Manfrotto is an Italian brand of camera and lighting supports, including tripods, monopods, and other accessories, that is manufactured by Lino Manfrotto and Giovanni Chenet, a company headquartered in Cassola, Italy. The brand is wholly owned by Videndum plc.[1]
History
Lino Manfrotto, an Italian photojournalist, began designing and selling light stands, booms, and telescopic rods under the name "Manfrotto" in the late 1960s. In 1972, Lino Manfrotto met Gilberto Battocchio, a technician working for a Bassano mechanical firm. With the collaboration, the company introduced its first tripod in 1974. By 1986 Manfrotto already had six manufacturing plants in Bassano, and in the following two years they would build five more plants in Villapaiera, the industrial zone of Feltre.[2]
Vinten Group purchased Manfrotto in 1989, followed by the French company Gitzo in 1992 and the American company Bogen Photo Corp. in 1993.[3]