MACTREM84" Camera Tripod, DSLR Tripod Heavy Duty for Travel, 360 ° Ball Head Professional Aluminum Tripod & Monopod with Carry Bag Compatible with Canon Nikon Binoculars Laser Telescope, 33lb Load

This was the perfect purchase by someone who had no clue what to look for in a tripod. I am not a professional photographer and had never been close to a tripod in my life. It has exceeded expectations I didn't know I had until I began to use it. My husband and I are getting on in years and sometimes taking pictures is a challenge on shaky hands days. We've purchased several Olympus Stylus digital cameras (point and shoot and let the camera figure out how to give us a good picture). We needed the zoom feature to take our wildlife photos from our home and deck. A little tremble with a big zoom equates to a major shake...hence the desire for a stable holder for the camera. The tripod was very easy to assemble and I confess I did not use the instructions which looked a little intimidating. I used no tools, not even the allen wrench that was included. Someday I'll look and see what it is supposed to do but I have everything working that I need. I simply unfolded the legs and used the little turn knobs on each of the three legs to get the height I wanted. Love the range for height! I'm 5'5" and husband is nearly 6'. It is ideal for us both. Twisted the camera onto the little screw on the removable platform, tightened the platform on top of the tripod and was ready to use it. There are two easy adjustments that allow the platform holding the camera to move in a steady and controlled fashion if your target isn't inclined to sit still and smile. We've caught eagles, deer and other animals moving at a clip and at a distance. Shots we missed before we now get most of the time. The platform holding the camera can be quickly removed if you need to grab the camera and run without the tripod. The tripod is attractive enough to leave set up all the time and is a great conversation piece. Everyone who sees it wants to take a picture. Other nice features are that it is lightweight but very, very sturdy. It has a nice travel case. It has another attachment with a larger screw that may be meant for something that needs a larger screw to attach than our Stylus' need. All in all it looks more expensive than it is.

Why did you pick this product vs others?:The tripod is very sturdy and adjustable. It is lightweight and allows a variety of positions to use

The media could not be loaded. I will confess that I didn’t buy this to make beautiful pictures (although I might try now), but for a far less glamorous reason. At 6’ 1’ and 70, I don’t bend, squat, hunker down or get back up from doing any of these things like I used to. I just wanted something to steady my telescope and camera to observe and snap a steady shot of something far away without having to do any any of the physical gyrations mentioned above. The reviews and the price convinced me that this tripod was the one I wanted to try out. This thing is lightweight, well-made, easy to set up, and quite sturdy. I only gave it 4 stars for sturdy because I don’t want to deceive anyone, and until it’s held up for a while longer, I won’t. The phone adapter is great. I used it, my IPhone 6s, and my 12x55 monocular to video Sirius on a clear night. It’s also super easy to convert to a monopod, just like it says. If it falls apart a month from now with careful use, I’ll come back and update this, but thus far, I’m totally impressed and satisfied. It does what I bought it to do, and at a price where my wife won’t ask “why did you need to buy one of THOSE”!UDATE: After several months of use, I hereby raise my rating from 4 to 5 STARS! The adjusting knobs and the joints on the legs are holding up fine. In my opinion, so long as you don't use unnecessary force (take your frustrations out on it), it will last for years. Great tripod!

I've had this tripod (80 in) since 2020, and it's great. I didn't read the instructions correctly so haven't even been using it to its greatest potential. My fault. Now that I've done some research it functions even better. Beats out some of the more pricier brand name tripods for sure. Only issue is the bag is falling apart, badly. So be prepared to replace it.