One leg, for the places where three are not allowed · review

Manbily A-222, 48 to 170 cm, 7 kg, folding base review

Seven kilograms declared, two interchangeable feet and a folding three-foot base for 37 € — and a maker who writes, in his own bullet, that the base is not a tripod.

By Jean-Benoit Buisson

The bottom line Two feet, a folding base, 7 kg declared and twist locks for 37 € make this the best-equipped pole on the shelf, and the listing is unusually candid about what the base is not. It never names a thread size, a folded length or a weight.

On the listing

Seven bullets. A light, compact aluminium alloy monopod with anodised surface treatment, CNC machined, rated to 15.5 lbs or 7 kg; a premium rubber grip for a firm hold; an advanced quick-release rotating leg needing a quarter turn to lock or unlock, setting up between 48 cm and 170 cm, with 20 degrees of base tilt allowing 360 degree panoramic rotation; a removable hand strap and a folding three-foot support base for carrying; two interchangeable feet — a metal spike and a rubber pad — with the rubber for smooth or paved surfaces and the spike for soft ground; a note that the base only improves stability and is not recommended as a tripod, with a reminder to keep the strap around the wrist; and a closing reminder not to extend the smallest-diameter section, or to buy a professional tripod.

Two feet in the box, and a base that folds out

The fullest foot provision on this shelf. A spike for grass and mud, a rubber pad for boards and pavement, and three small legs that open at the bottom to keep the pole upright while it is held. The hub above calls the foot the part that most distinguishes these poles; this page describes three separate arrangements.

The maker writes his own warning

Two of the seven bullets are limits rather than features: the base is not a tripod, and the narrowest section should stay stowed. Listings rarely publish either, and both are the sort of thing a buyer otherwise discovers with a camera on top.

Twenty degrees of tilt

The pole leans, the foot stays flat, and the camera pans through 360 degrees. That is how a monopod is held in practice — braced forward against the body — and the base is built for it rather than against it.

Seven kilograms, and what qualifies it

The second highest rating here. Read it alongside the eighth bullet: the figure describes the pole, and the maker would rather you did not extend the last section to reach it.

Availability

Between 37 € and 51 € on the German and French Amazon stores when this page was last checked.

The British Amazon store carry it too, priced in local currency. Those amounts are deliberately absent from the range above, which reads euro stores only.

On the Italian and Spanish Amazon stores the asking prices sit more than 1.6× above the cheapest country. A difference that wide usually means a reshipper rather than a seller on the ground, so they are kept out of the figures above.

Listed in the American Amazon catalogue with nothing on sale against the entry: the camera has a page there and no seller behind it.

Everything in this section is the figure Keepa carried on the day of the last update to this page. Availability and prices shift without notice.

Prices quoted in this text were read on 13 September 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.

What it does well, and what it gives up

Strengths

Two interchangeable feet and a folding three-foot base, the fullest foot provision here
Seven kilograms declared, with 20 degrees of base tilt for panning while leaning
A maker who states the limits: the base is not a tripod, and the thinnest section should stay in

Compromises

No thread size published, so what head fits is unknown before it arrives
No folded length and no weight
Five sections, with the maker advising against extending the last one

Specifications

Maximum height	170 cm, in the title and the third bullet, from 48 cm closed. The third bullet also names the mechanism: a quarter turn of the twist lock sets the pole up in seconds
Folded length	Not published. The fourth bullet calls it portable and names the removable hand strap and the folding base as what makes it easy to carry, and no packed figure appears
Section count	Five, in the title. Five, like the K&F, against six on the koolehaoda and four on the Manfrotto — and the seventh bullet is unusually candid about the consequence: the maker recommends NOT extending the narrowest tube section, and suggests a professional tripod for anyone who needs to
Lock type	Twist locks, described in the third bullet as an advanced quick-release rotating leg needing a quarter turn to lock or release. Twist collars close all at once in one hand span, which is the argument for them over flip catches
Declared load	15.5 lbs, 7 kg, in the first bullet, credited to CNC machining and an anodised aluminium alloy. It is second only to the SIRUI’s 12 kg, and on a five-section pole it is the figure the seventh bullet then qualifies by telling you not to use the narrowest section
Foot design	The most complete on this shelf. Two interchangeable feet in the box — a metal spike for soft ground and a rubber pad for smooth or paved surfaces, in the fifth bullet — plus a folding three-foot support base, in the fourth. The third adds 20 degrees of tilt at the base, which allows 360 degree panning with the pole leaning
Material	Anodised aluminium alloy, CNC machined, in the first bullet, which claims the anodising makes all metal surfaces abrasion-resistant. No weight is published
Head mount	Not published. The title names reflex bodies from Canon and Sony and phones, and no thread size appears anywhere — so whether it takes 1/4 inch alone or both sizes cannot be read from the page
Amazon reference	B01FDAK8GW (same reference on 6 Amazon marketplaces)
EAN	0747380353516

What people ask before they commit

Does the folding base make it a tripod?

No, and the seventh bullet says so in the maker’s own words: the base serves only to improve stability and is not recommended for use as a tripod, with a reminder to keep the hand strap around your wrist. It is honest, and it matches the hub above — a monopod will not stand alone, and a base that helps it balance while held is a different thing from three legs that hold it.

Why advise against the thinnest section?

Because that is where a telescopic pole flexes. The eighth bullet recommends not extending the tube of smallest diameter, or buying a professional tripod instead. The hub above makes the same point from the other direction: the top section is the least rigid, so a pole that reaches the eye without it is steadier than one that needs it.

What do 20 degrees of base tilt do?

They let the pole lean while the foot stays flat on the ground, which is how a monopod is actually used — planted slightly forward and braced against the body. The third bullet ties that tilt to a 360 degree panoramic rotation, so the camera can follow a subject across the frame without the foot walking.