Last Updated on July 31, 2017 by Laura Teso
For a series of circumstances, about a month ago I ended up with too many oranges at home. In the same period I got in touch with the Manfrotto team for a collaboration, a review of the Manfrotto Pixi Evo 2 mini tripod. Manfrotto is an important brand, leader of the photography accessories market. Plus it is an Italian brand, more precisely of the Veneto, my region.
Therefore I was thrilled for this collaboration and I thought:
“OK, I’ll prepare a delicious orange bundt cake. I’ll get rid of some oranges and I’ll test the Manfrotto Pixi Evo. The cake must be perfect, so that my pics will be worth the tripod test”.
Well, in Italy we have a saying: “non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco”. It means: not every donut turn out with the hole, ie not everything turns out as it should. And that was my case precisely.
I did everything fine, paying attention, making the cake with care. It was perfectly rise. But when I turned it to remove the mould (no silicone, sadly!) the cake broke in 2 pieces. I was so frustrated. But, in the process of “Let’s see if I can manage to reattach it without people noticing” (which didn’t work, fyi), I coulnd’t help but sample it. And it was delicious. And so thought also Matteo (husband) and Filippo (nephew) too. It was a success.
So, I repeated the test. Out of decency we waited a whole… OK, half a day between the 2 cakes 😀 . But this time I didn’t wanted my stupid mould to boycott me, so I made some muffins, good as the cake, but perfectly rise and very cute.
Manfrotto Pixi Evo 2 mini tripod test
I finally managed to test the Manfrotto Pixi Evo 2 together with Filippo, who helped me to fix the set and we had a lot of fun trying to arrange the muffins this or that way to take the best picture.
The Manfrotto Pixi Evo 2 is simple to use. Features:
- The three legs are extendable, each on its own, so that you can better stabilize your camera (5 different positions).
- Plus the legs can also be layed out (flat down) to take shoots also at ground/table level or so (10 cm), by using the designated switch.
- The head tilts to allow inclined shots down to 90 degrees (vertical shots). You just have to turn the knob.
- The camera is easy to attach. You don’t need to rotate the camera or the tripod, but simply spin the little wheel (right under the camera mount).
- The Pixi Evo is quite light (260 gr) and easy to carry with you in your bag or rucksack.
My considerations:
I loved it. I needed such a mini tripod to take better photos for the blog. My hands are steady but not perfectly, of course. Moreover, my house has not a proper lighting for taking pictures. I couldn’t wait for an extra help for my food or interior or low light photos. I finally managed to take good photos in my house! The tripod is very versatile and light to carry, so I’m willing to test it in other conditions (outside, at dusk probably). I also used it as “selfie stick”.
I surely could have done better photos, but I’m no expert. This is indeed a chance to improve. I’ll make other tests and possibly other muffins 😉 and I hope you’ll notice my improvements in the next months.
One last thing: how cute is the name Pixi? 😉
You can find the Pixi Evo 2 at www.manfrotto.it/treppiedi
WARNING: It can support up to 2,5kg. It is perfect for my DSLR camera with its original lens.
Orange muffins recipe
Finally, this is the recipe of the orange muffins/cake. I found it online, I translate it for you, because the original one (www.cucchiaio.it/torta-arance) is in Italian:
• 3 eggs
• 250g baking flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 240g sugar
• 100 ml of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• zests of 1 orange
• The juice of 2 oranges
• 1 pinch of salt
• icing sugar
- Crack the eggs in a bowl and add the sugar. Mix with an electric mixer until the mixture becomes clear (3 minutes).
- Slowly add the olive oil, continuing to mix.
- Grate the rind of one orange and squeeze the juice of the peeled orange plus another unspoilt orange, then add all to the mixture.
- Sift flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt and add them (gently) to the mixture.
- Fill a ring mould, better if silicone, and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes. Or fill your muffin ramekins (I use those on paper, in Italian they are called “pirottini”) and bake them at 180 degrees for about 12 minutes.
- Let the cake (or muffins) cool and then decorate it (or them) with icing sugar.
Enjoy!
