SLIK 615-315 Professional Photo/video Tripod with Panhead: Customer Reviews & Product Details

I bought this stool for use with the bar I just put into my newly furnished basement thinking I'd look all fancy, but boy was I wrong! These things are almost impossible to sit on. I unpacked this item and immediately felt a pang of buyer's remorse, still though, I paid good money, so I used the level to get it even, then spent the night perched upon my new stool slowly drinking my beer, wishing to God that my life had turned out differently.

If you want to put a camera on it, it's amazing.

The tripod is quite good. It's a little on the heavy side, but I think it's worth it. It's very sturdy in all conditions. I've used it as a light stand w/ an umbrella on it, and it holds up just fine in a decent amount of wind.

I'd recommend this to anybody.

My old tripod died. I dug a hole in the backyard and laid the old dog to rest. Many stories were buried on that sad day,even a tear or two was shed, but I needed to move on. I needed to find another partner who would be strong and dependable but who would be smart and responsive to my needs. I've got a new pal now. The name is Slik. Let me tell you why I'm loving young Slik :

1. The heft and stability of this tripod is greater than I thought I'd get for my money. I don't see anything breaking on this anytime soon. I've shot video through a big telephoto, shot in high wind at the ocean and done lots of macro in the studio. I haven't seen a bit of shake. That said: the literature says that the alloy used provides greater strength to weight ratio,I believe it, but this is still a heavy tripod. Any fantasies I had of taking this tripod above the treeline have been dispelled.

2. The circular mounting plate is all metal, built to last, and you don't have to fuss with it. Your camera goes on straight and stays there. Nice design.

Notes:
+Slik calls this the Pro 700Dx. I don't know where Amazon gets the 615-315 number but they are the same thing.
+There are bubble levels on the head for declination and horizon but when you flip the camera into portrait orientation you only get the declination, so there is no level to tell when you are plumb.
+The center column unscrews so you can flip the head upside down to get real low to the ground.
+This tripod comes with a nylon/polyester carrying bag. I haven't tried it yet

I purchased this Slik 615-315 tripod kit not knowing that I was actually buying Slik Pro 700DX Tripod legs with a Pan Head Assembly. If I had ordered the Pro700 DX and the Pan Head separately, the price would have been about $50.00 higher. This is a great price for a really solid piece of equipment.

The legs are very sturdy, yet easy to set up. The Pan head is built to a very high standard and it easily supports my Olympus E-3 with a battery pack and a 70-300mm zoom lens. The head is very secure after setting the correct angle. There are two built-in bubble levels and two long handle levers that make adjustments a snap. This is truly a professional level tripod at a very affordable price.

Don't fear the comments regarding the heavy weight of this tripod. If you want great support for your camera, you need the extra weight and stability. If you want a lightweight tripod ..... best stick with the smaller entry level cameras and the lightweight kit lenses. Yet, this tripod will still benefit you with solid stability with any size camera. It's worth a couple of pounds more.

I would recommend this tripod to anyone that shoots lots of macros, portraits, night shots, or outdoor scenes in windy conditions. You will be glad that you bought this for such photo projects.

Maybe it says so somewhere, but it comes with a very nice bag (so you don't need to buy the one Amazon tries to sell you), and it has bubble levels built in, so you don't need one of those either--and as someone pointed out, it comes with the camera part of the mount so you don't need to buy one of those in less you have a second camera.