Manfrotto290 Xtra 3-Section Aluminum Tripod with 804 3-Way Pan and Tilt Head

For me the best there is, it’s the second time I’ve bought their product and it’s a amazing quality

Great tripod for the price. I find it to be very sturdy and compact. It's compact enough that it's not a hassle to carry with me to various events. Don't be fooled, this is not a $700 tripod made out of carbon Fiber but for the price this is a sturdy tripod that is not super heavy. So far after 3 months the Tripod has worked perfectly. If I have any complaints it's that the center post does not have a hook for supporting extra weight and there is a plastic cap for the center bolt and the cap keeps popping up when I lift the Tripod out of it's bag, so I have to keep pushing it back into place 1 out of 3 times when I take this tripod out of its included carry bag..The reality is that you do get a very sturdy aluminum tripod with a bubble level and nice easy locking legs for a very low price. Personally after hours and hours of research I could find nothing better in this price range or even for 50% more, so I am very happy with the purchase. It holds my Nikon D500 DSLR with 16-80mm zoom lens perfectly and without any vibration even on 20 second exposure Astrophotography shots.

The media could not be loaded. Review of the 290 XTA 3-Way Kit:Legs:This has outstanding legs. They are very small, compact, yet they are so sturdy and can get exceptionally tall! I own several Manfrotto tripods and I have used many in the bast, and I am telling you that these are my favorite tripod legs I have ever used hands down!Head:The 3 way head is okay. Its built well and will probably last a long time, mostly metal and strong plastic. The only thing is, when you are adjusting the angles, its kinda jerky and hard to get in the right spot. Unlike my other, nice, fully metal Manfrotto tripod heads that smoothly adjust the angles. Its bearable, but I found it to me a little annoying on architectural shoots, as it was hard to get my "lines straight." Also it only has one bubble for leveling which I found made it even harder to level (vs a 2 bubble leveling system. A bubble for each plane of axes.) The plus side to the single bubble system though is that you can see it when you are in a tight situation, such as being in the corner of a room when photographing a house.Conclusion:If you are looking to buy your first tripod, buy the whole kit, its awesome and a great price! If you have a little more money, I would recommend that buy the legs on their own and then buy a tripod head of your choice to attach to them. (Its easy to do)Side note, if you want to film video with nice smooth pans, this tripod head will not do the trick. You will want to look into the Manfrotto 502 Video Head MVH502AH.I hope this helps! Thanks.

I love this Manfrotto Tripod. It was a replacement for a cheaper plastic one that was given to me, because it was so light that more than once I had concerns it would tip over with my Canon on it even in light wind.Someone I had met who was into photography had recommended the Manfrotto brand, and I decided upon this model. The Manfrotto 290 delivered exactly what I wanted, with great balance between weight and the stability that additional weight provides. The tripod is light enough to bring along on hikes, and easy to keep in the vehicle when not in use. There's enough weight to provide stability, without being too heavy itself.

290 Xtra (tripod with 2-way fluid head: MK290XTA3-2WUS)I love the smoothness of the fluid head. Our camera weighs about 1.5 lbs and doesn't put a lot of pressure on the system. I've read that heavier cameras can make the fluid head kind of gritty or such.Overall, the build quality seems good. The center column pulls out and flips over for those hanging shots if you want or need the wider base for the feet instead of collapsing them to lower the overall height.With the vertical adjustment knob, it has the issue that it now only adjusts the vertical friction but also pulls the adjustment wheel in—and adjusts the cant of the camera. This means that if you need to do a vertical adjustment while recording or streaming live, loosening the knob will slightly tilt the camera to the side like you were using a 3-way head and bumped it on that third axis.It's not a make-or-break, but I may look for a different model by Manfrotto due to the head issue. We do occasional vertical adjustments during our church services, and this most definitely WILL impact those moments. Most people watching our streams likely won't notice the details of what's happening (and it's best to make changes when the camera's not live anyway), but I'm still disappointed that the hardware will contribute slightly to a clunky transition any time that happens live.If anyone knows how to tighten something up so the locking knob doesn't change the camera tilt, I'd be grateful.The center column height adjust knob feels on the cheap. I think I heard a click earlier like something was overstressed as I tightened it down. Be careful of this knob if you buy the tripod so you don't crack anything. It doesn't seem like a fair pairing with the rest of the tripod build, as most everything seems pretty solid. I would hope the threading is a standard easily replaced just in case something does crack down the line.Overall, I'd buy again if it were for a context that's not going to require vertical shifts in live time. Horizontal is just fine since it doesn't have the lever shape cranking it over like the vertical arm does. If you need both, I'd look elsewhere for the money.I also didn't realize that it didn't have a level on it anywhere, and that's something I wish I'd noticed while flipping between all the options in my tabs. That's my fault, so I can't fault Mafrotto for that since they didn't advertise