SMALLRIGAD-Pro8 FreeBlazer Counterbalance Carbon Fiber Video Tripod Kit, 77" Video Tripod with 6-Step Counterbalance, 4-Step Pan/Tilt Hydraulic Damping, 2 Mid-level Spreaders, Max Load 17.6lbs - 4465

You can always spend more, but why? This one has the features you need for a 15 lb or lighter rig. Looks nice and has smooth motion. The single latch for each leg better than you expect.

I love everything that I have bought from Smallrig over the last few years. The quality of gear vs the price is pretty good. These sticks are so great especially for the price. My only gripe is that the drag isn't draggy enough. Pans need tension for smoothness. This comes up short. But For $800 I'll live with it for now. Good Fluid heads are worth their weight in gold but most are very expensive. Overall, it's Well Built. Light weight. Looks cool. Please Smallrig. Just add MORE DRAG and I'm staying!

This tripod is beyond versatile. You can go as low as you want, incredibly high, and all the while be extremely stable doing it. The legs can be extended/retracted with one geared latch on each leg, and there are two spreaders to help control and maintain stability. The tripod isn't the lightest ever, but for how big it is, it's pretty light overall. The tripod head is very smooth and strong and does not drift when locked down in any of the positions I've put it in. I often use a slider on it and even when the camera is on the far end, there's no sag and drift. I love this tripod. It looks great and helps me take even greater-looking videos. SmallRig is quickly becoming my favorite brand in the filmmaking industry!

Well built, designed, wide height rangeComes with a tripod bag with a useful inner pocket for tools, a mostly carbon fiber tripod, mid and ground-level spreaders, a telescoping arm, instructions, and a phone mount.The legs are carbon fiber with some metal and very sturdy plastic components. The standout feature is the single lock mechanism which allows full extension. The mechanism is plastic and, although well made, I wonder if metal might have been a more durable choice. Many other tripods have two or three loccks per leg making height adjustments challenging. The single lock mechanism does require a bit of effort to lock and unlock. Also nice is the rubber bottoms to the top of the legs which makes them easy to grip if you need to move the entire tripod.The feet have removable pads. A push button on each foot removes the pad revealing twin spiked feet. This is great for work on rough dirt terrain. As with anything removable, I'm concerned they can be lost in the field. Also, the feet are plastic but again their more typical use in a studio wouldn't be a major concern. I wouldn't treat them roughly on concrete though.The legs move freely unless one of the spreaders is attached. That they include both a mid and ground spreader is a major plus as many other systems only include one or the other. Without this, the legs move freely as there are no other locking mechanisms. The mid-level spreader is metal with dials that can adjust the spread and the extensions are marked for accuracy. The ground level spreader is similar except that they are plastic and that's a concern. A misstep might result in an unfortunate crunching breakage. The ground spreader allows for the legs to be spread very wide for extremely low shots. the legs themselves can extend very high which is great when you need to shoot over people or have subjects on a podium. The telescoping arm helps in this case but of course, you'll need to monitor the image in some fashion.There are two hex wrenches if things need to be tightened. I have a bit of a pet peeve on loose tools though as they are easily lost. You can zip them up in the inner tripod pocket but you know such things are prone to be lost on location. I prefer to carry a hex multi-tool on my shoots.The head is a high-quality 6-step counterbalance 4-step tilt and 4-step pan mechanism with excellent damping. It's a 75 mm bowl mount. The plate has a push safety lock mechanism which allows the head to slide off forwards or backward and, importantly the possibility to top load in the camera plate. The head can be leveled independently of the legs as you would expect on a professional tripod. The bubble level is a bit hard to see and is not lit but I tend to use a keychain flashlight to check such things in dark environments.Overall this is a very good basic professional-level tripod at an extremely competitive value. Some of the plastic components might better serve the market if they were metal though.

This is a serious piece of equipment. Overall fit and finish are excellent - as would be expected of a tripod in this class. The tripod is made from an interesting, and occasionally questionable, materials. The gold colored latches and the feet are plastic. They are heavy and seem to function smoothly.The mid-level and the ground spreaders have different construction:The mid-level spreader bars and the pull latches are metal. The axis, the knobs, and the connection on the legs are plastic and appear pretty fragile. It can be pulled up and remain in place when the legs are folded. If you're used to using your foot - don't. It's not strong enough ... unless you're very delicate with your foot.The ground spreader is virtually all plastic except for the latches. Frankly it feels very fragile. It flexes easily when not extended, and is worse with the arms extended.The head is wonderful. Very thoughtfully designed. All of the adjustments are logical, smooth, quiet, and easy to change. I think that with practice it will be very easy to use by touch. I especially appreciate the snap-in plate. Also, there is a safety catch so that the plate cannot slip out when it is released. The handle folds close to the body so it can remain in place when the tripod is packed.The legs are fiber. The attachments are plastic. There is a rubberized padding at the top of the legs which makes for a great grip when moving or adjusting height. Changing height is very fast and smooth with just 3 latches.I'll be using this inside my studio - probably at a fixed height so the spreader issues won't come into play. I don't know what the specs are on fatigue problems with plastic vs. metal for these applications so I don't know the design decisions behind the materials choices. For such a well designed piece of equipment, the weaknesses are especially disappointing.

Faster

Excellent tripod - in all honesty, too good for my camera equipment. The carbon fiber makes this very light for its size and rigidity - absolutely rock solid when combined with my sandbags. Most of my cameras are very light, so I put a massive full-size VHS vintage camcorder out of my collection on it to check stability with a bigger and heavier payload, and it was no issue. I really like the design of the feet on this thing, they adapt to almost any surface you put it on. The head pans and tilts as smoothly as you would expect, and virtually every axis can be adjusted to suit the payload. Looks ridiculous with a mirrorless camera on it, but this is a fantastic tripod.

This hydraulic damping tripod is quite good for stabilizing our Canon camera. It can be extended and shrunk to levels I didn’t think were possible for a tripod until now. It definitely stabilizes our camera quite well compared to our other tripods. We even used it with our telescope which was such a smooth experience compared to what we normally have to deal with.I would definitely recommend it.