Manfrotto 190XPROB 3 Section Aluminum Pro Tripod: Customer Reviews & Product Details

For a high end name and the price of a decent tripod I am dissapointed in the quality. After alot of research on line and reading reveiws on various models and brands, I decided to go with the 190prob. Before I purchased it I decided to take a long drive and look at one. I was very dissapointed in the strength. The legs are tiny round tubes which do not open smoothly and feel like they will fold. When set up, the smallest tap on a leg caused the whole thing to vibrate. The weight is fine, but with reason, there is no meat.

I use a canon 40D with various lenses up to 1600mm. This tripod will not hold the 1600mm and camera still enough to use. It would be fine with a 300mm lens if you do not walk anywhere near and use a remote shutter. If you set the shutter manually, you will most likely have blur.

I first started with a no name $60 tripod with built in head. I lost a lens because the tripod fell over. The lens was a 28mm-135mm. At $145 without the head, I do not see this model to be much stronger. The only advantage is the hardware is better, but the hardware is not where the streangth is.

With a high end name like Manfrotto I should see the quality of a high end tripod. I ended up going with a Vanguard Elite carbon fiber which was taller (up to 74") and much stronger, for about the same price.

My recomentation is: if you are looking at this tripod, go touch one first. You'll most likely change your mind. I would have been very upset to get this in the mail.

Before buying this tripod I had a cheep no-name brand tripod and I used to spend minutes setting the thing up and never could get it quite level. I am able to get the bogen set up extremely fast. I am very pleased with my purchase. Yes I would rather have a carbon-fiber version but this thing is relatively lightweight and its design is great. I use it with the Bogen 496rc2 head (ball head) and it works great with all of my lenses. If you can afford carbon fiber go for it, but if not get this one.

The Manfrotto 190xpro is a very well-made and attractive tripod. It weights about 4 Lb, with a folded length of approximately 23 inches. It is quite stable for DSLR cameras with zoom or telephoto lenses less than 300mm. It is not a light-weight tripod one would carry to hike in the wildness. But one can easily carry to the field, particularly with a carrying case.

This is a good lightweight aluminum tripod that is well designed and performs flawlessly. It is easy and quick to deploy and all the choices for adjustment are amazing. Make sure you weight it if you use the horizontal extension feature as it can become quite tippy. I use the ball trigger grip with it and the combo is amazing. I shot a night wedding with it and every shot was razor sharp because I could adjust it quickly to stay with the action. HIghly recommended.

I never thought I would use a tripod as much as I do, but it's made a world of difference in the quality of my images.

The unit is sturdy, easy to use, and the weight is manageable. I walked around NYC all day with this in my backpack, so I know.

Bottom line, if you aren't using a tripod, you should be.