I'm what they call a "serious amateur" when it comes to photography, which puts me somewhere between a "casual shooter" and a true professional. I know my way around tripods and monopods alike, starting out with the old Silk line of tripods and now am partial to Manfrotto. Of course those tripods are 5-6 times the price of the Concept, so it is only reasonable that I should modify my expectations accordingly.I "grew up" with pan and tilt tripod heads, have never been in love with ball heads, so I was looking forward to having this type of head again. It does work in the classic sense, offering moving and locking on each of the three axes. The inside of the center column can be pulled out and extended to be used as a monopod, making use of a twist-loc system. The tripod has a nice robust feel to it, easy to confuse it's makeup to be aluminum. The product manual refers to this as a "plastic tripod" and also states its material to be "ABS Environmental Resin". The only metal appears to be the 1/4 stud attaching the head and the rivet hinges allowing the legs to be spread. The quick attach plate seems to be secure when locked in place, but there is no secondary lock to prevent accidental openings and the plate does not appear to be compatible with any of the more common such plates. I greatly prefer the flip leg locks for the speed of set up over that of the twist variety, but there is no adjustment of the locks available, so at some point that will be a problem. The included phone mount is a clamp/screw type which allows one to determine just how much holding power to apply, as opposed to the usual spring loaded variety.If this is all you can afford or justify then I think you will be well served for a time. Eventually the leg locks will begin to slip as they all do of this type and that will probably be the determining factor to force you to move on to something else. As far as a tripod goes, it should help you get the shots you want, and the ABS makes this essentially waterproof and probably washable/cleanable if dropped in the mud. I think most will consider this serviceable, certainly a safe choice as a utility or backup tripod, and can serve as your main unit in a pinch.

this tripod is very sturdy, light weight, and very comfortable. this has a nice carry handle built into the center shaft, it's very comfortable and form fitting. very light weight. the size makes this look like it is an old school heavy tripod. it is anything but that. i opened this to it's full height and put my camera on the quick release base. the camera was set up with a battery grip, full sized flash, and an 18 x 270 mm lens. now this is not the heaviest setup for a camera, however it is the heaviest i could make to test out this tripod. at its full height this did not wobble at all. the nice thing about this is if it did have a stability problem from too much weight on it, then you can hang your camera bag from the handy hook on the underside of the main shaft, for stability. if you are moving around a lot while shooting pictures, like on the sidelines at a sporting event, the center pulls out and now you have yourself a mono-pod.every part of this tripod seems as if it was built fro strength and portability. it is very light very strong and quite sturdy.this is instantly my most favorite tripod in my collection. the cost is low for what you are getting. i have seen other tripods for twice the price that offer the same features as this one. well worth the costonce again, compact, light weight, sturdy, strong, and comfortable to use.absolutely worth having

This is a solid sturdy tripod. So far it seems like good quality, with the exception that I broke a piece just trying out the different accessories. However that might have been user errors

The features I like most about this tripod are:Adjust to multiple leg heights and can be a monopoleSturdyLightweight, but heavy enough to stand on its own outside in the windHas a middle hook to hang a heavy object for extra weight and stability to hold it down when outsideDurableQuick release plate featureComes with carrybagIncludes phone/camera holder with universal mounting screw for my other devicesHas a handle to turn easilySets up quicklyGreat price for the quality of material usedI highly recommend this adjustable/tripod

very happy with this product

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