Once and for all, a poll on tripod FLIP or TWIST locks!

Do you prefer flip locks or twist locks on tripod legs?

  • Flip Locks

    Votes: 22 43.1%
  • Twist Locks

    Votes: 29 56.9%

  • Total voters
    51
Jul 21, 2010
31,096
12,857
Started with flips on a Manfrotto 190CXPRO4 tripod and 694CX monopod. Switched to twists when I moved to RRS. I far prefer twists – faster to open, can be loosened only slightly to gently lower a load (very useful with a big white on a monopod), easier to disassemble and clean after using in sand/salt/mud/etc.


unfocused said:
I'm in the minority, but I find flip locks much easier to handle, especially in the cold.

I find twist locks much easier to handle in the cold, too. However, extreme cold does have a benefit when using flip locks...well, not the cold per se, but the fact that cold usually means wearing gloves, and gloves mean less damage to your finger when you pinch it in a flip lock. :p
 
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RunAndGun

CR Pro
Dec 16, 2011
497
187
Flip. I'm in the TV/Production world, not stills. I shoot on Sachtler Speedlock and Speedlock HD CF legs. Twist-locks are the work of the devil. There's not a set of twist-lock sticks in the world that can be adjusted faster than my Speedlocks. Gitzo-type legs may be more versatile, height-wise, since they get down to hi-hat level, but where it counts for me, being able to adjust the height QUICKLY, they suck. And every pair of Gitzo's I've ever seen that really get used in the field have F'd up leg locks, so it usually takes at least two to three times longer than it would have anyway with them to adjust them.
 
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Sporgon

5% of gear used 95% of the time
CR Pro
Nov 11, 2012
4,719
1,537
Yorkshire, England
On the upper legs the Manfotto 058 has neither flip or twist but a kind of latch which can allow all three legs to move at once if you wish, or you can just adjust them independently. Very fast for setting up and adjusting height. However it does have twist on the bottom legs which I don't care for.
 
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Have both types (Manfrotto and Gitzo legs) and on balance I prefer the twists as I find them faster to set-up, and I too have also lost the odd drop of blood on cold flips pitching the flesh on closure ::)

I do think the newer type flips (such as Manfrotto's "Quick Power Lock') are much better than the older types though, so not something that would be a major differentiator for me.
 
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