Manfrotto Befree Advanced Test Results

The Befree Advanced is Manfrotto’s second version of its immensely popular compact travel tripod.  With the advent of mirrorless systems, light cheap tripods seem to be in vogue.  The Befree has good build quality for the price, and is reasonably small and light.  The price paid is in stiffness. The aluminum leg sections are narrow and thus prone to flexing.

Note that the Befree Advanced includes a head which is not represented in any of the specs below aside from the price.  The review for the included head can be found here.

NameManfrotto BeFree Advanced
ClassTravel
Yaw Stiffness184 +/- 1 Nm/rad
Yaw Damping0.196 +/- 0.02 Js/rad
Pitch Stiffness618 +/- 1 Nm/rad
Pitch Damping0.426 +/- 0.043 Js/rad
Retail Price$190
Weight2.56 lbs (1.162 kgs)
Manufacturer weight rating26.5 lbs
Maximum Height46.1 in (117.1 cm)
Minimum Height16.1 in (40.9 cm)
Max Height with Center Column55.1 in (140.0 cm)
Center ColumnYes
Base Diameter1.5 in (3.8 cm)
Folded Length17.2 in (43.7 cm)
Folded Circumference10.0 in (25.4 cm)
Folded Volume137.0 cu. in. (2.2 liters)
Leg MaterialAluminum
Leg Sections4
Primary Leg Angle20.5 deg
Leg LocksTwist
Top Tube Diameter17.5 mm
Second Tube Diameter14.0 mm
Third Tube Diameter10.6 mm
Fourth Tube Diameter6.9 mm
Exchangeable FeetNo
Foot TypeRubber
Bottom HookNo

The stiffness and damping data are the averages of 10 trials for each measurement.  The reported error is the standard error, except in the case of the damping data. I have set the error in the damping at 10% as the standard error metric does not appropriately capture the error in fitting to the data.  All of the reported specifications are measured, with the exception of the weight rating. The tripod is measured at full height, with the center column down.

 

Example data for oscillations about the vertical axis of the tripod:

Example data for oscillations about the radial axis of the tripod:

Very clean data.  No doubts at all about the proper resonance of the tripod.  Poor Stiffness though.