I spend most of my days checking through our buying guides to ensure that they offer the very best recommendations, replacing older products when new and better options come along. The other day, it was the turn of our budget tripods buying guide. The guide was a bit woolly when it came to exactly when a tripod was determined to be ‘budget’, so I decided to set a rule that to make it into the guide, any product had to have a widely available street price of under $200 / £200 / AU$400, and preferably a lot less, while still being a quality and reliable piece of kit.
During my research, I found the UK price of the Manfrotto Befree GT Pro 3-Way is just £149 at one of my trusted go-to retailers; this was well within the criteria and an astonishingly good price for such an advanced tripod. It was definitely going into the guide! It not only has a three-way head, as opposed to the cheaper ball heads that most budget tripod kits tend to have, but one with a clever folding design that makes it take up no more space than a ball head when stowed for transportation. And it features a 'Fluid Drag System' that enables smooth movements necessary for video capture, which is unheard of for a tripod from a reputable manufacturer, such as Manfrotto, at this price point. The UK deal I found is below (apologies to readers in other territories!).
The alarm bells were ringing: surely it’s too good to be true? Further research found it priced at £199 at another retailer, so under the price barrier I’d imposed, but only just. Another retailer listed it at £285 – the retail price at the time the review was penned, and a much more realistic price for a product of this calibre.
Checking US retailers, I couldn’t find it anywhere under $200, so, alas, it fails on the ‘widely available street price’ count and ultimately couldn’t claim its place in the guide, even if it is an absolute bargain at one UK retailer listing it at this price. Perhaps they were clearing stock? Perhaps it was a mistake? And perhaps it would be going up to the more realistic price tomorrow, which is no good for a guide that requires longevity, so that people can rely on it for solid buying advice.
The moral of the story? Something can be both too good to be true and also true at the same time. And when that’s the case, jump on it!
See our full Manfrotto Befree GT 3-Way review
