Photo Plus - USA (2019-07)

The Canon Magazine 107

TRAVEL TRIPODS

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL Aluminium

ALTERNATIVE MATERIAL Carbon, 1.4kg,

£149/$217

WEIGHT 1.62kg

FOLDED HEIGHT 42cm

MAX, MIN OPERATING HEIGHT

165cm, 41cm

MAX MONOPOD HEIGHT 141/171cm

HEAD ADJUSTMENTS Lock, pan

BALL HEAD Manfrotto Element

QUICK-RELEASE PLATE Arca-Swiss type

LOAD RATING 8kg

SPECIFICATIONS

MANFROTTO ELEMENT

TRAVELLER BIG £100/$149

There’s a number of ‘elements’ up for grabs

in this rather extensive Manfrotto range

anfrotto’s Element

series of travel tripods

has something for

everyone. There are

plenty of sizes to choose from,

each with aluminium kits in

black, grey, red and blue, as

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The ‘big’ aluminium option on

test is compact with a 42cm

folded height and 1.62kg

weight, while having a 8kg load

rating. The max heights of the

tripod and monopod

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too, at 165cm and 171cm.

As you’d expect, the ‘small’

edition is somewhat... smaller.

This aluminium version weighs

1.15kg and has only 50 per cent

of the load rating, at 4kg. It

folds down to 32cm but, despite

having a telescopic two-section

centre column that’s not

featured in the ‘big’ edition, the

max operating height is only

143c m. T he sma l ler ver sion a lso

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Despite being inexpensive,

the Element Traveller Big isn’t

lacking in features, while build

quality remains impressive. The

lack of a telescopic centre

column in the larger edition

pays dividends when it comes to

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works well and the spring-

loaded leg angle locks are

simple and speedy in use.

Performance

In our tests, this tripod proved

as rigid and resistant to

vibrations as Manfrotto’s Befree

2N1. That’s despite reaching a

greater operating height and

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four-section legs. At half the

price (in the UK at least) the

Element is the better buy.

FEATURES

VERDICT

01

The ball head has a

Arca-Swiss plate,

independent

panning lock.

02

Despite offering

smooth movement

and locking, the ball

head has no friction

damper.

03

The centre column

has a single-section

design.

04

In monopod config,

maximum height is

generous at 171cm.

05

Three leg angles are

available, via a

spring-loaded

locking mechanism.

FEATURES

BUILD & HANDLING

PERFORMANCE

VALUE

OVERALL

01

03

M

time-honoured tradition for

carrying a tripod is to strap it to

the outside of your photo bag.

It’s a neat solution but can be awkward

if the tripod catches on obstacles when

you’re in confined spaces, and you

might fall foul of carry-on restrictions

when flying. Some of the latest designs

are so small that you can fit them inside

a bag, neatly solving the problem.

When folded, the outright shortest

tripods in this test group are the Benro

Slim Travel and Sirui T-005, which

measure a mere 32cm. The Vanguard

VEO 2 GO is only a single centimetre

larger and the Benro iFoto 19AIB0

comes in at 35cm. The largest tripods

in the group are the Kenro Ultimate

Travel and Novo Explora T5, at 48cm

and 47cm respectively.

IT’S IN THE BAG

Some of the latest tripods are particularly travel-friendly

A

Here’s what the difference in folded size looks like,

between the smallest and largest tripods in the group

02

04

05