Review 2 of 2
Price Paid:
$99.00
from Wolf Camera Summary: I have mixed feelings on this tripod. I received it as a gift last Christmas, but it was just replaced a few days ago because it was literally falling apart. First off, as long as it stays together, it IS a pretty good tripod for the price. The legs extend easily without any binding and the quick locks work great. The tripod overall is very sturdy, it doesn't wobble or attempt to fold up when you're moving the camera around. The head has a decent fluid feel. I did find the handle a bit awkward to work with because it wasn't mounted solidly on the head, it loosens when tilting the head from horizontal to vertical, and can get in the way in such cases. It does have a level and self leveling feet which makes setting it up a snap.
Now to the bad stuff. First off, a couple of months ago, the crank for the center post just fell out. I have no clue where it went, one second it was there, and the next time I went to use it, it was gone! Secondly, back to the handle, don't tighten down the tilt screw too much, or it will cause the friction bushing that holds the handle in place to lock up, basically meaning you're stuck with whatever position the handle is in until you manage to get a pair of pliers to loosen it up. Lastly, the center post has no stop on it, last week I evidently loosened up the center post screw too much and must have had a shim or other part fall out that locks the post in place. Right now, the post will slide all the way out if you hold the tripod upside down! Also, I had to constantly tigten a couple of screws on some of the brackets; although it never effected my use of the tripod for taking pictures, it allowed things to slide around a bit when closing it, and sometimes the legs didn't want to fold back up completely as a result.
Wolf wouldn't fix it without a recipt, but I did manage to get them to make me a deal on a Bogen for my trouble. It would definately be a great value if they'd step up the quality just a tad. Strengths: Has a lot of features for the money; self leveling feet, level, nice sturdy legs. Sets up very quickly. Weaknesses: Various small parts just fell off, screws loosen with very little use. Quick release shoe is a little wobbly Customer Service: Wolf/Ritz needs to get whomever manufacturers these tripods to swap them out unconditionally exluding obvious abuse if parts are just going to pop off like this. I imagine it would have cost them less
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