Customer Reviews

Velbon CX-690 Deluxe Photo/Video Tripod

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

 

 

This is not my primary tripod. It is being used for binoculars while I'm out at the telescope and is probably light enough to carry in a backpack. Seems strudy enough, but it has shortcomings right at the most important link. The quick release shoe is a small plastic piece held into the tripod by a plastic cam. The 1/4"x20 screw that holds binocs (with binoc adapter) or camera or a small telescope is tightened by a tiny plastic knob from underneath the quick release shoe before the shoe is locked onto the tripod head using the cam. This tiny knob is too small to be tightened securely using fingers and you must use a coin, not a screw driver, to tighten it securely. It still comes loose. The lightest most compact, sturdiest tripod is no good if your equipment can't be attached securely and part way through a session swings loose and swivels to one side requireing releasing the shoe and retighteneing the screw. ...

I've been using this tripod for a 4-5 years infrequently. I love it's light weight and handy quick release. That weight comes at a cost. Once the crank handle snapped off because I forgot to collapse it before packing it away. Luckily I found the number for Velbon customer service who sent me a replacement with detailed instructions for free.

This month, after taking some family portraits, I was closing up the legs and one of the quick side-level leg locks broke, the leg extension slid out and little pieces of black plastic fell out of the hole. The clamp no longer worked and the leg no longer functions (it falls out or in). The legs and clamps are dependent on a tiny piece of plastic which is probably getting brittle after just a couple years.

Rugged is it not. Just because it can hold ~6kg/15lbs doesn't make it rugged. Nice quality otherwise? Yes, perhaps that's reflected in it's price? Maybe.. I'm without a tripod now trying to decide if I will be able to fix this or have to buy another. This review is actually for the cx-680 (with QB-5LC & PH-468) which is discontinued.

Hakuba USA handles distribution & customer service on these tripods and the two sample types of tripod service are the two problems I have had. No coincidence.

This tripod is great for what it is -- a very light weight, fairly sturdy tripod. Good for mobility. If you want good vibration damping, more sophisticated pan, tilt motion mechanism then you'll have to go much higher end and heavier. If you want quick, light and fairly good -- I recommend this tripod. One of the earlier reviewers (from 2001) complained about cheap plastic screws etc. That was true of older versions of this tripod -- the mount links are now made of metal.

I use this tripod for computer vision work where I have to collect data from many views. For that its great since I can move and readjust it rapidly. If I were hiking and doing nature photography where I moved a lot, I'd recommend this for the same reason. The tripod legs adjust by quick on/off clamps. The stem screws up and down -- you can also loosen the clamping screw and just yank it up and down for quick changes. There's a level on the tripod to keep it oriented. Despite how light this tripod is, it is better at damping out vibrations than several other cheap aluminum ones I've tried.

If you have a super high zoom lens on a high end camera, you probably need more damping than this tripod can provide for rapid shots. I used it for precise photometric vision and had to go to 2 step SLR shuttering: Lift the mirror, wait, open the shutter since the mirror lift caused enough shaking to be noticable. But that only occured at very high zooms (400x) on a very high end camera.

Easy to use (set up & break down) , light weight and sturdy...

The Velbon CX-690 Tripod is great. It met all my expectations. Very easy to operate.