Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First off, I own a Gitzo tripod that costs many, many times what I paid for this tripod. However, you can't always carry a heavy tripod/ballhead on your expeditions. I bought this to take on a Grand Canyon rafting trip. It is light, relatively sturdy (unless it is windy), and held my DSLR (Canon 7d) with a wide angle lens. I used it solely for astrophotography during the quiet evening hours. I got some great Milky Way shots, which required 30 second exposures. Using a remote shutter cable, I was able to get several tack-sharp photos of the stars. I think the larger version would be even more convenient to use, as I had to stoop a bit to compose my shots with this model. Also, I'm not sure it would securely hold a DSLR with a telephoto (70-200 or 100-400 zoom) The controls are crude, but work, and nothing broke. I'll find more uses for this tripod in the future. Amazing how light this tripod is!