Ikan E-Image 2 Stage Aluminum Video Tripod w/ Fluid Pan/Tilt Head, Maximum Height: 63.25″, 65mm Bowl, Variable Tilt/Drag, 11lb Capacity (EG01A2) - Black

This tripod is excellent - it comes with great recommendations from professional filmmakers and retailers alike. I'll start by stating, I conducted a great deal of research prior to purchasing this tripod, and I am glad I purchased this brand and model - it is great value for money, very well made, very fluid and I love it. It's not exactly the lightest tripod, but it feels sturdy and durable and isn't too heavy to carry around.Now the lesson learned: the tripod's quick release plate is long, which is great for larger film-making cameras but may cause issues with your DSLR or mirrorless camera. Not the camera body specifically, but the lens. There is distance between my tripod quick release plate in my images because I added an additional quick release plate to ensure clearance between the tripod and the lens. After a great deal of research and trials, I recommend the 'Oben QRA-R2 Quick Release Assembly with RP-20 Plate' because it is small, very good quality and most importantly... it lays completely flat. I purchased several of these and they now live on relevant gear (like my glidecam etc) so I can quickly move the camera from one application to another. Cheers.

I first started looking at Manfrotto tripods, way too expensive for what you are buying.Then, I was very lucky to find this unit. Tripod and head for $169.00. You think the quality is not there?? , The quality is there. This tripod is a professionals tripod. The head is very easy to level and panning is smooth / fluid.I need to have a mounting screw hole, the type that the bigger tripods have, however, this one does not have any, SO, I built one that bolts to the top support of one of the legs. This part is hollow. I filled it up with epoxy resin and hardener, let it set and then drilled 2 mounting holes for my bracket.