FOTOMATE Portable Telescopic Table Tripod @Dealextreme.com

I just got my cheap ($19.66) portable tripod from dealextreme. I was so stunned by the quality and design of it that i wanted to shoot a little demonstration.
The product page: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.11204

- Thing seems to be mostly made of aluminium. Legs have a really grippy rubber toes.
- Ballhead is decent, will hold Nikon D90 with battery grip & 35mm lens, but will not support 300mm lens even though the legs would. Also i don't think that you could change it to a different one.
- You can use the legs separately from the top. Legs-portion has the usual photography-gear screw.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• fotomate
• portable
• table
• tripod

[SlingerDun]

Correction: the ring we see being twisted at the base that "stops" the legs; can be twisted to the right or left, allowing for an upright (left) base or a lower (right) base, though the further it is turned to the right and lowered, the more stress is placed on the joints under a heavy load.

I replaced the ballhead with a Sunpak 4300. It supports a Nikon DSLR with 70-210mm zoom lens no problem. Somebody on Google gave the Sunpak ballhead a 1 star review, they must have received a faulty one.

[SlingerDun]

The further you go up the less steady and trustworthy it is, the ballhead is this tripods weakest link, not easily supporting a DSLR; it takes a very firm twist and feels like it could snap, but torque is what it takes to secure a DSLR.

The ballhead does unscrew to reveal a 1/4 inch stud

The legs splay out further for a more supportive base but don't stop and will fold under the weight of a DSLR/Zoom. The most reliable features for a DSLR are low and unextended. Not bad at all for the price

[spikeman316]

what about the ball on the top? is steady? what about a profesional camera of 0.5 Kg...this thing could resist the weight?