The Manfrotto Factor MII tripod is a light-weight tripod designed for hobbyist and entry-level photographers who want one thing secure however budget-friendly.
The seek for the ‘good tripod’ appears to be a endless quest for photographers, and though the Manfrotto Factor MII is not good, it nonetheless ticks a number of our bins. For the worth you pay, it has many nice options and would make an excellent addition to any photographer’s arsenal, whether or not you are a newbie or knowledgeable.
Each sort of images has totally different tripod necessities, making it tough to search out one that matches everybody. The Greatest journey tripods should be extraordinarily light-weight and transportable, whereas the Greatest tripods for astrophotography are designed with stability and ease of use on the forefront of their design. However if you need some recommendation on pairing it with a digital camera we even have guides to the Greatest cameras for pictures and movies and the Greatest cameras for astrophotography.
We put the Manfrotto Factor MII to the take a look at and it appears to offer a really pleased medium because of its means to carry out effectively in all areas. There are solely a few small disadvantages, so we predict this is able to be a wonderful and reasonably priced tripod so as to add to your package.
Manfrotto Factor MII: Design
- Aluminum or carbon fiber building
- Rubber twist locks are thick, sturdy, and cozy to make use of
- No 90 diploma central column
The Manfrotto Factor MII tripod that we examined is constructed with an aluminum building and options an attention grabbing design on two of the legs, which makes this tripod stand out from the gang. On the highest part of the third leg, there is a rubber grip, making it simple and cozy to maneuver the tripod round when it is in use and even when carrying it between places. At full top, it measures 160 cm with 4 totally different leg sections, which appears to be tall sufficient for many conditions and taller than many different journey tripods on the market, though not too tall for a smaller photographer.
It options easy-to-operate rubber twist lock legs versus clips, which makes this tripod very fast and simple to arrange, notably in the event you’re utilizing it out within the chilly and are sporting gloves. It is also very streamlined and compact when folded, so you do not have to battle with any fiddly protruding clips once you’re attempting to place it again within the padded carry bag or within the facet pocket of your digital camera bag. The truth that they’re constructed from rubber additionally makes it simpler on the palms than in the event that they have been plastic, so it actually appears that Manfrotto constructed this tripod with comfortability and ease of use in thoughts from high to backside.
This tripod has been so effectively constructed and thought by that, truthfully, it was laborious to search out something we did not like about it. There’s one characteristic we might discover that this tripod does not have, nevertheless — that being the shortage of a 90-degrees rotating central column. It does not make the tripod any much less nice to make use of, however we predict that including this characteristic might make this tripod go from nice to wonderful. For us, it is not a complete dealbreaker, however we predict it could simply take this tripod to the subsequent stage.
Manfrotto Factor MII: Efficiency
- Quick & simple operation
- Sturdy but light-weight
- Capable of maintain as much as 8kg
When it got here to sensible use, this tripod carried out excellently. It is extremely simple and fast to setup and function, largely because of the twist locks and the speedy leg opening system this tripod has. It isn’t the lightest tripod within the bunch, but it surely appears to strike the proper stability between sturdy and light-weight, making it excellent for journey and climbing as a result of it is gentle sufficient to hold round with out breaking your again and secure sufficient to face up to quite a lot of situations (and so that you can really feel assured placing costly gear on it). It weighs 1.55 kg and has a payload of 8 kg, which is greater than sufficient for a heavy DSLR and a protracted zoom lens.
We examined it out with a lightweight mirrorless digital camera in very windy UK coastal situations, and it completely held its personal and did not budge… by some means! It does even have a removable hook that screws into the underside of the central column to assist weigh it down when wanted (and even simply to maintain your bag off the bottom). Having this further weight is useful once you’re capturing in sturdy winds or opposed climate, notably as extra photographers are switching to lighter mirrorless cameras now and wish all the burden they will get.
One factor we did discover is that when the legs have been totally prolonged at their widest, they did bend ever so barely within the center when weight was utilized, even when the legs have been locked. You’ll be able to overcome this by pulling the legs again in a bit or shortening the tripod in order that the thinner backside part of legs aren’t in use. However realistically, you are not going to have the tripod low to the bottom with the legs totally prolonged anyway, so we won’t see this as a serious challenge, extra one thing to be conscious of to increase the lifetime of your tripod.
