Tripod Reviews

We keep all our SONY's on one of these. We use them in our Digital Filmmaking workshops and our students love them. We paid $150 a couple of years ago. For the pro-sumer, this is a great buy.

First of all, When I received this tripod, it was a lot more sturdy than I had expected for a $15 piece of equipment. (This is the only tripod I have ever bought and I cannot make comparisons.)
It stands firm and the "head" is well designed, allowing you to move the camera is several directions. There is a quick-release feature that allows you to take the camera off with a part of the head still connected to it. This "piece" that comes off comes in duplicate with this tripod, so once you "quick-release" a camera, you don't need to take off this piece to hook up another camera. That was convenient for using this tripod for my still camera and video camera.

The things I DIDN'T like include not being able to adjust the hieght easily between the three different levels the legs allow you to extend. It would have also been nicer if it were able to collapse to a smaller length, because as it is it will not fit into any camera bag.

I purchased this tripod because I wanted something lightweight for travel that would work with my Canon Rebel Digital SLR, and my Canon G2. It seems to have many of the features I was looking for at a price I was wanting to pay. I had a great deal of trouble opening the quick release lever for the first time. I had to losen the screw, and spray a bit of WD40 on the lever's spring. In the process I made a few scratches on the plate. Once I was able to open the lever, everything seemed to work smoothly.
One feature I would have liked to see on it is a level.

It has everything that one would want in a tripod - individually extensible legs, ball head, pan & tilt head, built in bubble level, spiked legs and comes with two quick release plates. It also is fantastically compact folding up to only 21 inches, while the min and max heights are 11 inches and 58 inches.

the only problem is that it is way too light, and is hence not suited for high wind conditions. The company claims that you can hang a weight at the bottom to the hook that is provided on the center column, but I personally dont think it is a very good idea.

So if you are looking for something that you are going to shoot with only in non windy environments (this sure includes a lot of situations), and want to have a tripod with all these features, this is a very good deal. All the things that this package comes with, make it a great value for money.

Pros, please look elsewhere and also up your budget :-) You shouldnt be looking at this price range!!

The tasco brand is a basic binocular that is a lot of bang for the buck. The zoom power allows you to see objects considerably well compared to the standard 10 power. These are really a very powerful pair for the money. Easy to use, they are very good for anything from birds to spotting for target shooting. the 50mm lens provides good field of view and lets in ample light!

This is a top notch, heavy duty tripod for video needs, NOT photographic. If you own a camera such as D1, F5, D30, etc this tripod will overwhelm you and add serious bulk. For cameras, checkout the Velbon SX-681K (...).

But for video needs, this adds the extra support you need - especially for larger video cameras. Load capacity is 30 lbs., and max height is 70". Biggest complaint is LACK of pan head: there is none, so you'd have to buy it on your own.

I bought and returned this tripod. It's mostly plastic, and seemed flimsy. The head movement was jerky, even with a lightweight DV camera.

I liked it, though the absense of the tilting action is a drawback. However, with certain movements of the camera on the head, the tilting action can be achieved. Ideal for a camcorder, however, I would say a bit heavy for the casual photographer like me.

This is a really good one compared with my previous one which is cheaper in price but it got stuck in winding down. Absolutely like this one and it really worth the price you pay for.

I've owned this telescope for a few months now. In all that time I've taken to a dark sky site (my dad's house)at least twice a week, so I've had quite a bit of experience using it. First off, if you're looking for impressive views of the planets or deep sky objects, you'll be disappointed. For the same amount of money you could buy a Dobsonian reflector (6") which gathers *much* more light. But you don't buy a telescope like this for its optics. The real reason to own the ETX-70AT is for the Autostar computer! That was the whole reason I purchased this scope, and it was worth it. The Autostar is a great learning tool. I've learned many constellations thanks to it, as well as the location of several deep sky objects (my favorite is the Andromeda Galaxy). Aligning the telescope for use with the Autostar is easy as long as you buy a circular bubble level and possibly a compass if you don't know the location of Polaris. After levelling the scope and tube, and pointing it north, setup is a breeze; you simply align it with two bright stars--Arcturus and Vega for example. If you choose "easy" mode, the Autostar automatically selects two of the brightest stars in the sky, ones that really stand out from neighboring stars. So even if you don't recognize Arcturus when you see it, you'll know it when you're looking at it through the finder because it's by far the brightest star in that part of the sky. Once the simple alignment procedure is completed, the fun begins. You can choose from several different categories of objects, but my favorite thing to choose is the guided tour called "Tonight's Best". Since the Autostar knows your date and time, it automatically picks out the best objects in the sky for that particular time. Last night, it chose such things as the Andromeda Galaxy, Neptune, and several star clusters. If the Moon is out, you can be sure that it'll be on its list as well.

