I've been using this tri-pod for about a month and I like it a lot it. It isn't perfect but it works well. Its to large for a travel tripod or a hiking Tripod but with the protective case andhoulder strap I am able to carry it along with me and go to shoot locations. I also found it works great for macrophotography and product photography. Being able to move the tripod main shaft into a perpendicular position I was able to get the perfect straight down shot. It even converts into a mono pod. I haven't used this option yet since I had a decent monopod during my last hiking trip. I misplaced the monopod and I think its a goner. I plan on taking it on my next long trip in the late fall.The ball head screws that tighten down and lock it into place are ok but at the right angel it becomes difficult to hold in place. For large camera and lenses this could be an issue. The screw mount also makes a cracking sound if you tighten it down to much. So be careful.This is a tall and heavy tripod. Its great for windy days or shoot about the crowd's head. At full extension its almost 7 feet tall I think. When all the extensions are extended and stowed away. It uses a screw style locking system. They hold tight and I haven't had them loosen up while in use or transport.If you need a good tripod that can reach over the heads of the crowd, transform into monopod, or need a perpendicular tripod mount, then this is a great option. As always, I will update this review if anything changes.

First of all, let me just say that I am super happy with this tripod! It is well designed, and you can tell a lot of thought was put into how to make a solid, useful tool. The materials are outstanding! It is hard to find knobs that are anything but plastic when dealing with tripods, and they can easily break with a lot of use. These are aluminum, which can be expected to hold up to some abuse out on a shoot.The positioning has a range of height and other options, including using it as a monopod. It is simple to use and snap into whatever place you need to use it for. It has good balance, and the pivot ball gives super smooth motion. I really enjoy the multiple height options for shot setup! It is also super lightweight for taking with pretty much anywhere, and comes with a solid carrying case for just that purpose.

I've got a few other lightweight/portable tripods for this price range, and they've all exceeded my expectations - everything felt extremely solid. On the other hand, this tripod feels like it should cost half the price that it does.In one solid piece as you pull it out of the bag, it looks and feels sturdy, but when you start to assemble it, its easy to notice all the poor tolerances. It's not every part, maybe only 30% of the entire tripod feels janky, but thats more than I'd expect at this price. The clips that hold the legs in position move almost an entire inch without any tension on them, the knobs that let the legs fall out and lock feel like you can easily pop them off, and when extended outwards, the tripod head doesn't really feel like it locks in place unless you torque the main knob down.At the end of the day, it works, and the flaws I mentioned haven't really interfered with anything other than my confidence in the unit, so I don't think I should take off more than one star, but at the same time, its definitely not a 5 star tripod at this price in my opinion.

I've got a few other lightweight/portable tripods for this price range, and they've all exceeded my expectations - everything felt extremely solid. On the other hand, this tripod feels like it should cost half the price that it does.In one solid piece as you pull it out of the bag, it looks and feels sturdy, but when you start to assemble it, its easy to notice all the poor tolerances. It's not every part, maybe only 30% of the entire tripod feels janky, but thats more than I'd expect at this price. The clips that hold the legs in position move almost an entire inch without any tension on them, the knobs that let the legs fall out and lock feel like you can easily pop them off, and when extended outwards, the tripod head doesn't really feel like it locks in place unless you torque the main knob down.At the end of the day, it works, and the flaws I mentioned haven't really interfered with anything other than my confidence in the unit, so I don't think I should take off more than one star, but at the same time, its definitely not a 5 star tripod at this price in my opinion.

