GEEKOTOVideo Tripod System, 72 inches Heavy Duty Tripod, Professional Aluminum Twin Tube Tripod, K3 Fluid Head, Mid-Level Spreader, Max Loading 33 LB, 360 Degree Fluid Head for DSLR Camcorder Camera

Best Bang for the Money!! Will But Again!! My Libec was dying...this saved me!!!

First of all, I read most of the reviews, and some are old and do not apply any longer and some are really silly and due to not understanding how to mount it, they ended up reviewing it badly.This TRIPOD deserves 4 STARS and here is why and I will also tell you the few flaws that it has which when putting into account the price, is A DEAL!PROS:Sturdy;Fluid head, no panning issues - someone said there is grinding while panning and that review pops up first, might have been a defective model or then, not now, I can pan fine and it is smooth;Easy to mount and transport with the carrying case (although mine came with a small hole in it, might have gotten damaged during shipping, no big deal!Quick-release plates with safety to avoid accidental slipping and EXTRA screws;Price, for the money, this is EXCELLENT!FLAWS:The release plate lock knob touches the camera, and at first, I thought I could not lock and tighten the plate, however, you turn it until it is almost there, put in the camera with the plate, and then you only have to twist it halfway to lock it, and I solved it. This only applies if you have a camcorder like mine, and if you have a baseplate with rods, it will place the camera at a higher position anyway and you can easily avoid this. This is a flaw but it can be overcome;The bubble level is in the center and a bit hard to see and if you start messing with the position of the head, it can be a bit hard to level it. To GEEKOTO: you could place an extra bubble level to make it easy to level it again in place so it is centered;QUESTIONS to GEEKOTO (please answer here so that others can see and be helped about this):1. Can we place a slider on this tripod? Shall we place it on the head or can the head be removed and we place the slider on the ball directly?2. The tripod holds 33lb; the K3 fluid head alone holds 11lb. What does this mean? More specifically, when placing a 10lb Slider on the head which sits on the tripod, and then placing a 10lb camera on the slider, it now equals 20lb weight in tot., can this weight be withstood by the tripod and the head together? Or is this setup too much for the head being that it only holds 11 lb? Just confused about this and maybe someone can jump in and make sense of it.Shall I place the slider directly on the ball then and bypass the head to ensure the weight is within the tripod limits?Sidenote: The slider I have holds 22 lb on its own too and I am supporting it with arms too on both sides which also hold 22lb. A bit of math here for anyone that can figure this out including Geekoto. Jump in and clarify please.Thank you.

Before I start this review, for disclosure, I got this tripod for free from the manufacturer for a review. However, I was _never_ pressured to give a positive review. I’ve attempted to be as unbiased as possible.The tripod came in a nice nylon zip-up travel/storage bag which contained extra supplies such as a strap, a camera mount (the video mount was already on the tripod), and other spare parts in case you lose certain screws which is nice.Keep in mind, I’m reviewing this tripod mostly as a photographer, and this tripod clearly caters to the videographers too. I look for many things in a tripod, one of them being durability, and this tripod definitely has that. When I took the tripod out to take pictures, I had no worries in my mind that it was going to break or damage my camera because of how well it was built. The aluminum used seems to be tough.But this durability, comes with some cost. When initially holding the tripod, it can be quite heavy compared to typical photography-only tripods, but with the included strap, walking around from place to place makes it feel a lot less “heavy”. However, for quick shot setups, it’s not the easiest, but that isn’t what this tripod is for.When taking pictures, setting up my Canon 5D Mark IV was no problem. Mounting the camera to the tripod was quite easy. The one thing that I really liked was how it can withstand and deal a lot of weight. Compared to other tripods, this being a multi-use tripod for both videography and photography, it can withstand the weight of my camera, its lens, and battery grip. This made it no problem when taking portrait photos. I had confidence that I could move the camera/tripod setup around without having to worry about it falling down or out of adjustment and messing up the shot. So on this windy review day, the tripod withstood well against the wind.There are other things to like about this tripod. The fluid-filled head is very smooth as you’d expect. This allowed for cool and easy cinematic shots in all directions. Being a multi-use tripod the typical videographers handle is quite helpful here. The head, while being adjusted vertically or horizontally, stays in place and doesn’t seem to drift. Another thing to note is that it can extend quite high (6’) which is helpful for getting the interesting shot you want.Some other details you’ll notice while using this tripod is the ease of adjustment. The twist locks are easy to activate, even when doing slight adjustments to level your gear. The pivoting feet and the little catch that won’t let your camera slide off the head (not sure what to call it, but an orange button moves the catch) are some other nice features.All in all, I will use this tripod for those shoots where stability is a key factor because of conditions, I’m not needing to move around quickly for the best shot, or I’m shooting both video and stills. I find this an excellent addition to my tripod collection. I have one other Geekoto tripod, which I use quite often, and have found their gear some of the best bang-for-the-buck out there.

Does exactly what it says on the tin