If you're new to astronomy--like I am--I think you'd enjoy this telescope simply for the Autostar, but if you're looking for detailed, bright views, you'd probably be better served with a larger reflecting telescope. I just bought an 8" Dobsonian, which wasn't much more expensive than the Meade, and it's really no comparison. The Dob looks better for everything. But, I'm still glad I own the Meade. It's a great learning tool, and it's far more portable than a larger scope. I've taken it on several long hikes this summer when I've gone camping and it easily fits (minus the tripod, of course) in my backpack. So I see no reason to get rid of it. Even when I use my bigger scope I like to set the 70AT up alongside it to help me find deep sky objects. So if you're new to astronomy, and just kind of testing the waters and want something portable, I give this a high recommendation.

This is a great little telescope for the money. Two previous reviewers (who gave it a low rating) had quality control problems with it. I've had none with mine but I have had 3 of them with my Meade 4" refractor. The Meade customer service people were wonderful in correcting these problems, but it seems their quality control could be better.

Optically, this is an achromatic refractor with a very fast focal ratio. That means it's good for viewing extended objects like star clusters, Milky Way star clouds, large nebulae, pretty conjunctions, etc. Dark skies help alot -- the darker the better of course -- but good clear rural skies in Ohio are plenty wonderful. It doesn't have the aperture for dimmer objects but the brighter Messier objects, for example (and there's plenty of them!) are great. It isn't at its best on planets and the Moon but you can definitely see Saturn's rings, the phases of Mercury and Venus, Jupiter's moons and belts (the red spot is difficult at best) and the Moon simply can't help but look wonderful in any telescope!

The Autostar is really good. It's best when you align it carefully: use the north star to point it to north and use a bubble level to level the tripod and tube. You can find brighter Messier objects, comets, asteroids, the planet Neptune, etc, so easily! (But of course not Pluto, quasars, black holes and some other ridiculous objects in the Autostar database.) And you get better at aligning it as you practice. Be sure to check out the "synchronize" feature (in the owner's manual under the "enter key").

As others have pointed out, the focus mechanism is bad, and the tripod is not terribly sturdy. Together they make higher magnifications (which are not optically optimum either) just about impossible. But 50X is still reasonable with a good 7mm orthoscopic eyepiece. Also a good 32mm eyepiece will eliminate the need to buy a finder and give you wonderful wide views. A dew shield is a must in Ohio (reduces glare too).

It ain't a Televue, it's true, but for the price, this scope is hard to beat.

Meade ETX-70AT Telescope w/Tripod and CCD Camera is an excellent Telescope and good buy. Got one for Christmas 2001 and have had alot of fun with it so far. Live in Illinois so have to be brave to use it this time of the year but I still do. Works excellent, easy to set up and crystal clear viewing. Using the 9mm that came with it I could view the stars with clarity and excellent Terrestial viewing. I was watching Jet Airliners (only a white jet stream by sight) but with the scope I could see the colors of the planes wings and the dark outlines of the windows. With a 2X or 3X barlow lense, probably would not be any problem to see the people in the planes. Definently get a 2,3X Barlow and maybe a PLM4mm lens 88X(264X with a 3X barlow). Really having a lot of fun with it though.
mcm

Overall, this is a decent bargain tripod. The legs appear to be aluminum, and most of the rest of the unit is plastic or PVC. It has a quick-release head for attaching your camera but it only comes with one quick-release attachment, which sort of reduces the utility of it, although I'm sure you can buy more somewhere.

The BAD news is that this unit is cheap, light and flimsy. The GOOD news is that it is that it is cheap and light! For the price, I would call it an excellent value, especially for someone who needs to carry it around with them since it is so light weight.

Many ultra-light tripods feature a hook on the bottom of the centerpost that allows you to tie a bag of rocks or dirt or whatever to weigh down the tripod for steadier shooting. Although the picture of this item shows such a hook, my unit did not come with one. Fortunately you can always tie a weight on with string if you need to.

If you have a slightly higher budget I would recommend looking at the various tripods by Sunpak first. And if you can afford them I would also look at Slik brand tripods as well.

For [$$], you can't go wrong with this tripod. For the casual photographer, this will do the job. It's a solid design--using strong, thick plastic parts and a light weight frame--that is easy to use. Functions exactly as advertised. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a firm foundation for their low to mid-end camera.

This is an adquate tripod. Things that this model lacks that you may want that come with higher priced models include the quick-release lever and a case. The tripod itself is fairly stable. The mechanism itself is comprised of what feels like cheep plastic. Still, it does work as advertised. If you are looking for a no-frills, low-end tripod, this is for you. And let's face it, if you intend to spend $12 on a tripod, you can't expect too much.

This tripod is good for small family movies. It keeps the camera stable like a tripod is supposed to do. I would recomend this tripod for someone who needs a tripod and at the same time wants to save money.