I have a small carbon fibre tripod that I like to take on most trips, but wanted this for use at home, in town, and for trips to the mountains. There are several features I love about this tripod and it makes it unique even though I already own two other tripods.First off, I am 6'5, so I love the fact that this tripod can be taken out far past my height. I plan to even use it for uniques shots from above since I can trigger my shutter with an app (I normally use a Sony A7RIII..a Canon 5D Mark III is in the photo).Secondly, the monopod feature is awesome. You just unscrew a leg and where the pole with the head attaches and you screw them together. I have wanted a monopod that could handle some weight and this fills that need.Thirdly, and the main reason I wanted it, is that it can be used for overhead shots (my attached photo has a quick example of how that works..sorry for the old iPhone pic quality). I review tech equipment on occasion for Youtube and this allows my iPhone or Canon to be used for overhead shots, while I use the Sony for front facing video on one of my less capable tripods.I guess the only thing I don't know now is how well it will hold up, but I will update if I have any issues. I also want to note that my girlfriend liked the looks of it. I guess the orange parts of the tripod are attractive compared to the typical all black stylings of my other tripods.All in all, this fills so many needs for my normal home use that my travel tripod can typically just stay in the case.

I'm a tripod guy - I have at least a dozen. I have compact ones for travel, big rugged ones when I need a heavy duty model, carbon fiber, aluminum and combination. If you use this tripod a few times you'll realize that whomever designed it took the best features from several tripods and combined them here - although they missed a few.So I'll start with the misses. The feet - strictly rubber feet. They can be spun out and removed, but there's no spikes to replace them. Spikes are fantastic for dirt, sand, etc. The feet spin out easily - you'll want to tighten them and leave them all the way in - or I guarantee you'll lose them. The ball pivot. It's straight or at a 45 degree angle. I'd prefer if there were locking options with inbetween angles. You can accomplish these varying angles by changing the length of the tripod legs and adding a weight to stabilize it, so that's kind of a wash. There's no place to stash the included hex key. This can come in really handy, but it's not needed when making a monopod out of the tripod.The legs lock in three fixed positions. This is a feature I have used many times on tripods. Hiking in Utah and shooting from boulders I could angle the legs as needed for a secure perch. The wider the legs, the more stable the tripod, making it exceptionally good for timelapse and long exposure. There's a center column hook for a sandbag - it's pretty light duty though - a steel shaft in a plastic housing with plastic threads. I would not go more than 5 lbs. If you really need weight, open the legs more and use sandbags. I've also used tent stakes with a paracord loop around the feet.All of the dials and knobs are aluminum, not plastic. That's really nice and increases the life of the tripod by years. Plastic knobs eventually break. They snap if bumped too hard. Aluminum bay dent or scratch, but it won't break like plastic.All the hardware (connecting screws, nuts, bolts) are stainless.The included ball head is also darn nice. It has the thicker 3/8-24 thread which is typical for a tripod head. The plate is an Arca-Swiss style sliding plate, and the camera screw has a built-in thumb-catch for hand tightening. No tools (or coins) needed. The plate can be loosened and slid back and forth but will not slide off the head. You need almost two full rotations of the locking knob to fully release the plate. Nice. There's also a built-in bubble level. The ball mechanism sits in a Teflon pocket - so it's smooth.The top of the tripod (where the head attaches) has a reversible screw - 1/4-20 for cameras or 3/8-24 for tripod heads. The top orange collar locks it in place. It's all hand tightened, so it is possible to start spinning off the ball head without realizing it - there's no locking screws to lock the tripod head in place. The best way to attach the head is to remove the dual sided screw and collar. On the tripod head, loosen the big locking dial and move the plate to the 45 degree position (so it's tucked in the notch.) Thread in the tripod mount screw until it stops - it's actually pressing against the ball at this point. Now spin on the orange collar. Loosen the screw 1/2 a turn. Tighten the collar as tight as you can (without tools!) Now spin on the head and tighten. You'll find it's much more difficult to accidentally spin off.Anyway, great tripod, a little on the heavier side when compared to compact or carbon fiber models, but a good choice for all-around use. Plus being able to convert to a monopod in under a minute is really handy.

This is a well built tripod. All the engineering is solid and I've had the tripod in the field several times now with no difficulties at all. It stays locked in the position you place it in. The added bonus is that it has the arm that can hold the camera out over the edge of a deck or dock - which I've already utilized. Highly recommended.

