If you're anything like me taking a picture without a tripod; that is, always looking for surfaces to put the camera on for long exposures, for group photos that include you, for macro shots under lighting conditions that are anything but enlightening, and folding camera shoulder straps to tilt the camera; then this tripod, or for that matter of fact, any tripod, is a godsend!
Okay, so I have only ever owned those 6" mini-tripods before this, and have nothing to compare this tripod to, for a first full-length tripod this little thing satisfies my need for a tripod and my review will be about finding that satisfaction more than "buy this as opposed to whatever else is on the market".
The requirements I had for a tripod were to have a short tripod when collapsed, with decent max height when extended, and for it to be lightweight but durable. If that is what you are looking for, this tripod is great! With my heaviest lens on my camera + camera hood (Rebel XTi + 17-55mm IS USM), fully extended, the tripod is plenty steady without any bending in the feet. This tripod stands just under 1.5m when fully extended and weighs just over 1.5 kg.
Forget the instruction booklet. As soon as I got the toy I began to explore it on my own. The first thing I noticed is that just about every piece of this tripod is adjustable. You can extend the feet at three sections, the center column, you can rotate the pan 3-way pan head, or hold it steady and move the top along one direction (e.g. rotate along the horizontal without moving the pan-head), you can shorten the center column or completely remove it and reverse it (have the pan-head hanging up-side down.) The legs can be spread to three different stops, setting up the camera to different heights but also increasing stability as the center of weight gets lower.
For the legs:
Changing the leg heights is a snap. Literally. It's that easy. In fact, with the exception of the center column, every bit of this tripod is childishly easy to change.
For the rest:
The sponge covering on the tripod legs looks cool and makes carrying the tripod nice and comfortable. On the pan-head there are two bubble level columns built in. These are awesome, and were unexpected.
I'm not sure I would change anything about this tripod. No, not that I don't know what to change, I could change a few things, like have the maximum height be higher and the weight lighter, I'd also have liked a light carrying case to come with it. What it is, is that knowing the specs in advance and having accepted them for the price range and overall weight, there is nothing I can think of to improve on this tripod. It is exactly what the specifications indicate, and it is also a pleasure to handle.
If you want something with a higher maximum length, that tripod exists from Slik. But you will have to sacrifice weight and a longer collapsed height to the tripod -- an exchange I am not okay with, considering I travel and hike extensively.
I would highly recommend any tripod for anyone who is into photography. While I don't have any reason to recommend this tripod versus any other one of similar specs (especially knowing this is my first), I would highly recommend it just for the fact I am far from disappointed with it; In fact I am very pleased. And it's not so much that I love the tripod, but that with the tripod, I love using my camera much more! The ease with which the tripod can be used just makes taking pictures that much more of a pleasure, it takes little time to setup and adjust everything to just how I want it.
*Note: You can also begin to experiment with HDR, panoramas, and other cool camera techniques with a tripod among your camera equipment*
If you don't have one, go get a tripod!
If you want one that has the specs of a Slik 340 EZ and are not sure about how user friendly it is, rest assured, this thing extends to your will.
See more reviews about: SLIK PRO 340 EZ Tripod Kit, with SH-707E Multi-Action Pan Head
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