Davis Sanford Provista 7518 Tripod with FM18 Head

I just got this tripod in the mail a few days ago and I'm pleasantly surprised with the quality of the fluid head. Given the price of this tripod compared to other fluid head models I wasn't expecting much, but after using this head I can honestly say the fluid head action is great, and for the price it's pretty amazing. The legs are nice and sturdy but not so heavy as to make the tripod unwieldily or a pain to carry around. The height is awesome, and it can extend much higher than I'll ever need. Some minor cons about this tripod would be that it seems you can only adjust the drag of the horizontal panning, and not the vertical, but the action is smooth enough where it's not really a big deal (you just need to apply a little extra pressure when panning vertically if you want a faster shot). The other minor con is that one of the two handles obstructs the quick release button, so you'll need to remove it if you want easy access to the quick release. I only use one handle anyway, but the button is on the right side so I had to remove the right side handle which I probably would have used instead of the left side. One other thing I would mention is that this head might not be the best for attaching to a slider, as when it detaches from the legs, the bottom of the head is male (big long 3/8 screw sticking out) instead of female, which is what most sliders require (a hole in the bottom of the tripod head that mounts onto a screw sticking out of the slider, as opposed to a screw sticking out of the tripod head like this one has). It doesn't seem like you can convert the tripod head mount from male to female, so if you're planning on using this head for a slider you may want to consider a different model. Came with a nice carrying case, alan wrenches, and an extra quick release plate. All in all, this is a great entry level fluid head tripod for anyone looking to up their production value without spending a fortune. Read more

I do freelance videography and filmmaking, so I needed a decent tripod to be able to make smooth pan and tilt shots. If you're in the $200 budget range, this is a great tripod. Pros: -Great for moving your camera to different heights (up to about high 5 foot, low 6 foot range) -Very smooth fluid head for panning and tilting (this is the biggest factor right here, this creates great pan and tilt shots) -Supports up to 18 pounds on the head, I mount my shoulder rig on this with my DSLR camera, lens, Rode Videomic Pro and it handles like a charm Cons: -the clips which allow for the adjusting of the legs ("sticks" in film lingo), make me a little nervous, it takes a bit of pressure to snap them into place at first, which I've read in the past people actually breaking them, so be gentle here for the first bit. They eventually get smoother as time goes on. -this is a very stable camera, but obviously the more weight you put on it, the potential for accidentally knocking it over increases, so obviously be careful around it. I haven't knocked it over yet, so don't read it as if I'm a donkey who walks around my sets knocking over my tripod with my camera and other equipment mounted on it! All in all, if you can't budget for the $500+ Manfrotto tripods, the TDS Provista 7518 is a solid purchase. Read more

Sturdy, high quality and reasonable weight. You even get an extra tripod plate, two size screws for your camera,and a carrying bag. That extra plate comes in handy for my, camera slider, other cameras and even if a friend comes along for a shoot with me. They even thought of not loosing the two different camera mounting screws as they have two places to screw them into on the head so you won't loose one or the other depending on which one you are using, how cool is that. We all put stuff down and leave things and next thing you know it's gone. Well with a place to put the screws on the actual tripod means that they thought of it all. The head is smooth as well. The only gripe people have about this tripod is the lever that tightens down your plate when mounting your camera. Well, I've solved that: You just get it turned tight enough to barely get the plate on and slide it in place then tighten down. Done! Keep the right handle off and you'll be good to go. If you want it on for looks, put the camera on the tropod first, then put the right handle on. But this tripod, it is a hell of a lot of good and the price is surprising! Read more

This tri-pod is of amazing quality for 200$ Its construction is simpler than the 1000$ models I've used at school but its still sturdy and the head is great. I can execute insanely precise pans with it. Ive used it with my Panasonic PV-GS500 and my DVX100B and this baby definitely preforms with pretty much any grade of camera. Its absolutely a good deal. UPDATE: This tri-pod performed beautifully for us for about a year. Then somehow the leveling bubble dried out. Unfortunately without that bubble the whole tripod is more or less useless. I really wish it still worked because I really do like this tri=pod. But the leveling bubble isn't the place to have a major malfunction! Read more