2021 New 68.9'' Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod, ARTCISE Lightweight Travel Tripod for Camera with 40mm Panoramic Ball Head for Canon Nikon Sony, DSLR SLR Digital Camcorder, 7.7" to 68.9", Max Load 44 lbs

It arrived a day earlier than Amazon said! Initial impressions...Wonder of wonders, the Instruction Manual i...all 26 X 4 3/4 inches oft, was well written in English, and probably Chinese, too. Apparently excellent construction, including a beautifully made ball head. 44 lbs. weigt limit. Durable? Amazon info says 8 year warranty. It may outlive me! Time will tell. I've had trouble finding an affordable tripod that fit my budget and height. I am 6 feet, and my eye height is 67-68 inches. The only real reviews of the ripod were on YouTube; one fellow who said he was about the oldest blogger. We are of an age, and he is about my height. The other fellow was more talk than info, and I kept worrying whether he had checked under the log he sat on for rattlesnakes before he sat down. Sort of hard to to Tourniquet that area! With just the legs at full extension, the ball head is really above my head, and the camera eyepiece would be 3 1/2 in higher. All of my other tripods require use of the central column to reach a comfortable eye height, because I cannot stand bent over for any length of time. It's worse since I turned 75! Most of the other tripods I researched either needed a raised center column, or were excellent, but too expensive, or appeared flimsy. My tripod complete with the ball head weighs 4lb 14 ozs. and with the center column added to the scale, and 4 lb 8 ozs. with it removed. Not truly light weight...about 8 ozs. heavier than my aluminum "medium" tripod, but fairly easily carried. Can serve as a replacement for my heavy duty and medium tripods. I am at the stage of my photography where I agree with Minor White who said "Nothing more than 100 yards frm the car is interesting!" Not cheap, but won't break the bank...about 2 times what two of my photo buddies spent for their carbon fiber tripods...the ones with bright orange accents. But...I feel it will be an investment in longevity and good photography. I am pleased with my purchase! I'll update if/when new information appears.

I HATE shopping for a tripod. I hate how much companies charge for three metal legs that stand upright. I hate that when it comes to tripods, weight is stability but its also weight. Finding something sturdy that I can also hike with is contradictory by nature. I looked forever and when I found the Artcise carbon fiber, I ordered it a prayed it would deliver so I wouldnt have to think about tripods for another 5-10 years.Let me definitively say that this tripod is the best value you will find. I shoot with a Sony A7Riii with 70-200 and this thing does not budge, even with all that weight. The carbon fiber is as sturdy as you can get while still being lightweight. The head is perfection, offering a ball head simultaneously with fixed-plane adjustment ability. The value of a ball head is quick, effortless composition set up, but the problem comes in if you want to do any side-to-side for panos or video. This head solves that problem by also allowing a swivel adjustment lock in addition to the ballhead.Oh, and this thing is TALL. I love being able to go well above my head and still knowing the camera is sturdy as can be.There is only ONE complaint that I personally have. Rather than having a quick release plate, the only plate offered has to be carefully slipped into place, then tightened. Anyone who has done this long enough has, at some point, thought it was in place int he dark only to realize the plate was slightly off when the head was tightened and watched their camera fall off in horror. I would LOVE to see a quick release option such as those many Manfrottos use where the clip will ONLY go into place when it is correctly locked onto the plate, ensuring you never make a mistake in the dark or in a rush.9.9/10 for this one!

I've always bought the cheap $35 tripods, but as I have bought a Sony A7riii and doing more landscapes, I noticed (on a windy day), there was just no way to keep the camera steady. It REALLY shows on the 42.4 Mpix format and any shutter speed under 1/125 or 1/60. I've gone out quite a few times since I bought the Artcise, with 15-20 mph gusts. Did a few longer exposures on sunsets (.5 sec to 1.5 sec), and this tripod kept the camera dead steady (and I was at full extension). Tack-sharp pics, and I didn't even use the small under-hook to weigh it down.You can feel the quality in the ballhead when rotating, and not one issue with locking it down. I feel totally secure having the camera locked down as I walk with the tripod over my shoulder to the next location. Also love the fact that you can level the head (on unlevel surface) and have a perfectly level rotational plane for stitching pano's.The ONLY thing I don't like, is that the bubble levels are hard to read; as in there isn't enough contrast between the light green fluid and the bubble to easily see where the bubble is. Maybe if a darker fluid was used, that might help. That's my only issue, and I'd 100% recommend this tripod.