I was looking at buying a 3021BPRO soon and discovered that they are being replaced by the 055XPROB. Has anyone used the new one? Any major differences, or should I maybe try and get a 3021 at a good outgoing price?
have you gone to the bogen site and seen what the differences are to at least start to see the differences. there are more then just subtle differences. in my opinion a cleaner desighn over all in the newer product. http://x.manfrotto.com/
I have the 055PROB and as far as I can tell the X just makes it easier to adjust the center column from horizontal to vertical. I have been very happy with the 055PROB paired with a 486RC2 ballhead. It's not the steadiest thing in the world but it's damn good. It is a bit heavy, but the horizontal center column for low down and overhead shooting, and the speed of extending the legs make up for it imho.
Yes, I had visited the site and compared the specs. The new design did have some height benefits, weight was about the same, and the center column had some nice improvements. I was looking for more of a user experience, which firewireguy provided.
firewireguy wrote:
It's not the steadiest thing in the world but it's damn good.
I'd have to agree with this sentiment regarding this tripod. Its legs and spider are not a stiff as my carbon tripod even though they both have the same weight rating and as a result, it is somewhat more prone to twisting. That is to say that there are some tripods that a significantly more stable. But in practical use, it has been pretty good. I've only had a handful of pictures ever where this tripod didn't meet the challenge. In this case I was using a 300mm lens in very windy conditions, so its really pushing the limits. Normally, I've had no problems with the 300.
There was one thing I was curious about. The XDB model is shown as being 1/2 pound less than the XB model. I can see only two differences. The XB has flip locks and foam padding on two legs. The XDB has external screw locks and no foam padding. Is there really 1/2 pound of foam on the legs?
I've thought about cutting the foam off the legs on my Velbon CF tripod to shave a bit more weight. I've noticed that Gitzo doesn't use a foam cover on their CF legs and have wondered what the weight difference would be. The foam is certainly nice when you've got to move the tripod in the cold, but if I could drop another 1/2 pound from my hiking tripod, I'd be pretty happy. CF is alot kinder on the hands than aluminum.
sjms wrote:
generally if you choose correctly you can't go wrong with manfrotto. i used to own a 3012Pro and a 055MF3
"It's not the steadiest thing in the world but it's damn good."
that's sort of contradictory
Not really. You can get sturdier legs I'm sure, but I expect you'll have to pay a lot more. You'll also need to be using very long focal lengths to find their limits.
thats the relativity of the situation. you must take the product on its own merits and in a similar price point and operational parameters. its like saying "yeah its alright but if you spend another $450 you can get a better one. and yes i would dearly hope so.
overall it is an improvement on the 3021Pro in features but the weight is about the same.
