By Film Dad from California on 9/25/2007

I know I am supposed to avoid talking about price, but there seems to be no difference in the quality of equipment until you are willing to pay over two hundred dollars. The sub-fifty dollar market is full of half hearted attempts. I guess you can market your tripod as having a fluid head without actually including a fluid head.

The legs are solid, much more so than the tripod this one replaced. The double leg clamps make it stable at any adjustment and the leveling bubble takes the guess work out of setting up on uneven terrain.

The horizontal pan is smooth like you would expect. A big plus and improvement for me.

The vertical pan is awful, even with the clamp backed all the way out it jerks in any position you might want to film. I took it apart and smeared some white lithium grease on the plastic parts. That has helped, but shouldn't have been necessary.

Great tripod for stills, and some filming esp of stationary subjects. Not to cool on the vertical pan.

If you want to film sports like I do, you should probably keep looking unless you understand the compromise. Keep in mind that a small change in the panning resistance while you are zoomed will produce a noticeable amount of movement in your film. It should be consistent to avoid the seasick feeling we want to avoid (which is what a tripod is intended to prevent)

[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]

Similar to to Walmarts MX 1000 series (I lost the quick release on my MX 1000), it is inexpensive and does the job. [...] I use it for taping HS Football and other similar venues so I had no need for an expensive tripod.

If you need additional height the TD300 would give you an additional 6", and slightly heavier legs.