My daughter wanted a tripod for her digital camera and it had to be at least 62" tall to account for uneven ground and sturdy. This tripod is tall and very strudy. She just loves it.

I had this tripod for little over a year and used it exclusively indoors (still in like new condition). Functionally it worked well though the locked positions didn't always hold as tightly as I expected.

Overall I was satified until just recently when I pulled it out to do some shooting. I started to move the head when it suddenly disassembled. Apparently the three screws that attached it were no longer secure.

I took apart the head by removing the plastic cover and unscrewing the mount. Needless to say what I found inside was indicative of poor engineering and what looks like a stop gap solution. There is a loose metal square (very uneven) that is put in to keep a bolt in position, secondly the three screws are so short that they barely grip the thread when tightened. At this price level I expect well machined parts and some thought given to the correct screw length.

I needed a reasonably decent tripod for a Canon EOS 30D with a 70-300mm zoom tele lens, but I didn't want to break the bank. I decided on this one after reading the other reviews. I am quite pleased with this item. The head operates smoothly and locks down solidly. I often use it extended to near max height. It is very stable despite that extension. This is a very good tripod for the money. I have no reservations about recommending it to others.

I have an Olympus Evolt 500 and this tripod works fine. This is a great tripod for a $100.00. For anyone on a budget this makes a great addition to their photography equipment.

This is a compact and stable tripod for the compact dslr user. I have used this tripod with my 70-300mm IS lens on my Canon XTI and am more then happy with it. Yes there are more professsional tripods from this company that offer more stability, but at a cost of increased weight. I use this tripod for outdoor work and when carrying my complete kit, weight is an issue, so this is a great tripod for me and the use I intended for it.

This tripod exceeded my high expectations. It is rated by Manfrotto for small point-and-shoots but it is so sturdy and well-made it works fine with my Nikon D40 with zoom attached.

This is a very good tripod for the money. The only problem is the 3-way head. It has too much slack. Once you angle the camera in the direction you want, tighten the handle, it will settle a few degrees more down or to the side. It also does not have a mark for the horizontal position, so it's hard to align the camera to the horizontal plane. It will lean a few degrees to the left. Even the cheapest plastic tripods I've seen have a sturdier head.

While this is a good upgrade from the cheap plastic tripod I was used to, I'm not too impressed by its stability.
The legs are good and sturdy (unless completely extended), but I'm not sure whether the slight instability comes from the integrated head or the center column.
It's well built and definitely seems very durable. Size/weight is perfect for travel/carrying around. The bag it comes in is great quality.
Overall - a decent entry level tripod imo.

When I received the tripod, the little metal ring that's used to tighten the quick release plate on to the camera was broken. I called amazon, and they instantly shipped me a replacement tripod which reached me the very next morning. 5 stars to amazon for their excellent customer service.

Great tripod for a low price to pay, it's light, easy to carry, smooth, perfect to begin making your own movies and great for your photograph camera too.

This tripod delivers everything it is supposed to. The carrying case is more substantial than I expected. The mechanism for raising and lowering the shaft is easy to use and sure - I much prefer it over any ratcheting mechanism I've seen on other tripods.

Very stable and light.

I was pleasantly surprised by the stability, finish and ease of operation this tripod provides for my camcorder. Make no mistake, this is not really a tripod designed for camcorders. The head does not pan quite as smoothly as a true fluid head, but unless you need to move your camcorder around a lot, it should be no problem. For keeping the image steady, even on a breezy day, it is great.

For SLRs and DSLRs, even with some fairly long lenses, this would be an excellent. choice.

It weighs about 4 pounds and comes with its own carry-bag.

One thing...if you are going to use it with more that one camera, get extra quick-release plates. It will make things a lot easier.

The Manfrotto tripod proved to be very adequate for my needs. The tripod load capacity was able to tolerate my Minolta 7D w/vertical grip with no problems. The camera remained very steady while on the tripod. I was fearful at first that it would not hold up with such a load. I have no more fears.

This is a solid tripod -- very well constructed. It's easy to use, too. In hindsight, I might have opted instead for the ball head, and the quick release, but that's minor. I think this one is actually more solid.

This was the first tripod since I started shooting seriously.

1. The weight is light, and the construction of the leg part is excellent. Considering the leg part only, it is very stable, easy to manipulate, including the fold and unfold - extension of the legs.

2. It is very tall - I am 6' 2" and I did not feel much uncomfort with that.

3. The head part is a bit fishy - compared to the leg part. There is a few problems I met with the head since 2004. First, it is takes some effort to point the lens to designated target. When I was shooting moon - given a 300mm lens on a 1.6x DSLR in New York, it takes great effort to point the focusing point to the moon. Second, the quick release board is not quite stable - in some degree it kills the stable legs.

Given the price of the tripod - it is a reasonable starting tripod for folks shoot seriously. Even in day time, shooting scenically, a tripod will offer you much sharper image than handhold with shutter speed slower than 1/200s.

I used it for more than two years now and I upgraded to a Bogen 3021BPro and a Benro ball head (a A-S compatible ball head made by a China manufacture, got on ebay), they works noticebly better but cost me $330.

This tripod is sleek and light and I like it. I'm not crazy about the fact that the very top of the head, the part that locks onto the part that attaches to my camera, is not flat on top. This means I can't rest or perch things on top of it. Everything must be screwed down.

This is a great tripod for vloggers and citizen journalists. I'm a video editor in Tucson, AZ, and in my free time I like to take my consumer-level video camcorder (1 CCD, a Canon Optura 30) out to capture scenery, public events, live music, and other things for use on a video blog I infrequently produce. I therefore needed a tripod that was simultaneously durable, lightweight, and provided relatively smooth tracking motions (panning, tilting, etc.), and didn't cost an arm and a leg to buy.. I looked around for something that met this criteria and landed on the 728B.

I also travel quite a bit via bicycle, and the 728B fits nicely into my backpack during commute. It's made of hard plastic with sturdy pop-lock mechanisms on the legs and twist locks on the head. The plate is made of metal and is small enough to stay attached to the bottom of my camcorder without causing much issue. My only criticism is that the head is not removable, thus making it impossible to buy a separate, higher-end ball head in the future. Theoretically this forces someone into purchasing a whole new tripod when the time comes to upgrade. A shrewd economic decision that may benefit the company that manufactures these tripods, but is woefully inconvenient for working-class media folks like myself.

It is likely that most people will use this tripod for capturing still imagery with a digital camera. Though I can't speak to those individuals directly I can say that this is an excellent tool for amateur videographers, vloggers, or folks just wanting a stable tripod for capturing the impending internet video revolution!... or junior's soccer match. Whichever comes first.

Simple and sweet. 4 stars.

I travel all over the US with this tripod and while it's not perfect, it's definitely more than sufficient to handle even my hefty Mamiya C330 with ease. It's definitely a rugged tripod as I have dropped it 2 stories and it barely even sustained a scratch. My only complaint is that I wish it had a ball head, but the weight and size make it acceptable for airline flight.

The 728b is a very lightweight tripod/mount at under 4lbs. Keep in mind that this is not a tripod you want to push anywhere near its supposed 11 lb. limit. I use it for my Pentax 65mm Spotting scope (2.3lbs) and for something like that, it's just about ideal. Settling time is well under 2 seconds and the range of motions on the integrated head is fine. I have used it at 100x without any problems. It comes with a nice travel case and shoulder strap. As a really lightweight tripod, it definitely fills a useful niche - just don't expect to be able to put a 10lb refractor that's 30" long on it!