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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Cleveland on 5/9/2008
Have not shot with this yet other than some test shots. Headed to Colorado next week and will report back. I have the Arca Swiss Z1 head, and this seems pretty stable with Canon 70-200 and 40D Canon body. I also have a bogen 9021 but it is pretty heavy and bulky for getting away from the studio or car.
The legs and ballhead do fit into supplied bag.
Net, net? Saves almost two pounds for me. I would love to have the Gitzo, but the difference in price for another pound and better engineering did not pay off.
from CT on 5/8/2008
I had read several of the reviews of the 1128 vs. the 1228 tripod; at least 1 or 2 of the reviews warned that the 1128 did not provide enough support/was not solid enough; I bought the 1128 first and also found this to be true, so I then bought the 1228, knowing I would return 1 of them; I found the 1228 to be a far superior and more substantial tripod and much steadier; it is just a little bulky, but do not hesitate to buy it over the 1128 and get the F2 Tripod Ball Head
from Oberlin, Ohio on 5/8/2008
This tripod folds small enough to be easily carried, and has a good range of accessories.
from Austin, Tx on 4/18/2008
I like this tripod because its lightweight and very stable for a D300 with an 18-200 lens.
from paris, france on 4/16/2008
This tripod is very quick to fold and unfold. It is comfortable to use because of its big size.
from PA on 4/16/2008
A great tripod for the money.
from Portland, OR on 4/16/2008
I was kind of leery about buying this tripod as there isn't much information about it online other than the same product description. Overall I'm quite happy that I bought this tripod. I'll try to fill in some of the holes in the product description above. The bottom two-thirds of the center tube (1.096 inch o.d.) can be unscrewed to allow really low angle shooting. This joint may not be appreciated by all, although it appears to add no additional play to the tripod. Also, the center tube can can be reversed in the tripod. The outer diameter of the largest leg section is 1.106 in, second largest is 0.955 in, third largest is 0.788 in, and the smallest leg section is .641 in. The biggest complaint that I have with this tripod is that there are no set screws at the head mount. Use some liquid thread-lock on the head mounting stud. Also, I don't care to have "WWW.ADORAMA.COM" printed on the center column. I already bought the thing from Adorama, do I need to advertise for them too? The center column lock and leg locks seem to work well and feel good to use. There is no play in any component of this tripod (when everything is locked sufficiently). There is some flex in the legs, particularly at the smallest leg sections. I have been using the tripod with a dSLR & 200mm lens during some pretty long exposures (with fine results).
ive gone through alot of tripods, i mainly shoot in dark conditions. this tripod is SOLID. not sure what the other reviewers are talking about. i shoot a canon 5D with a grip and 24-70 F2.8 (HEAVY) quite frequently, i put a bogen 488 midi head on it and its a tank.
i got a chance to compare directly with a Gitzo 1228 and its amazing how similar they are. the only differances are the internals to the locks on the legs.
highly recommended. amazing for the $$.
from Idaho on 3/21/2008
For the money this tripod meets and exceeds my expectations. It is lightweight which is what I needed for backcountry work. Stable and so far seems very well constructed.
from Danbury, Ct. on 3/11/2008
First I got the 1128 was to small for my 40D withmy sigma 80-400,[...] the 1228 much better, I'm really happy with this tripod verylight 4.2lbs with a Manfrotto 484 ball head.
The Gitzo may be better, but it is not 3 times better. If you want to get the shot and are willing to keep it clean, this is the way to go.
from Vegas on 1/21/2008
I use this tripod all the time, and just bought another for my wife. Although it's not as fast to set up as some others, it has great stability at any height. I get great shots, even in the wind.
from Victor, MT on 1/21/2008
This is a relatively low priced carbon fiber tripod, it is lightweight, and fold's up quite small, but there are also a couple of issues I've ran into:
Sometimes the telescoping legs get stuck (both in and out) no matter how much you unscrew the ring you twist to lock them in place. I'm not talking about a little friction when sliding the legs, no I'm talking about stuck solid and having to really torque on them to get them to slide. This doesn't happen every time, but probably 25% of the time.
Also the legs are pretty flimsey. This probably has to do with the 4 sections, the last one is quite small to fit inside all the other ones.
I was comparing this tripod with a similar Gitzo and thought they would be about the same... Wrong, although they have similar features the quality isn't even close, of course neither is the price.
from Caracas on 1/21/2008
The best tripod that I ever have had.
[5 of 5 customers found this review helpful]
It's pleasantly light weight, inexpensive and small, and the center column breaks down quickly to bring the camera close to the ground. However, shooting with my 300/f4 lens and 1.4 TC on this tripod is a challenge. I first thought there was a problem with my Bogen head, but the same head on Gitzo tripod was more stable. The problem: the aluminum center column and lock on this tripod is a weak design.
This tripod is best suited for landscape photography with cable release or at higher shutter speeds or just don't raise the center column. And they could have designed the bag to carry the legs with a standard head on it. But if you want to go light weight without worrying about dropping your heavy camera, this is it. You can even hide a small flashlight and some first aid stuff inside the center column.
[0 of 4 customers found this review helpful]
from Metairie, LA on 9/27/2007
Appears to be a good tripod. I have only opened it to look at it but it looks to be what I will need.
[4 of 4 customers found this review helpful]
from MARYVILLE, TN on 9/26/2007
I DON'T TRUST THIS TRIPOD TO HOLD MY 6.6LB LENS AND MY DSLR CAMERA. I HAVE TESTED IT INSIDE AND IT WOULD BE OK. UNFORTUNATELY I PURCHASED IT FOR USE OUTSIDE AND IN AREAS THAT MAY WELL BE WINDY. I WOULD HAVE TO HOLD ONTO CAMERA AND LENS WITHOUT WALKING AWAY FROM SET-UP IN ORDER TO BE SURE THAT IT WOULDN'T GET BLOWN OVER. HAD I NOT BEEN ILL, I'D HAVE CHECKED IT OUT WHEN I RECEIVED IT AND RETURNED IT WITHIN THE ALLOWED TIME. GUESS I NEEDED A GITZO AND MY EFFORTS TO SAVE MONEY WERE FOOLISH.