Customer Reviews

Vanguard MK-1 Tripod

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have a Flip Video, a regular Nikon 7.1 (small) camera and a large 15 year-old SONY video camera. The SONY is touchy with the balance, but I rarely use it (uses tapes). The Flip and my Nikon are perfect, as I can raise and lower the tripod from 22" to 52". It's really lightweight and sturdy, especially with the rubber tip mounts. Maneuverability is great! Plus, its reasonably priced. For small stuff, I still use my Flip ATR1B Tripod, but this is great for outdoors on concrete or grass.

Tripod appears to be as advertised. I wanted an inexpensive tripod for travel that could be used under rough conditions and if lost or stolen wouldn't "break the bank". This unit fits the bill. It has all of the basic features you would expect of a lightweight tripod and would be suitable for holding camera gear up to 8-10 pounds. At under 21" in length, it is more packable than many other units on the market.

You get what you are pay for. Its a lightweight tripod and
it cannot hold an average DSLR on its side (it slips).

Overall, I am quite happy with this tripod. I got it so I could take some of the weight out of my luggage when I travel to photo shoots. I normally shoot with a Bogen 3011, which easily weighs 10 pounds, if not more. So when I would check my luggage in the past, I would always have the "Heavy Item" tag put on it, and also had to travel with a HUGE suitcase, which is a pain. This little gem weighs so little it almost didn't feel like a tripod, and I was able to use a medium sized, almost carry on sized suitcase. But it also works very well.

I had to use my IR remote shutter release to trip the shutter, b/c when this tripod is extended to its full height (which is considerable for such a lightweight, compact tripod) with a dSLR attached to the top, a lot more vibration understandably is introduced.

I was making vertical panoramics of the Library of Congress, which required me be able to pan the camera all the way up to the ceiling, completely vertical, which this tripod allowed me to do easily! The only thing was, I am used to a sort of ball-head action on my regular tripod, which allows me to adjust the leveling of the camera in many different directions easily. However, with this tripod, I had to adjust one of the tripod legs each time I moved the camera up higher, as that is the only way to adjust it. (But what can you expect for such a price?! To me it was well worth it.)

The Vanguard MK-1 tripod is extremely nice, and well worth the cheap price. When they say it is lightweight, that is exactly what they mean. It is quite sturdy and is built well. The rubber soles on each of the three pod legs helps a lot in keeping it steady.

I bought this mainly to use with my new Flip Ultra Camcorder to conduct interviews and it works extremely well. It also fits my digital camera as well. I would highly recommend this tripod to anyone who likes to have a nice tripod without breaking the bank.

I purchased through you a leight weight tripod a month ago and received it from Ritz Camera in a damaged condition. The plastic guide of the center pole was broken and my contact with Ritz Camera was terrible, to say the least. I'll never do busness with them again. They were not impolite, however, the efficientcy to handle the matter more business like just wasn't there. I still dont have a new tripod and my return of the broken item was declined.
John Becker