Ravelli AVTP Professional 55" 65mm Video Camera Tripod with Fluid Drag Head

The media could not be loaded. UPDATE: This tripod is still one of my most used. However, it looks like this listing on amazon is now for a different(newer?) version that is more than twice as expensive...What kind of tripod can $40 get you these days? Even i was surprised by what i got.The Ravelli 65", 17lb capacity tripod is made of all metal, i swear i cannot find any plastic anywhere, there's just a few proper rubber parts and that's it. I live in NYC, and have access to the disneyland of photo/video gear that is B&H. They have literally hundreds of tripods on display for you to play with, so i can say with honestly that i've seen a lot of tripods.When you're looking at the inexpensive ones, you almost always find plastic, and usually plenty of it. Not this tripod. The screw locks also appear to be all metal underneath, with thick nice feeling rubber to grip onto. I also noticed that while at first glance the ballhead knobs appear to be rubber, they're actually metal with a rubberized coating. The coating already has some wear, but it's good to know that the knob itself will hold up.The legs aren't the thickest, which is to be expected at this price. The usual concern is how thin the thinnest stage is, and in this case it's not too thin. I've seen thinner, so that's good. This all adds up to how stable it is. The way i test for tripod stability is to set it to its max height and then grab the neck where the legs all meet at the top, and then torque it, see how much it twists. Just about all smaller/inexpensive tripods have a fair amount of twist, and this one isn't an exception. But while it does twist, i find it to be more than acceptable, especially for $40.Then there's the portability. It excels here, because it's legs can flip all the way around, and the neck can extend all the way up, and it packs down to just 19", great for carry on size luggage. I can also note that there are two click positions for the legs to lock into, one for most regular use, and one more for near perpendicular /low position. There's also a spring loaded spring at the bottom of the neck for you to add some weights for more stability.The ball head, is actually the main reason i bought this. I didn't need new legs, i was just shopping for a cheap but decent ballhead to use on my monopod for run and gun video shooting. What i discovered was that any decent looking ballhead costs quite a bit. So when i saw this tripod for only $40, with an apparently decent looking balhead, i jumped at it. I'm very satisfied with what i got. the ball is of decent size, a little smaller than a ping pong ball. The locking mechanism gives a reassuring lock with few turns of the knob. There's also a knob to lock or unlock the pan mechanism. This is where it really shows extra value, it has a very fluid pan, plenty smooth for video use. Great. But don't go thinking this is a video tripod, it's most certainly a photo tripod. I plan on mostly using it as a backup or for shoots with simple locked off shots and maybe a pan. You will not be getting a smooth tilt out of it. However, the ball, once unlocked, has a nice solid feel to it, it's not swimming around in its hole, feels like nice tight tolerances. You can also see the bolt that connects the quick release to the ball neck, which i like to see. The quick release is nothing special, it's got a little bit of front/back adjust-ability, but that's about it. They also give you a spare, but they hid it in the padded case.Let's say it again, it's $40. It's a ton of value for your money, one of the best deals i've seen. You don't get a few little bits, like foot spikes. You get cushions on 2 out of the 3 legs. Though that's not really a downside as only two legs are needed to sit on your shoulder. You don't get a bubble level, but those are cheap as chimpanzees.But then you do get a nice case for it, seems well made and fits the unit well. And then you also get this adorable little cheapo tripod, which is basically useless for anything except point and shoot cameras, but hey, you can't complain when it's a free addition. So overall, i can't see any reason why not to buy one. Heck, buy two and use it for your slider, the ballhead comes off and there's the standard 3/8" screw.

Bought this to hold a 4x5 calumet, weighs about 10 pounds, an SLR with large zooms and an 8x10 plate camera.LEGS:I find the legs to be more than adequate for my 4x5, and also the 8x10 which is a hair heavier, around 12 -14 pounds. I think it would be stable up to around 20#. If you don't extend the legs all the way - you can probably get quite a bit more. No place to hang a sandbag. When extended all the way, the legs have a slight wobble, about the same as the $200 model made by another manufacturer. Not extended all the way = totally rock solid.HEAD:As stated in prior reviews, the pan is stiff. Take care if you disassemble the head to adjust the slip ring, as there are steel screws into cast aluminum, which makes it easy to strip out the screw holes. The tilt is fine for still photography. The bowl - leveling knob turns easily and tightens fast and tight easily. The tilt adjustment lever was in an odd place as shipped, it takes about 45 seconds to move, so no biggy. The bubble - and - ring level is adequate. For stills, it's important that errant vibration settle down quickly and this tripod dampens vibration quite nicely. It does weigh 14 pounds.Any gripe I have with build quality is a little picky. There are some plastic pieces I would have preferred to be metal, but nothing I'm worried will break. I generally get irritated with steel holes in threaded aluminum, but if you are careful in disassembling it, then it will not matter.All in all, I'll buy another if this one gets stolen. I recommended it to freinds who shoot LF. I think it would work fine with an XL1. Probably overkill if you are shooting an SLR unless you are using a big telezoom (probably good for MF). Heavy, stable, tall, and a great buy.UPDATE: been using this for about a year now, and nothing has broken, except for the little string that holds the legs together when it's collapsed, a total non-issue. I've dragged this sucker up and down hills, set it up in rivers with most of the legs under water, let it roll around the bed of a truck; in short abused the heck out of it. Still works as new. The head is still stiff as a board, which makes composition difficult, but the tightness is good when you've got the shot framed and don't want you're 100+ year old plate camera sagging (my 8x10 weighs a lot) In short, the head is stiff, and locks down like a friggin vice. If you can afford another $200 for lighter legs and a more user freindly head, by all means, spend the money, but if you are doing Large Format Photography on a budget - this is the best quality and capacity for under $130. Better legs can be had for $100 - 200 with the same weight capacity, but a head that can reliably support 20 pounds is hard to come by for less than $150, so as much as I'd love to get something a little smoother, the $300 is not in the budget (I'd rather buy film)For the videographers out there, the P&T is super stiff, no matter what you do to adjust it, even after a year of use. If you can figure out how to sandbag the hell out of it, you can probably get pretty smooth pans out of it, but the pan is litterally so stiff that it occasionally moves the legs, even with the ~15 pounds of tripod weight and ~15 pounds of camera. Tilt is nice.UPDATE 5 years later - This became my "all weather" tripod as I didn't want to risk the nicer stuff in sand, salt, and water. As could be expected, it started to corrode here and there, and eventually just became too stiff to continue using, but to its credit, took five years of abuse. It never actually broke, just got a little worn out (and eventually I bought something lighter) so again, great budget buy for LF work. Even though the original has been recycled, I'm contemplating buying another as a back up.