Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm 6' 3" tall, and needed a tall, stable tripod. After reading positive reviews on Amazon, I decided to take a chance on the Ravelli APGL4. PROS: 1) very sturdy and stable 2) capable of extending tall enough for an NBA player to use 3) well-designed panhead is quick to adjust, and holds position securely 4) all metal construction 5) adjustable tension leg locks hold legs securely 6) two instant-release mounting plates 7) very versatile 8) reversible column 9) 3 bubble levels on panhead 10) includes Allen wrenches for adjustment 11) low cost CONS: 1) not ready to use right out of the box - loose screws & other minor assembly glitches easily fixed with a screwdriver & Allen wrenches 2) screws are made of a softer metal than they should be. 3) a few screw heads were deformed by assembly at the factory 4) funky smell from manufacturing 5) somewhat heavy 6) graphite lubricant on the ball of the panhead can come off on your hands 7) included bag is flimsy 8) included free mini-tripod too flimsy for DSLR. (but it's a freebie, so..) SUMMARY: I bought the Ravelli APGL4 at Amazon for around $75. ($85 with shipping) According to the website, it has a list price of $399.95. I seriously doubt that. But I can say that it's a downright smokin' deal for $85. Other reviewers recommended going over the tripod before using it and tightening screws, and making adjustments. In my opinion, this is a necessity. On mine, some screws were loose, and leg-lock tension was very uneven. Luckily, this is an easy fix, as the tension of each leg-lock is easily adjustable via an Allen screw. One of the leg-locks operated kind of wonky... The lever wanted to twist to the side when closing. I quickly discovered it was due to a loose screw at the leg-lock's pivot. A quick twist of the screwdriver was all that was needed to restore it to working properly. There was another odd glitch in assembly. One of the balls that the rubber feet attach to was screwed on upside down. Because of this, the rubber foot wouldn't fully extend to the lowest position. Using a crescent wrench, I popped off the rubber foot & unscrewed the mounting bolt & reversed the ball. Another easy fix. When adjusting & tightening the screws, you might be better off using quality Allen wrenches rather than the ones supplied. The included wrenches work, but the steel is probably softer than a quality tool from a hardware store. Don't over-tighten the screws or strip out the screw heads, either. They're made of a softer steel than they should be, so it's easy to do. That said, once they're tightened up properly, I'm sure they'll hold securely. Once everything was tightened and tweaked, I mounted both included quick-release mounting plates to my two camera bodies, and set up the tripod, which is very quick to do. First, I set it up with the legs fully extended and put some body weight on it. It was unyielding. So I pressed down harder. Still no give. I wound up putting A LOT of weight on the tripod to check it's load handling capacity & the strength of the leg-locks, and there was only a very slight amount of bowing on the lowest leg sections, and the leg locks held their grip. I was probably putting about 50 lbs. of downward pressure on it at that point, so a little leg-bowing at the bottom was expected. Mounting the camera to the head took about a second. It was a snap. I like the mounting plates on this tripod much better than some of the other quick-release systems. Instead of putting one edge into a groove, lowering the other side of the camera, and locking it in with a flip lever like most others, this one is more straightforward, in my opinion. You slide the camera onto the head, like you would slide a flash onto a hotshoe. It instantly locks into place. A quick turn of the lock-knob on the side of the panhead securely mates the camera to the socket, preventing an accidental dismount. When it comes time to remove the camera, unlock the knob and press the lock button while sliding the camera out. It's a piece of cake. This is my first pistol-grip panhead, and I wasn't sure how I'd like it. As it turns out, it's pretty awesome. It's made of a dense cast metal, with steel lock lever, and 3 bubble levels. Construction quality of the head seems good, and it has a good, solid feel and smooth operation. Aiming the camera is a snap. Squeeze the lever, aim the camera, and let go. Once you let go of the lever, the head is locked in place very securely, exactly where you want it. There's also an adjustment screw for the amount of tension on the ball. It's a well-thought out design, and should suit my needs very well. By the way, the panhead is identical to the Kruger Optical model 6530 head, which sells at Amazon, for roughly the same price at this entire package. The rest of the tripod (except maybe the screws) is made of reasonably durable materials, too. The legs are very rigid, and everything is metal, except for the rubber feet and the plastic balls on which they pivot. I really like the adjustable-tension leg locks. Instead of tossing the tripod when your leg locks loosen from wear, a quick tweak of the screw is all that's needed to restore performance to like new. The metal leg-lock levers seem pretty heavy duty, and look like they will stand up to many years of use. With the camera mounted, this thing is rock-solid. There's no flex anywhere. Even when the column and legs are fully extended, it's quite stable. I have no qualms about mounting my camera and a monster telephoto lens to this thing. I don't think it's going anywhere. Since the column is reversible, and each leg has a quick-adjust angle lock at the top that allows you to move each leg out to crazy-low angles at the press of a button, you should be able to aim your camera to about any position imaginable. Plus, there's also a screw protruding from a removable slug on the bottom of the column. This could come in very handy for hanging a weight off of the column for improved stability, (not that you'd need to...) hanging a light of some sort, or whatever. If you're planning on doing a lot of hiking with a tripod, this one might not be for you. It's got some weight. But that only adds to it's stability. For me, stability is the big factor in a tripod, and since I'll usually take it to my destination in a car & carry it maybe a few hundred feet to where I'm going to shoot, It's not an issue for me. I've checked out some of the much pricier Manfrotto tripods in camera shops, and they are a very well-built piece of kit. They're admittedly assembled with more care, to tighter tolerances, and they're probably made of better stuff. That said, tweaking and tightening things up on this Ravelli tripod goes an awful long way to bridging the quality gap. Sure, the Ravelli is a Manfrotto ripoff... But it's a fairly good one. As far as doing the basic job of being a solid, stable camera platform, I can't tell much difference between the Ravelli and the Manfrottos. Only time will tell if the Ravelli will hold up to years of use, but from what I've seen so far, I'm optimistic that it will. For me, the 300 bucks or so that I saved was worth 20 minutes spent with a screwdriver and an Allen wrench. BOTTOM LINE: If you're willing to spend a little time tweaking it up, and you don't mind packing a little extra weight, I'd recommend the Ravelli APGL4 heartily. It's hard to imagine getting a more solid, flexible tripod for anywhere close to it's price.