Goat Feet

Tripod manufacturers up till now have generally based their products on memories - generally the memory of the mount for the Vickers or '08 Maxim machine guns. Perhaps they used to make them in the good old days. In any event they have big spikes and knobs at the ends of the legs designed to lock into the terrain and take the recoil of a wide angle lens on a DSLR. Them 24mm' s can be vicious...

Manfrotto have re-thought the idea with an eye to the wedding market. Their new MVT502AM tripod has all the features that a lightweight videographer needs to support a DSLR or small videocam, and the feet are designed for the indoors.

Look up at the top first - the fluid head is big enough for whatever the legs will support and there is a captive ball and socket leveller to let you reach equilibrium quickly once you are in place.

In the middle are twin-shanks and clip locks for fast set-up. Light and rigid - the spreader folds with the legs.

Down the bottom there are rubber-covered goat feet to grip a smooth surface without marking it. No longer do you have to panic about turning the spikes inward when you put it down on a parquet floor. You can pick it up and chase the bride and plunk it down fast when you corner her.

This is a good sign for the future - Manfrotto have sometimes over-engineered and over-weighted their pro products. Now they have realised that we want to move faster, smoother, and lighter. Now they need to get someone in the front office to invent better names for the products - names that people will remember.

I vote for " Goat Feet ".