Manfrotto Factor MII: Performance
- Ergonomic twist locks to maintain legs in place
- Ball head mechanism for panorama and portrait orientation
- 360-degree unbiased panning
One other helpful characteristic of this tripod is the ergonomic twist locks to maintain the legs in place, with three separate lock settings to select from. There are two locked leg positions: a reasonably normal width and a wider place, plus an all-flexible legs-in-the-air place that allows you to have the legs in no matter place you need. This setting would even be good for flipping the tripod the wrong way up so the middle column is beneath, with the digital camera tremendous low to the bottom. This characteristic is nice for versatility, as you could not wish to spend time preventing with the legs to attempt to get them even, so having a setting that does this for you is absolutely helpful. To not point out, it makes the setup even faster in the event you’ve noticed an excellent shot however haven’t got the time to stage the legs by eye.
The ball head mechanism can also be surprisingly simple to navigate as a result of spirit ranges for each panorama and portrait orientations, which eliminates the necessity for any faffing. Nevertheless, you do must be sure to stage the tripod with the spirit stage first, as as soon as the digital camera is on the tripod you’ll be able to’t really see the spirit stage as a result of it is coated by the digital camera.
One other actually cool characteristic of this tripod is its 360-degree panning means. This can be a tremendous helpful characteristic to have as a result of it is nice for each photographers and videographers alike. This makes video footage look silky clean, because it simply spins round on itself with out you having to pan the digital camera round in your palms and risking digital camera shake. This characteristic may profit photographers, as not solely might it’s good for a straightforward change of composition, however it could additionally lend itself to taking correct photographs for a panoramic picture. To not point out that it permits tripods for use in conditions the place they’d not usually be used, equivalent to sports activities motion or wildlife images. Now you can effortlessly pan the tripod head round to trace a topic whereas it is shifting, eliminating the necessity to maintain the burden of the digital camera in your palms for an prolonged time frame.
Ought to I purchase the Manfrotto Factor MII?
No matter your type of images, we predict the Manfrotto Factor MII can be an excellent, secure base for almost all of digital camera and lens combos. It is sturdy, light-weight, and has a bunch of very helpful options that make it a extremely strong tripod, each virtually and metaphorically.
With the flexibility to shoot 360-degree panning, it could even be an excellent tripod in the event you’re stepping into videography, which is one thing that not many tripods can provide. We examined the aluminum mannequin; nevertheless, there’s additionally a carbon fiber mannequin, which weighs round 1.35 kg, so in the event you’re on the lookout for one thing even lighter then this is able to undoubtedly be an excellent possibility. There’s additionally a model that comes with a cell phone clamp and a Bluetooth distant management, making this a wonderful tripod for content material creators who aren’t essentially photographers.
Additionally, for every little thing this tripod is able to, it is really actually reasonably priced. If not being able to shoot at 90 levels is not a dealbreaker for you, then we predict this tripod can be an excellent selection and would final you a very long time. With correct care, you would not want one other tripod till you have been prepared to take a position more cash in one of many dearer manufacturers.
If the Manfrotto Factor MII tripod is not for you
When you have the price range to go huge and your largest precedence is portability and small dimension, then you’ll be able to’t go fallacious with the Peak Design Journey Tripod. It is just about the identical weight because the Manfrotto Factor MII, but it’s smaller in folded size. Peak Design tripods are among the many greatest on the market, so if you wish to make investments some money right into a tripod that is going to final you a really very long time, that is undoubtedly one to contemplate.
If the Manfrotto Factor MII is not fairly tall sufficient in your images wants, try the 3 Legged Factor Punks Brian Tripod. It extends to round 188 cm, which is 28 cm taller than the Manfrotto, and it might probably fold down to simply over 40 cm, so it is not any much less transportable both. It could additionally bear as much as round 14 kg, making it higher for heavier setups. Though expensive, it is a tripod you’d maintain for a really very long time.
For one more extra reasonably priced tripod, check out the Manfrotto BeFree Superior Journey Tripod. It isn’t fairly as tall because the Factor MII, however that does imply it is also barely smaller when folded, so it might probably be a greater possibility for journey.
