Refine search for Digital Cameras

  Leave a comment      Email this to a friend TrustedReviews Newsletters

An interesting offering from Manfrotto is the travelling photographers delight, the 785B Modo tripod. In simple terms of size and weight this mostly plastic tripod beats the whole line up, it is slightly under two thirds the size of the largest of our contenders and easily the lightest.

Utilising a practical but slightly primitive ball and socket pistol grip, the 785B offers good control for both stills and video work and will cope with a compact or lightweight SLR/video camera. The head has a innovative switchable photo/video mode option that locks the axis: video mode allows only panning, while the photo mode allows any angle of tilt and pan.

To allow for low angle or macro shots the 785B can be lowered by first removing the lower part of the main column then adjusting the angle of the legs by means of a nifty turnable collar that offers three positions: 23,45, and 80 degrees.

Unfortunately, this many features have to be balanced somehow, and in this case it's offset onto the legs. To offer standard camera height and the smaller folded length, the legs are constructed from five sections, rather than the more normal three. While this does work it also doubles the number of joints in each leg, which in turn has a dramatic effect on the overall stability.

For the avid traveller or sportsperson, this would be an ideal tool where size or weight was an issue. The 785B has some excellent features, but is let down by inherent instability in the legs.

Add your comment