Currently, my main tripod is the Slik Pro 340DX. Its fairly light, sturdy, compact and well priced. It came as a kit with legs and a three-way pan head. While the head was perfectly capable for most tasks, sometimes it could take a while to assemble from the “storage position”, where one of the handles is screwed into the other, to the “ready position”. It’s not a particuarly taxing thing to do, but I found it to be enough of a nuisance to warrant purchasing a ball head. I’ve heard many good things about the Manfrotto 486RC so I thought I’d give it a whirl.
The 486RC2 is solid, robust and oozes quality. One thing to remember while purchasing any tripod head is to note what the thread sizes are on the legs and head. I think most if not all Manfrotto tripods/heads have a 3/8″ mount while for Slik this is 1/4″. By getting an appropriate adapter (1/4″ to 3/8″ converter bush), one can reduce the 3/8″ hole in the ball head to 1/4″ to accomodate the screw on the tripod legs.
The heaviest combo I’ve put on this Manfrotto/Slik hybrid is my 40D with attached battery grip, 430EX flashgun and 100-400mm lens which comes out to a total of 2.740 kg (excluding batteries) and its pretty sturdy. The rated manufacturer’s maximum load is 5 kg and 6 kg for the legs and head respectively so you wouldn’t want to put on more than 4.5 kg of kit (factor in the weight of the ball head (0.46 kg)) . This set up is probably fine for most uses, but definately not for those super heavy, supertelephoto lenses.
This Manfrotto/Slik hybrid is rather compact and will fit in most rucksacks (60 L and above), some larger daypacks (ca. 30 L, depending on shape) and most suitcases making this an ideal travel tripod. The whole thing measures 49 x 9-11 cm and weighs less than 1.5 kg.
Tags: ball head, manfrotto, photography kit, tripod
[...] previously reviewed the Manfrotto 486RC2 ball head here which sits on my Slik Pro 340DX. Since getting my fancy Gitzo tripod legs as reviewed here back in [...]
[...] with my Canon G11, but I wouldn’t trust it with my 40D, so I’ve swapped it out for my Manfrotto 486RC2. The whole thing weighs around 1kg with a maximum carrying capacity of around 2kg, fine for a [...]
I don’t think so when taking macro photgraphy. I mounted D300S attached with battery grip and 105mm F/2.8G Nikkor Micro lens with extension tubes 12mm,20mm & 36mm on the 486RC2 connected to Manfrotto 190 World Champion Limited Edition. After composing the picture, before taking the shot, I looked through viewfinder, the lens had shifted downways. This is especially so when taking macro in portraiture mode. My subject turns out blur. Hence I try to position the lens slightly upwards and before I press cable release, the subject position has shifted to where I want, then I press the cable release after viewing through viewfinder.
Perhaps the weight distribution of your combo is a bit off? I.e. Most of the weight is at the end of the lens rather than centred at the top of the ball head? Portrait mode is a bit on the iffy side however.
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