Because we cover a lot of news, we often get sent a slough of press releases from companies looking to get their product out to the masses. Today I received a release from Fotopro who announced a new line of colorful tripods. Sound familiar? It should, because they look exactly like MeFoto tripods.
They also have some monopods, and these too appear to have the exact same build as MeFoto, save for a slightly different twist release leg and no compass.
Just look at them side by side. The base build is nearly identical. Sure, the head is slightly different and the legs extend one less length, but you can't deny the uncanny similarity.
I'm all for competition in the market, but man, this isn't even innovative. It seems to me to be just a grab for what is a really good-selling product on the market. I love my MeFoto tripod, and I imagine this one performs pretty similarly.
I wrote an article a year and a half ago discussing how China drastically changed the American photographic lighting industry, and this could yet be another example of that situation. What I do know is that Benro originally made the MeFoto tripods before they were spun-off as their own brand. Benro had this design for a very long time and continue to manufacture only for themselves. So it's safe to say the factory that made MeFoto is not the same one that made these Fotopro tripods. That doesn't mean the design wasn't just taken wholesale though, which appears to be the case.
And they both took their design from the Gitzo Traveler and added fancy colours.
huh, and they are the exact same price as MeFoto too, which means I would definitely buy a MeFoto tripod over this knockoff.
If you can't innovate, you need to compete on price...
Really?
could I interest you in the original tripod with this look and design?
http://www.gitzo.ca/product/72038.71837.72041.0.0/GT1542T/_/Traveler_Ser...
its a OEM product
you can buy it from
benro
mefoto
rollei
fotopro
gitzo
sirui
and many more
Mmmm.
Explain that the gitzo is SO much better quality and x10 the price?
Gitzo has its very own tripods, they are NOT one of those chinese OEM products. To my knowledge they are produced in Italy.
Yes. But they were the first with this compact and lightweight design. Their carbon fiber uses more layers and more weaves than others meaning better physical properties...
All those small CF tripods with the "twist lock" system are heavily inspira-copied from Gitzo.
I'm saying the same thing as you Mr. Mamiya but Lorenz Bee needs his facts checked...
SE China is Tripod Alley. Anybody can go and get a tripod with a similar design made with their branding on it.
China
As Lorenz Bee
already said, they didn't copy anything. Those tripods are marketed under half a dozen different names. Like Polaroid and Vivitar today, they are marketing companies that re-brand all kinds of things. It's also not new. The Fotopro tripods have been in my local camera store for at least a year.
Thing is, it's one thing to say they're marketed under different names, another to just copy something that's independently made. MeFoto is not made in a factory with other tripods of the same design that are then just rebranded. They have their own factory that they don't share with anyone.
And you know this for a fact? Have you ever been to China? The OEM industry in china is massive, it is one of the main producer of Parts. What you see here is the same OEM provider for the majority of the tripod different parts, Slight changes to the shape of certain parts. This is a normal thing in China. Get used to it and if you don't like what they are doing don't buy their crap
...And nobody has mentioned 3 legged thing? :P
I mentioned 3 Legged Thing on a previous article about these.. ;)
Not sure where they make their tripods, but Benro was making them prior to 3 Legged Thing.
3LT is a British Company :)
Both are probably being manufactured in the same plant in China. This is the danger/benefit (depending upon how you look at it) of outsourcing your manufacturing to a 3rd party who doesn't respect intellectual property laws.
I've been in China the past three years and these tripods are everywhere in local markets under so many different brands, and yes they are identical. Just go to Alibaba.com and search for travel tripod. Place an order and for the right price you can brand it yourself.
I've had many tripods over the years and have found out one important thing: it's a waste of time and money buying anything other than Gitzo. They are the most stable tripod available and worth the investment. I purchased 'L' glass very early on for my Canon cameras because I knew buying anything lesser is just a stopgap measure. I wish I exercised the same wisdom when buying tripods. I would have saved a lot of cash in the long run. And I would have had much sharper photos!
Check out the glaring similarities between these and the portable tripod by Promaster as well. All look exactly the same and offer the same warranty and features.
There are so many Chinese companies that make this same style tripod. Mike Last is correct. They are all copies of the Gitzo Traveler. In fact, a lot of the companies will say that their tripod is taken from a Gitzo design. Dolica will admit it in a heart beat.
The funny thing, The fotopro looks more like a tripod I bought from cowboy studio. For 150 you can have the same tripod as a carbon fiber version and for 95 have a aluminum option. Same style head, legs and even the monopod is the same.
It's just too funny.
Fotopro is different entity with mefoto. And they came out color version many years back and other actually copy their idea to put color up to the tripod. And it is not same as gitzo .. But their new t series look like gitzo but after I own one of it and open the internal part to view it is different design too....