This is based on very little experience with this tripod, but I'm not a heavy tripod user so this is as good a time as any for this brief review. First, as some others have said, this tripod is build to sell at low price so the build quality isn't up to the level of some of the respected names.
One of the other reviewers mentioned taking apart the center column lock and trimmed off the molding flashing from the plastic friction sleeve, and sanding the inside of that friction sleeve with sandpaper. I did that and it helped a LOT. Before the fix, I could easily push the column down with my hand, maybe a few pounds force, unless I tighten the collar to a degree that I believe will cause damage to the plastic sleeve. After the fix, even mild tightness on the collar will hold more than a few pounds force. I just trimmed of the flashing around the edges of the plastic collar, and sanded the inside of the ends (no need to sand the whole length) with fine sandpaper to help it better grip the column. I was surprise by the big improvement by so little change to the plastic sleeve. I was skeptical that it would help until I tried it.
My ball head seems to work okay. Not the smoothest, but not rough either. The horizontal pivot IS smooth, has that viscous-damped feel that's good for video panning. It has a very mild flaw: it's not perfectly level across all 360 degrees of motion. I tested it with my Canon G12 which has a built-in level. As I rotated the G12 on the tripod, the camera showed it was level for maybe 250 degrees more or less, and then it went off-level a small bit, then returned level again as I rotated the camera back to the beginning position. This is a very small flaw by the way (would not be noticeable if my camera didn't have a built-in level) and should not affect my picture quality, but I wanted to mention it because I was surprised by it, and it might matter to some people though I can't imagine why right now.
The head seems to be very strong, and unlike another reviewer's experience, mine doesn't change position in any way when I tighten it. Guess I was lucky to get one made to proper dimensions. I do use the preload knob (at opposite side of the lock knob and not mentioned in the instruction leaflet) to apply slight friction to the ball joint even when the main lock knob is loosened, and this helps take out what little play there is, if any, in the joint during camera positioning. Almost forgot, one feature of this head is the quick release plate has enough adjustment to allow most cameras to have the lens--at least side to side anyways if not front to back--to be centered to the tripod's pivot point for panorama shots for those who want to be that precise. One of the reasons I chose this model is that it can pan for my panorama shots and it should work well for that.
My tripod did not come with an extra quick release plate (see update below, received replacement from Dolica) that is supposedly included according the the Amazon description as well as the manufacturer's web site description. I noticed Amazon has put this item under review and stopped selling it at the time of this review, so I suspect others also didn't get an extra plate. I will be contacting Amazon on this, since a spare plate will cost me about $20 if I were to buy one.
Would I buy this tripod again? Maybe, as Dirty Harry (Clint Eastwood) said in his movie, "do you feel lucky punk?" I like mine so far, after I fixed the center column lock and because I was fortunate to not have some of the flaws mentioned in some of the other reviews, oh and because it was on sale. I just hope Amazon will send me the missing quick release plate.
UPDATE December 8, 2010: Brian at Dolica has sent me a replacement for the missing quick release plate. Very good support. I's good to have this level of customer service on low priced products. I hope it continues, and I have already bought a Dolica monopod. Never had a monopod before, but at the low sales price it was a low risk to try one out.
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