MANFROTTO BEFREE £140/$180

Manfrotto’s Befree travel tripod is now available in a range of colour options, but it’s rather basic in its functionality

The original aluminium and carbon fibre versions of this tripod come in a timehonoured black finish. Manfrotto has now launched a range of grey, red, blue and green colour options for the aluminium edition, our review sample being the grey one.

With a folded length of 41cm and a weight of 1.5kg, the Manfrotto is one of the smaller and lighter tripods on test. With a minimalist four leg sections, compared with some of the other small-scale tripods in the group, it only manages to reach a maximum operating height of 144cm – the shortest of any tripod on test. The maximum load rating is also lower than in almost all the other tripods and heads, at 4kg.

Unlike most competitors, the Manfrotto uses clip rather than twist locks, of which there are nine in total. It’s one of the only two tripods not to have an Arca-swiss compatible quick-release plate in its head, the other being the Velbon. The Manfrotto head is also quite basic, with a single adjustment knob and no panning lock/release or variable friction damper. There are no spirit or bubble levels, no retractable spikes in the feet, and only two lockable leg angles to choose from.

Performance

An upside of the relatively basic design is that the Manfrotto is quick and easy to set up, and to fold down again after use. Even so, the clip-style clamps are a bit more time-consuming than the twist clamps used in most competing travel tripods. Rigidity isn’t as good as in the heavier tripods on test, especially when the lowest, thinnest leg sections are extended.