Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-21)

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Testbench ACCESSORIES

Ataglance

●4-sectionaluminiumlegs

●159.5cmmaximumheight

●43.5cmpackedlength

●4kgratedload

● 1,460g weight

THERE’Snogettingawayfromthefactthatthebest

tripodsareexpensive,withhigh-qualitycarbon-fibre

modelscostinghundredsof pounds.Butthisweekis

allaboutsavingmoney,sowe’retakinga lookat

somethingmuchmoreaffordable.TheCullmann

Rondo460MRB8.5kitcertainlyticksa lotof the

rightboxes:it’sa goodsize,convertstoa monopod,

andcomeswitha fullyfeaturedballhead,yetonly

costsabout£70.Onpaper,it’sa bargain.

Let’sexplorewhatyougetforyourmoney.The

tripodfeaturesfour-sectionaluminiumlegswithclip-

typelockstoadjusttheirlength,andwhichcan

beindependentlysettoa choiceof three

anglesusinglargemetallic-bluelevers.One

legis distinguishedbyhavinga foam-

rubbergrip,andis removableforuseasa

monopodtogetherwiththecentre

column.Boththetripodandmonopodare

sufficientlylargetoholda cameraat eye

levelfora 6ft-tallphotographer.

Thecentrecolumnusesa simplesliding

heightadjustment,andfeaturesa hookat the

lowerendoffwhichyoucanhangyourcamerabag

forextrastability.Attheoppositeend,a reversible

screwallowsyoutoattachheadswitheither1/4in

or3/8inthreads.Theincludedballheadis

impressivelywellspecified,withanindependently

lockingpanningbaseanda separatefrictioncontrol,

whichis mostunusualat thisprice.It allowsyouto

adjustthetightnessof theballsothatit doesn’tflop

aroundwithheavierlenses.

Sowhatarethecompromises?Firstly,there’sno

shortcentrecolumnorground-levelkit,soif you

wanttoshootlowerthan43cm,youhavetoinvert

thecentrecolumnandslingyourcamerabeneath

thelegs.Thisis anawkwardwayof working,but

tolerableif yourcamerahasa tiltingscreen.The

head’sfrictionandpanningknobsarealsomuchthe

samesize,soeasytomixup,whichis a mistakeyou

don’twanttomakewitha heavylens.Finallythe

plasticleg-lockclipsdon’tinspireasmuchconfidence

in theirlong-term durability as twist-type locks.

Ve r d i c t
Inuse,theCullmannRondo460MRB8.5punches
faraboveitsweight.I wasimpressedtofindthatit
heldtheOlympusOM-DE-M1MarkIII and300mm
f/4lenswithcompleteconfidence– a combination
thatweighs1,850g.Theheadadjustsrelatively
smoothlyandlocksdownwithoutshifting,whilethe
legsareremarkablystable,evenwiththecolumn
extended.If youwanta fullyfeatured tripod kit on a
ALL PRICES ARE APPROXIMATE STREET PRICESbudget, it’s a great choice.

There’sa choiceofsixmodelsin Cullmann’sRondo

range,allofwhichsharea similardesign.They

rangefromthe89cm-tall,1,120gRondo400TRB6.5,

tothe185cm,1,650g480MRB8.5,withpricesfrom

£60to£90.Thetwotallermodels,the460Mand

480M,canbeboughtwitha three-way head as an

alternative to a ball head (right).

THE RONDO RANGE

Cullmann Rondo

460M RB8.5

AndyWestlakeassessesakeenly

pricedbutwell-featuredtripod

● £71● http://www.transcontinenta.co.uk/cullmann

Spiritlevels

Cullmannhasgonetotown

andputnofewerthanthree

bubblelevelsonthe

clamp,whichhelpsavoid

convergingverticalsor

wonkyhorizons.

Recommended

Monopod

Onelegcanberemoved

andjoinedontothecentre

columntomakea

full-heightmonopodthat

extendsto157cm.

Carrybag

A basicnylonbagis

suppliedin thebox,butits

strapis veryshortandthe

tripodbarelysqueezes

inside,soit’snot

verypractical.

Camera

clamp

Thesuppliedballandsocket

heademploysanArca

Swiss-typeclamp,makingit

compatiblewitha widerange

ofcameraplatesand

L-brackets.

Reverse-foldinglegsgivea

compact packed length