Spare parts are available, but the price and shipping fees are revolting considering the size and weight of the tiny pieces. Clearly, Slik found a cheaper vendor somewhere along the way. The second set is only a few years old, and its legs have disintegrated twice despite me being very careful with the unit after the first failure. The first was purchased many years ago and has survived all manner of use and occasional abuse. Take care when extending the legs, or you will break the flimsy assembly! When this happens, the leg segment pulls out, and lots of little piece of broken plastic fall all over the ground. The tripod is a very good compromise between stability, weight, and cost.Д«ut BEWARE! The plastic / nylon leg bushings are VERY fragile. I have no relationship with Really Right Stuff and will not get a commission if you purchase their heads, yet I still recommend them. I appreciate your support by returning here and using my links if you choose to by one. I requested this tripod from B&H based on my research and I may get a commission if you buy one using the links provided. I was not given one to keep and I have never been contacted by Slik. DisclaimerД«&H was kind enough to loan me this tripod for this review. Support this blog by buying your Slik 700DX using this link. You can also check out my tripod recommendations article as well. You can learn more about this tripod on SlikвЂ™s website, as well as B&H. I also think this tripod would support a gimbal head very well. At this time I recommend the Really Right Stuff BH-55 for general purpose use, but IвЂ™m sure plenty others found here ( with 4.5 star or greater ratings from at least 10 people) will work well also. To be clear, for DSLR purposes I do NOT recommend the Slik heads shown on their web site. It lacks a hook on the bottom of the center column mount for added stability and it wonвЂ™t look like new for very long, but it will save you some money so you can invest in something that is more important вЂ“ a great ball head like the Really Right Stuff BH-55. I like this tripod вЂ“ it works well for the price and it is very stable. If you can afford better, your money is better spent getting the good stuff first, but if you canвЂ™t then this is a great alternative.

What IвЂ™m saying is that if you are tight on cash and need a reasonably price tripod solution, then this is what I recommend. To be clear, IвЂ™m not saying this is the only tripod youвЂ™ll ever need and that this is вЂњjust as goodвЂќ as the expensive ones. Paint began chipping off within the first minutes of use Conclusion This tripod looks great new, but it wonвЂ™t stay that way for long With that said, itвЂ™s still a great value for those who are just getting started in the expensive world of DSLR photography! The paint began to chip away within minutes of its arrival and the foam on the legs wonвЂ™t last for years. Leg Lock Open (mouse out) and Closed (mouse over)ДЄs well as this tripod worked for me, it is still a cheap tripod. Mouse in and out of the image below to see how it works: The clips shown below for locking and unlocking the legs into various positions work well and are easy to open and close. Head Mount is aluminum rather than the cheap plasticДЇound on my Bogen Manfrotto 3021 that broke while traveling The clips will certainly be a vulnerability point while traveling, so I wouldnвЂ™t advise checking this tripod unless it is very secure in something that can avoid stress on the legs. The leg clips worked well and the head was made of metal to avoid cracking as my plastic Bogen Manfrotto 3021 tripod had done. I was able to extend this tripod to 70вЂќ (178cm), yet get it down to a low 10.8вЂќ (27.7cm). It feels solid and is very stable, yet itвЂ™s only 5.88 pounds (2.67kg) which isnвЂ™t too bad considering its size. However, when I got it I quickly understood why so many people loved it. IвЂ™ll admit I was skeptical as IвЂ™ve never been impressed with cheap tripods, and this one comes in at just under $100 (as of the time of this writing from B&H). Shown with the extension portion of the center column removed Slik 700DX in collapsed minimum height configuration This makes it much lighter than most tripods at this price point, but itвЂ™s not featherweight like the carbon fiber tripods IвЂ™ll review later. The ratings on B&H were out of this world and my contacts at B&H assured me that it was a pretty decent product that wasnвЂ™t too heavy thanks to its use of aluminum. This is why when I did my research on tripods I was surprised to hear of so many people singing the praises of the SLIK Pro 700 DX tripod legs. Good tripods are usually pretty expensive, and cheap tripods are frequently crap that are about as stable as putting your camera on your friends back while you shoot. Shown with a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ball head Slik 700DX вЂ“ a great tripod for beginners

Slik pro 700 dx tripod