Manfrotto 190CX3 Tripod

[Nikonoff]

Hi all, I'm looking to buy a near new Manfrotto 190CX3 tripod complete with a 488 Midi Ball head for $250 to support a Nikon D90. Any thoughts on their quality and suitability for the task.

cheers

Harry

[Cage]

The tripod is well and truly up for the job. I speak from experience as I have a 190CXPRO3.

I'm not too fussed with Manfrotto heads, I just don't feel the tolerances between clamps and plates is all that it should be, plus I also have a preference for Arca Swiss compatible heads.

But for $250.00 you can't go too far wrong as the current ask on fleabay seems to be $400.00 + for the tripod alone.

[Nikonoff]

Thanks Kev, appreciate your input.

[paulheath]

id grab it quick before "peggy" sells it too someone else Dont worry im not after it, its a dam fine tripod and a very good price

[Nikonoff]

Nice detective work Paul.

[paulheath]

lol glad you like .

[Sarge]

Very good tripod IMO, bought one last year (I think) and very happy with the build quality, weight etc., supports my 7D and 400 F/5.6 no probs and sturdy in the ocean with waves crashing down on it as I have found out.

Only thing I regret getting is the ball-head, I do not like it and find it very frustrating, but maybe that's the result of coming from a tilt-pan head. Also its way too easy to get sand in the ball joint which drives me nuts!

[strictfunctor]

Arca-Swiss compatibility is a must for future-proofing. Even Manfrotto is starting to make A-S compatible stuff. You don't have to be buying really expensive brands like Really Right Stuff or Arca-Swiss to get the interoperability advantages.

[arthurking83]

...... Also its way too easy to get sand in the ball joint which drives me nuts!

If this comment is directly referring to the ballhead balljoint .. it shouldn't be a problem.
I have one of these 488 ballheads stil sitting here with me, not being used.

I haven't touched it for a great many year now, but a few years back I had to do something about it's major weakness.
An inability to lock down tightly(enough).
Anyhow I pulled it apart to clean it up, and Manfrotto seem to use some sort of greasy compound.
A can of WD spray fixed that and now it's better(but still not good, depending on usage).

Mine did go through salt/sand and muck of all types in it's short period as my only mount platform, but when I cleaned it out none of the surface crud(as opposed to greasy stuff) got through and into the important section between ball and cup(or brace) area. That was purely the manfrotto greasy stuff in there.
I used to hose mine down with a bit of pressure from the garden hose after I noticed any muck on it.
Haven't used this support for about 6 years .. maybe more now and it's still as it was when I first got it.

I'm not a big fan of this ballhead. It's ok for short focal length usage where framing may not be critical(ie. landscapes), but in any situation where framing accuracy is critical(ie. high magnification such as macro or close in long focal length usage) the way it reframes as you lock it down is downright annoying.

The other problem I had with this ballhead, was that the panning lock design is subpar. over time the small screw that clamps itself onto the body scores the body to the point where it crates small recesses.
On some occasions when locking the panning base, you may be just off the small recess created by the screw and as you tighten the panning base moves the body so that it locates into the recess area. The result is that the frame that I carefully set up is moved by a few millimeters on the horizontal plane. Very annoying.


I know you can get better value for money ballheads from various other manufacturers.

[Nikonoff]

Thanks for all the input but missed out on this one unfortunately. Anyway onwards and upwards, I might just go brand new I think. Ideally I'd like carbon and can budget about $300 - $350 although in all honesty I'd like the best that I can get for around that money be it carbon or aluminium. Any thoughts on what to brands and models consider and more importantly what to avoid?

cheers

Harry

[arthurking83]

For just over $350 I think you could easily get yourself a Carbon Benro outfit.

That would be the something like a C2570 tripod(~$230) and a B2 ballhead($120) .. they may be just a tad over that prices and may total more like $360.
(there is a local Sydney shop that sells them in Aus, and you could possibly find them at slightly cheaper prices than those I quoted).

For most purposes, this combo would be ideal.

If you have any lenses that have tripod collar attachments, you may need to spend a few $s more on lens plates for them too tho (you haven't given any info as to your lens collection).

[Nikonoff]

Thanks Arthur, I've got the Nikon D90 twin lens kit 18~55 and 55~200, both Nikkor VR lenses. So nothing overly demanding there in terms of weight of altered Centre of Gravity.

[arthurking83]

OK .. so the tripod/head I suggested will easily cope with your gear.

Note that I have seen this combo in action(years ago) when we HAD to mount a Nikon 80-200/2.8 onto the tripod via the camera's mounting plate .. not a plate fitted to the lens.
The 80-200/2.8 is a big heavy lens .. a lot like the 70-200VR about 1.5kg and this was on a D80. Note that the D80 is a lot tougher than the specs indicate it to be(same with the D70s actually).
I'm sure that some stress was placed on the camera's lens mount, but for the few minutes we had it mounted the tripod and lil ballhead held it well.
I can tell you the 488 would have never held that combo up like the Benro ballhead did.
The Benro outfit was not mine, but another photographer's and while I rarely used the 488, I did have one at the time(still have it actually) to compare.

That was actually the day I converted to a Benro believer.

I've read many unflattering stories re Benro, and while I don't have one, those that I've seen all seemed about on par in terms of solidity as my Gitzo(which cost 3x that of a similar Benro!).
Any bad reports I read of Benro tripods, I treat with suspicion. Of the heads durability is a key factor and what may work for a short while, may not work well henceforth.
I learned that with the 488 head. worked OK for a while and then it started to droop, which got worse .... and finally to the point where in some instances it couldn't hold up a mediumly heavy lens.