A few weeks back I reviewed the PGYTECH MantisPodZ in comparison to GoPro’s similar offering and decided that it was a) a better tripod and b) better value for money than the GoPro unit.
Today I received the MantisPodZ’s bigger brother, the MantisPod Pro. So what is different and how does it shape up?
The MantisPod Pro is more like a traditional tripod; for example, it doesn’t have the extending arm (which tends to make both the Z version and the GoPro model unstable in my experience).
It does have a ball mount on the head though, allowing flexible movement around 360°, allied with a small dovetail cold shoe mount with a standard thread on it.
The leg system is quite ingenious, allowing no less than 7 different modes from elevated to lowered, vertical shooting to literally hanging off fences or other objects due to an ingenious “foot” built into one of the legs, plus a vlogging mode and more.
One feature did have me stumped for a period; on the front of one of the legs was a rubber cover, that when popped open, revealed a single button saying “Press”. Shades of Alice in Wonderland.
A bit of investigation thought showed cleverly, the head can come off, be reset into the leg and you then get an extended mode for further vlogging options or as a selfie stick.
The MantisPod Pro is strong enough to take a medium weight mirrorless such as my Fujifilm X-S10 without issue, and also suitable for mounting GoPros or DJI OSMO Action Cameras. Maximum weight support is stated to be 2.5Kg.
If you only own a smartphone, inside one of the legs is a snap out phone holder that can screw onto the cold shoe, but only in the landscape mode as far as I could tell.
I must admit, exploring all the ways you can use the PGYTECH MantisPod Pro is actually quite entertaining as you need to discover all the different buttons that need to be pressed and levers to open and close.
On the packaging it does come with thumbnail diagrams showing each mode; I am not a huge fan of this method though as regular readers will know, much preferring a proper manual.
Pricing around the traps (in Australia) seems to be a bit varied at the moment. Harvey Norman has it for AUD$229, Camzilla for AUD$199 and VideoGuys for AUD$149 so I’d be shopping around.
If you need more information, you can get it at the PGYTECH website.