 430EX with pringles gridspot from left

- reflector right of subject

- Cybersync triggers

Right image:

- 430EX with pringles gridspot from above, slightly behind subject

- Cybersync triggers

24x24 Ezybox w/Optional Diffuser panel by Brian

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I am using Manfrotto Magic Arms to to hold my Ezybox Diffusers. The Magic Arm can adjust to literally any angle. Upwards, downwards, sideways, you name it! This Ezybox has one of three different front diffuser covers. The covers attach with velcro strips on the edge of the black fabric. The three covers retail for about $74 and are sold as a set.... pretty expensive! Without the optional diffuser cover, the Ezybox has an all-white face along with the small visible black side-panels to block escaping light.

Our fist giveaway Friday (07/29/11)! Get manfrotto ball tripod head! by Alex Koloskov

After revising our equipment, I found that we have some photography gear that I don’t really need anymore. Instead of selling the gear on eBay, I’ve decided to run a weekly giveaway for my blog readers. The giveaways will be running every week from Friday to Friday, until we run out of supplies:-).

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