The Manfrotto 709B
Just got this little tripod for Christmas, and it sure is nice. I've dealt with travel and table top tripods before, but due to their inability to properly hold anything heavier than a point and shoot, I have always left them at home.
The Manfrotto 709B is all metal and gets great reviews, so I decided to give it a chance and keep in my bag to supplement a full size tripod while traveling. Sometimes I go out at night with a small camera set up, but pass on shots of the city because I don't have a good support device handy. While shooting film, I don't have the luxury of bumping up the ISO on the fly.
Most of my cameras have Really Right Stuff quick release plates attached, but they all have the threaded accessory mounting socket underneath. With this, I can screw this tripod into the bottom of the plate without removing it from the camera.
SPECS:
Working Height (non-adjustable) - 4.3"
Folded Length - 7.9"
Load Capacity - 2,041g
Weight - 181.4g
Folds up tight to slide into the depths of your bag (or pocket)
BOTTOM LINE:
This tripod is well made and supports my Nikon F5 with 50mm 1.8 lens just fine. All metal construction and very low working height really does the trick to keep your gear stable. The addition of the cork bumpers on the bottoms of the feet are a welcome addition. I will keep an eye on these as time goes on to make sure they don't get knocked off, but they appear to be on securely. The ball head works well and the operation is very smooth, but with no sealing, some cleaning will be required once and a while. This is not uncommon to table tops though. The head works much like the Really Right Stuff BH-25 where the ball release also operates the swivel part of the head. This small addition is nice as it allows you to re-position the release knob so that it's out of the way.
I would definitely recommend this support for anyone looking to take a pro SLR set up out on the town and leave the large tripod in the hotel room. Seen below holding one of my Veneer Nikon FE's.
