Velbon El Carmagne 640 Carbon Fiber Tripod with Pan Head and Case

by Velbon

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 24 x 5.5 x 5.5 inches ; 6.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00026CAZ0
• Item model number: ELCARMA-640
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #98 in Electronics > Camera & Photo > Tripods & Monopods > Tripod Legs
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Extremely light, yet very sturdy tripod. Constructed with rigid Carbon FiberLegs, a superior, durable Magnesium Body and Magnesium Panheads. Carbon fiber and magnesium materials are One Third Lighter than aluminum. This durable and versatile tripod has Low-Angle and Semi Low-Angle Positions with a Split Center Column, as well as scratch resistant Neoprene Grips and Rubber Feet. The effortless Lever Lock System enables extending or contracting the legs at any position even in cold weather.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tripod., April 25, 2007

By 

B. Valentine "I am out to prove I have nothin... (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Velbon El Carmagne 640 Carbon Fiber Tripod with Pan Head and Case (Electronics)

Quality product. Very light. Super strong - I have mounted my Nikon D200 with a Nikon 200-400M zoom (Nikon Zoom-Nikkor - Telephoto zoom lens - 200 mm - 400 mm - f/4.0 G ED-IF AF-S VR - Nikon F) lens on it and this tripod holds that combo just fine. Cheaper tripods won't handle the weight and the last thing you want is for the tripod to fail and many $$s of gear hits the ground.

Adjusting is easy and quick. Added bonus of measurement markings on each leg section which assists you in getting all 3 legs the same length. Easy to take it to a very low position as shown in the additional images.

The pan head works fine and is fairly smooth, but I am a ballhead person, so I replaced it with a Really Right Stuff ballhead.

One note, when you remove the pan head, which is not hard, depending on the head you are replacing the pan head with, you might have to "switch" the mounting screw. My replacement ballhead needed a 3/8 screw instead of the 1/4 inch screw, it took me a bit to figure it out, but all you need to do is "unscrew" the head mounting screw and flip it over and you have a 3/8 screw. Nice thinking by Velbon!

Comes with nice assortment of options - stone bag, case, etc.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome tripod..., March 30, 2009

By 

Jeff Perreault - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Velbon El Carmagne 640 Carbon Fiber Tripod with Pan Head and Case (Electronics)

This thing is so light! I actually brought it into a camera shop in Bend, Oregon where they hadn't seen one before. I was raving about it (had it in my hand) and they were looking totally smug and bored. I took the head off and handed it to them, and their eyes popped!...

Now the last thing is to get the weight of the head down. By itself it makes the unit incredibly top-heavy. Add a camera and you had better beware! They do provide a rock bag, but it's a joke. It almost tempted me to downgrade the review to a 4-star. But forget about that. It's the tripod you're purchasing. And it's a gem.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Velbon Tripod, June 25, 2009

By 

sroc (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Velbon El Carmagne 640 Carbon Fiber Tripod with Pan Head and Case (Electronics)

Excellent tripod. I was getting soft focus images with an inexpensive Promaster 6100 tripod with an Olympus E510 shooting the 70-300 mm zoom lens with a 2x converter. The focus was even soft with the 40-150 kit zoom lens. With this tripod and same camera set ups the focus is sharp. The tripod is easy to set up. I have used it in its lowest configuration for macro flower shots to its fully extended set up. I have not tried it fully extended (with the extension tube) with the 70-300 lens, but is works great with the 40-150 and 14-42 kit zoom lenses. With the 70-300 lens I keep the extension tube down.

I also purchased the Manfrotto 323 R62 Rapid Connect Adapter for use on this tripod. The quick release takes a little jiggling to get it to work smoothly on the tripod's head but that really isn't a problem for me. I may in the future get a ball head.