Manfrotto Classic Tripod & Basic Pan Tilt Head
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You can purchase kits with both a tripod and a head but the company only manufactures tripod legs and heads that are interchangeable and separate. You can purchase the type of tripod as well as head you are more comfortable with and used to so you have more choice in your equipment.
The Manfrotto 055XB Tripod is a professional quality tripod made mostly from aluminum with plastic and a few other materials for things like the leg locks. The legs have two tips you can interchange from rubber cups to the screw tip ends for use on ice or other odd surfaces.
The tripod comes with a carry strap that quickly clips onto either the loop that some of the tripods have or the additional swivel eye for tripods that have a screw hole on the tripod near the head. The other end of the strap has a loop for tossing around the three legs for an easy way to conveniently carry the tripod to and from photo shoots or in the field.
I used the tripod around my office taking my product shots as well as some field work around my neighborhood and at a wildlife refuge both on foot and biking on some trails. The Manfrotto Classic Tripod weighs about 5.3 pounds and travels pretty well using the carry strap, it is not the most comfortable strap as it does not have any padding but it works.
Carrying the tripod around was fine on foot and I had no problems having it on my back with the strap over my shoulder and head while biking along a car path. The tripod was fine in the field and I had no problems on these shorter trips but for real field work like going backpacking this tripod may be a bit too heavy.
The tips for the legs are great having the choice between the rubber cups that simply slide on each leg end or the clamp on screw tips. The screw tips are a clamp on end that has a threaded steel post that comes to a point for use on ice as well as a hard rubber stepped cap that screws up and down on the steel post.
You can use the caps for field use just like the rubber cups for a non skid tip from the rounded shape the steps of the caps provide. When you want to use the steel tips just unscrew the cap and it will go back up the leg to reveal the steel tip for a more secure and hard point. The tripod is very secure using these for odd shots like having one tripod leg on a wood log or on icy or slippery surfaces.
The tripod has three leg sections for your main height adjustments and you can use the step adjustment on the top of each leg to move the leg end out further from the center. The tripod has thee leg positions from fully out at a 90 degree angle from the center post to have the tripod sitting with all three legs right on the ground.
At this position you can either use the end of the center bar to have the head of the tripod right on the column center spot for a ground level shot. You can also use the center column for a little extra height or move the legs up to the two other positions to get a wide variety of heights without extending the leg sections.
You can of course use the leg locks and slide each leg section up and down for getting a wide variety of adjustments with the legs sections as well as the leg positions and the center column. The Manfrotto Classic Tripod can put your camera from about four to six inches above the ground to about 70 inches above the ground using the legs fully extended and the center column up.