Manfrotto 055prob Tripod

yarnfly

Does anyone have experience with the Manfrotto 055prob tripod? Is this a good match for my D5100 or is there a better choice to be made? I mainly take landscape and family portraits along with some sunsets and have about 200 to spend on legs and head. Any ideas?

Moose

Howdy @yarnfly - Manfrotto has a good reputation in the tripod industry. You really can't go wrong with any of their tripods. Believe it or not, I actually shoot with a Proline tripod and find it an incredible value.

The Dolica Proline ZX series carbon fiber tripod (see here on Amazon) is light yet strong, built quite well and super affordable. This particular model comes with a very nice ball head that can secure heavy DSLR's with long telephoto lenses.

In comparing the two tripods, you're saving about 1 and 1/2 pounds by going with the Dolica Proline versus the Manfrotto.

In addition to that, carbon fiber legs absorb vibrations better than aluminum, which will help you maintain sharpness when your D5100 is mounted to the tripod.

Just my two cents! Hope that helps and happy shooting! :)

yarnfly

Moose,
Thanks so much for your reply. I did indeed look at the Dolica online but have some questions about this product. In particular, what about the height of the unit. I am roughly six foot and the ad mentioned 60 inches as the maximum extension. Wouldn't this be too short to look through the viewfinder without bending over? Also, there seems to be some quality issues with model. Have you had any similar experiences with yours?

Moose

@yarnfly - I'm 6'1" and haven't had an issue with the height. For most of my landscape shots, I tend to shoot in the 2 to 4 foot range in order to capture some foreground with a wide-angle lens. On occasion, I do shoot with it full extended and in those instances it hasn't bothered me.

As for the quality, Dolica is an "off-brand" tripod manufacturer. It doesn't have the same reputation as Manfrotto. However, my experience with it has been fantastic. It has survived snow, rain, mud, streams and general everyday abuse.

For what it's worth, Ken Rockwell has also mentioned a few times that he's shooting with the same Proline ZX series tripod.

Best of luck in your decision! :)