I am looking for a tripod for travel purposes.

Anyone with the below tripods can commend your user experience?

Manfrotto Befree
Manfrotto Element Big

Which to go for?

I was shopping for a travel tripod earlier this year and I was looking at tripods around RM 500-800.

I ended up buying the Manfrotto Compact Light used for ~RM 200 haha. This is the one: https://www.manfrotto.us/compact-light-alum...ball-head-black

It's lighter than the expensive Befree carbon fibre. Max height is 4" shorter, min height 2" longer, and max load is just 1.5 kg. No hook either.

One con for most people, but a pro for me, is that it doesn't use the mounting plate. Just directly screw into the tripod mount. I like this because I seldom actually use the tripod (maybe 5% of my shots?) so having the mounting plate on my A6000 all the time doesn't make sense. It also prevents me from tilting my screen. It takes longer to screw the plate, then mount it on the tripod, rather than simply screwing the tripod directly to my camera.

Maybe it's too basic for TS (especially the max load limitation) but perhaps someone else can consider this model.

Thanks bro for your feedback. I am looking for a lightweight tripod which can hold minimum 3.5kg and above.

Seems like it's twist lock vs clip lock tripod to me, and also the plate itself. I have both twist lock (full size tripod) and clip lock (travel tripod) and from my user experience, to me I'll definitely go for twist lock with arca swiss plate option.

Operation - Prefer twist lock as it feels more natural to me to twist them. But one downside is you will not know if the legs have been properly locked. With some practice tho you will get the feel of it.

Time - Time needed to extend tripod should be more or less the same for twist lock and clip lock.

Cleaning - Twist lock since I can remove all the legs and clean them individually. For clip lock, all I can do is to spray them with water and hope for the best.

Attachment - Arca swiss type since it gives more flexibility. I use L plate for my camera so with arca swiss i can easily mount my camera on it. Not only that, if you have multiple arca swiss plate, you can still use them.

Feature - The Element seems to have more feature than the Befree. I have the Sirui version and really like it a lot. One of the best features to me is that I can remove the centre column and have the ball head attach directly to the tripod to give me more stability.

Btw, little bit out of topic, depends on where you travel and when you would like to use your tripod. If you plan to use it more in crowded area, can consider to get those super clamp, which is especially good in crowded area where you don't have the space. I have one and there are lots of shots that have been made possible with my clamp. And it is pretty light and compact compare to a tripod.

This post has been edited by Grajindo: May 29 2018, 02:28 PM

Traveling to a less crowded place, more of for scenery shoots.

Thank you very much for your breakdown.
Spot on, I wanted to know users experience on twist vs flip lock, and arca swiss plate.
Previously been using flip lock and normal quick release plate, very accustomed to this design. But I think I'll be comfortable with the other designs as well.

I guess I'll go for the Element Big. Since it's higher, can withstand twice the weight, and only weighs in 200g more.

Btw bro, what Sirui tripod model are you using? Mind sharing?

This post has been edited by Michaelbyz23: May 29 2018, 02:56 PM

Can consider Sirui T-025X or T-1205X CF version, both weight around 1kg or less only.
Much lighter than Manfrotto and more suited for travelling.

A more logical question to ask before buying the tripod is under what kind of conditions will the tripod be put through . By answering this question you will then narrow your search . Example I used to own a RM400 used benq tripod mad eof aluminium - no problem for small time studio use. However I needed to upgrade to a sturdier one which collapses into a small piece for my hiking trip to Everest Base Camp. But this one used for the hike up EBC cant be used if I was to go Iceland to shoot in harsh weather conditions . A solid heavy tripod is the only workable tripod for Iceland as you are setting up the camera/tripod in the beach with ice blocks pushed back and forth by the waves plus strong winds