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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Benicia, CA on 5/15/2008
I took the TrekPod all over Australia; it worked great as a hiking staff in the Western Desert and the Blue Mountains. It's also a great monopod; just pop off the knob, twist and extend the staff, and you're ready to snap a sporting event, a band review or whatever. The small footprint of the tripod makes it susceptible to winds, but the tripod is great for still days and for indoor photography, especially being able to easily include yourself in photos of family and friends.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
from Central Oregon Coast on 5/8/2008
Useful for Hiking when it's too much of a pain to carry a Tripod. Works well as a Walking Staff; and is a great Monopod when you need it. As a Tripod with the legs extended it works fine within limitations. Don't expect it to be as stable as even a lightweight Tripod --it isn't; but it will get the job done. Magnetic attachment to Camera is very strong with heavy force magnet; I had only a few qualms trusting my Canon 40D with telephoto to it; and the light force magnet is enough for point and shoot cameras or binoculars.
The tiny ball-head is another matter. It is difficult to tighten enough to keep 40D from tilting foreward; I'm afraid I will break it by overtightening. Time will tell. A larger ball head and clamp would be more weight to lug around. It also keeps unscrewing from the staff; so I will be using some locktite there.
The tripod legs are fixed in the closed position with a Velcro strap. The designers make use of strong rare-earth magnets in the ballhead to camera connection, and holding the legs together when in the Walking Staff - Monopod mode seems like an ideal place to use more magnets.
The three tiny feet would also benefit from something like a crutch tip when using in the Staff mode.
All-in-all a unique and useful product. I hope it will get even better.
from Boston, MA on 3/20/2008
This fit the bill... exactly. I like to go on the occasional once-in-a-lifetime style hiking adventures to places like the Mendenhall Glacier, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Zion National Park, etc. I wanted a tripod without the bulk and aggravation and to have a walking stick and monopod all at the same time is a great bonus. Recommended.
from Texas on 1/22/2008
Good for hikeing with a long zoom that does not
have IS.
One thing I did was get a large crutch tip to go
over the bottom end to hike with. Easy to take off
when you set up.
I have a larger head that I sometimes use instead
of the mag head.
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
from Pittsburgh, PA on 1/21/2008
Good support for a point/shoot camera. Unique design. Useful only with light weight lens and a small camera body in horizontal format. Useless magnetic disc combo and its ball head. Can be improved by 1. Replacing head with standard tripod screw so that one can choose a stable head. 2. Shortening the folded length by 14-20 inches.
from Bayfield, Colorado on 9/30/2007
This is a little heavy for an all day or weekend hike. But for short hikes its good to have along. It is always in my vehicle for those opportunities that come up on road trips for early morning or evening shots.
from Fort Lauderdale on 9/26/2007
Good Buy
from Philadelphia on 7/10/2007
I have a full-sized tripod and a full-sized monopod. The first is too heavy and bulky and the second isn't always stable enough. The TrekPod isn't as stable as a full-blown tripod either but it is an outstanding and much better compromise for shooting in low light, makes a great walking aid and the magnet device is, according to my 18-year-old son, "unbelievably cool".
I've been using it with heavy wide angle and portrait lenses and I take it with me whenever I go out with my camera -- I never thought I'd say that about a stabilizing device.