I couldn't find any flaws in the fit and finish of this tripod. It all seems very well made and quite sturdy. All the tightening/locking knobs worked smoothly and securely. With the various configurations available, you can get plenty of height with this tripod, or get right down to the ground with your camera (or whatever) mounted underneath the tripod. For the price, I'd say this is a really impressive item.

I've been into photography for about 35 years, the last 5 of which in a semi-professional capacity. I've gone through a LOT of tripods of various levels, but never one to spend $500+ on a tripod. Photographers today have a lot more economical options, and this one is at or near the top of that pyramid.Wow, where to start... I read some of the other positive reviews and it seems like they're pretty much covered it, so I'll just throw in my agreement: you'd have to spend a LOT more to get a better tripod than this.It's at an awkward position in the tripod range - pricey for the beginner, and too inexpensive for the seasoned pro who wants only the best. If this is perhaps more than you wanted to spend, but CAN afford this - don't go through the pain of constantly moving up every few years like I did, jump ahead and buy this one. When I was starting out, to get a tripod anywhere near this quality, you'd have to spend MANY hundreds of dollars (in 1990's money).The quality and materials are all Good/Excellent. I recently reviewed a similar tripod that was a bit cheaper, but not nearly as flexible as this one and it had a few cheaper-feeling pieces. I felt it deserved 5 stars for value, so this one definitely qualifies for a 5.First off - this is the TALLEST tripod I have ever seen!!! In addition to having one more leg segment than most, the vertical extension tube in the center has TWO telescoping segments as well! (With two ball-head joints) This can stretch higher than I could even reach. Crazy!And, as you can see in the description, the center tube can be made to swivel and tilt. I tried it in the (almost) worst-case scenario - my heavy Canon with a mid-size lens in the fully-extended horizontal position with the camera aimed in a "normal" horizontal position. Admittedly, it struggled to hold this position, but it did. It might not have been able to do it with one of my heavy telephoto (100-400) but that would be an odd scenario anyway.) WIth the tube only halfway extended, it should be able to hold just about anything you can throw at it.The ball head works really well. Smooth and no free play, and no matter what angle you have your camera at when you lock it down, it will stay without any drift. (Okay, maybe a millimeter or 2 of drift, but that's probably just from releasing the upward pressure your own hand was exerting on the whole rig - not the ball head itself that's moving.)You can flip the center stack so that you can mount your camera on the bottom for a low perspective. I did not actually test this feature yet so I'm not sure how difficult it is to flip the mechanism. Suffice to say, this tripod can probably do any oddball position that you've ever seen any tripod do.All the legs and latches that matter are aluminum. The plastic and rubberized parts are well above the average.Being aluminum, it's surprisingly light for its size. That said, it's not hard to get a quality, lighter tripod, even in this price range, but it will be a smaller tripod. When you consider the size and flexibility of this one, it seems pretty light.Most photographers have multiple tripods, and this one makes a good case for that as well. This is a wonderful "does everything" tripod, but it might be a bit bulky and overkill for long-distance hiking. (However, one of the legs can be detached and combined with parts from the center stack to be used as a monopod - so with some effort, this could truly be an all-purpose tool.) Personally, I would have a quality, low-frills, light tripod for travel or hiking, and this one for all staged, commercial, or studio work. It's a great studio tripod - the flexibility lends itself well to product photography.OK, I feel like I'm rambling without adding a whole lot of new info. EXCELLENT product, excellent quality especially for the price, can go ridiculously tall, lightweight for the size. No hesitation in recommending it.Hope this helps!

My daughter and I both do video product reviews from time to time. I have jerky solutions in the past for headbutts. We wanted something a little more professional and stable. It was exactly what we needed.

It is so cleverly designed and versatile. It can be a normal tripod, monopod, aerial or sub-lung tripod. It is quite light and comes with an excellent carry bag.

I admit it took me a bit of time (aka fathoming the instructions) to figure out how the aerial part comes out of the main tripod. It cleverly stores inside the main shaft when not needed.

So glad I invested in this.