Manfrotto 190XPROB Tripod with 804RC2 Head

I first bought this tripod two years ago, primarily for landscape and architectural photography. I've always been very caring of my gear and this is no exception, so over the two years it's treated me pretty well.

Firstly the positives, the adjustability of the legs and inclusion of a spirit level on both the legs and head make it very easy to level regardless of the terrain, which is great for architecture where straight lines are important. While the horizontal centre column was a big selling point for me initially over the regular 190 I found myself rarely using it, it's best suited to macro and reproduction work as with low-angle landscapes I found the tripod much sturdier when lowered appropriately rather than using the horizontal centre column feature. It's worth pointing out here that to make the most of these legs for low angle work you'd need a ball head rather than the included 804RC2 panhead, as it only tilts back a limited way.

Now the bad points. I've found it consistently slightly flexy and unsteady in windy situations or when using it at full height. It's also quite heavy for what it is, and can be a bit of pain when carrying it around all day. The main peeve for me though in long term use has been the clamp on the centre column. The nut and bolt used for this are of limited depth (the design could allow for much greater thread contact) and worst of all seem to stainless steel! Thanks to that I've found the threads to strip in the centre column TWICE since I've owned it, and I don't even use my tripod that often and certainly never over-tighten bolts. Manfrotto servicing seems to be up to scratch though, and they replaced the parts both times free of charge. Saying that, it's still inconvenient and expensive having to post the tripod off for repair for weeks at a time.

Overall I guess it's not bad, although I'd certainly expect better performance and quality at this price.