Quote Originally Posted by neuroanatomist View Post
Pat, not sure if your bad flip-lock experience was with Manfrotto legs, but I've never had them slip on mine.
Your right... mine was a Vangard. I have only tried the Manfrotto in the store and it seemed to work good, but was worried about past experiences. If it worked good for you, I am sure it is fine. In fact, from what I have read, most people who have had the Manfrotto 190CXPro4 have enjoyed them and had good things to say about them.

I just made the same mistake a lot of new buyers seem to make when buying their first tripod... I trusted the ratings to much. I should have known better to. I am always telling design engineers that work for me not to believe all the spec's in catalogs or what sales people tell you. If it looks cheap, it probably is. Anyway, after the Vangard wore in a bit, I ended up with legs that slipped all the time and the ball never would hold position. The ball was also frustrating... I would pain stakingly line something up and then when I would tighten up the ball it would move it. However, that does not nessesarily mean that my experiences transfers to the Manfrotto flip locks.

My current experience with an Induro CT414 twist locks is that they are rock solid. I really like my new tripod because it is tall, solidly built, and very stiff... but it is heavy.