WORST tripod ever?!? K&F Concept Carbon Fiber Professional Tripod & Ballhead Review

I've been using this Kent Faith K&F Carbon Fiber Professional Tripod and in this review are some things YOU NEED TO KNOW if you are in the market for one.....WATCH BEFORE YOU BUY!!
I've always been intrigued by K&F's seemingly great reviews, highly competitive pricing and aesthetically pleasing products, so I thought I'd give this carbon fiber tripod a try.....and the review is in.
The K&F Concept ball head on this tripod is the BH-28L
The K&F Concept tripod model is the KF-SA255C1
#KFConcept #KentFaithConcept #KFConceptTripod

[@RalphMayhewPhotography]

Thanks heaps mate. This is a really valuable review. I’ve always wondered about this brand. Thanks for your honesty. 👊

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Cheers Ralph 👍🏻

[@Tina-bc7es]

Thank you for the honest review! I'm new to photography and I was looking around for a tripod that was within my budget. K&F came up a lot and I was literally going to order mine today. Thought I'd look into it alittle more instead and came across your video. Needless to say, I won't be ordering this now and will have to look around some more. You saved me from wasting money! Thank you!

[@SammySantiagoIrizarry]

It doesn't matter what the package said; there is no way you can compare a $100 dollar tripod with a $500 to $1,000.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Well there’s a way….I did it!

[@thimoschreiber4275]

I have the same tripod you do and use it quite heavily, it also has to stand in neck high water a lot. But i dont have any Problems with it that you described. It also seems yours is from a lower build quality than mine even tho we habe the same model (maybe yours was just a acccident?). The legs do tend to get stuck but only because of dirt when it was in water or something. I zhen just take the legs appart rins it in tapwater and it works fine again. The only actuall issue i had with mine which got me really angry was that one segment of the legs actually broke while it was just standing around with my gear on top. But K&F replaced it immediately when i contacted them which was great 👍 I think they have a very good quality equipment especially for the price

[@ironmantooltime]

I reckon his was an early copy

[@peterviragphoto]

Love your brutal honesty in this great in depth review Dave! Cheers

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Cheers Peter - I love doing a good old fashioned brutal review haha

[@justicesword1549]

I was about to buy one I'll look for something else . May I ask what tripod do you use in this video ?

[@mossybank2000]

I was just about to buy one but thought I would look at reviews online. Glad I found yours. I think I'll buy something else now. Thank you for your review.

[@Saltfly]

This is the only bad review I’ve seen. You have to understand it’s a 100$ tripod. For beating around and learning to use one. This guy just wants to show off his amazing tripod collection

[@Najim1958]

are their aluminum tripods any more reliable than the carbon fiber models?

[@alex_nita]

God Bless You!!! I was moments away to buy one of these. I decided "hey, lets do (again) some research on youtube and boom - the algorithm helped!!!

[@DienekesShade]

Phew, I almost bought it today. Knew that for the price, especially given it's carbon fiber, it's too good to be true, but still I wasn't expecting as bad of a performance. I'm grateful I found your review. Thanks and all the best 👍🏻

[@SCHWARTZANGELUS]

quite usefull actually, im worried about the leg coming off, dont know if im getiting it but my budget is not so good . btw the screw hole is for you to attatch something else as a light i suppose. ive seen it in other tripods.

[@healthyrootsstrongwings538]

Great and honest review Dave! Very appreciated

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Thanks a lot, hope it was helpful :)

[@healthyrootsstrongwings538]

@Let's Click Photography Did you make any video's about cheap but decent tripod and ballheads? It's not easy in this jungle of fake amazon reviews, partner deals and affiliate marketing to find some honest info 😛

[@LetsClickPhotography]

@@healthyrootsstrongwings538 you hit the nail on the head there - I haven’t I’m afraid, I keep meaning to but never get around to it. My recommendation would be Manfrotto or Three Legged Thing - whilst both do pricier models, their entry models are way above the level of K&F and the like. I’ve had the Manfrotto befree for 7 years now and it’s still going strong, it’s around 50% more than this k&f but nothing fell off it yet! Of course they’re not carbon fibre…..but nothing fell off it so gotta take the negatives with a pinch

[@VintageInsightPhotography]

I never saw this new, but it popped up in my feed today. Probably because I’m shopping for a travel tripod. I was considering this one… not anymore! Thanks!

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Yep, steer clear of this one Jim - I spoke to several other owners of this model and all have had problems with it......interestingly K&F recently tried to 'buy me off' and get me to remove this video, admitting in the process that they were aware of the quality issues in this product - I graciously declined their numerous offers.

[@davidmaccormick1880]

HI Dave, thank you for taking the time to review this tripod. While I am not inspired by the test tripod, I did like the look of your camera tripod. What do you use?

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Hi David, I use the Three Legged Thing Winston 2.0 for my outdoor photography. Great tripod, has a couple of minor niggles but overall very good. The other one worth a look (which I use for my studio work) is the Manfrotto 190 which I've used and abused for several years and hasn't missed a beat, it is a bit heavier than the TLT though.

[@davekirkwood9076]

Answered all my questions. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@Deadinside0000]

I have this tripod and used it only a couple times. The top part where the camera goes completely fell off and it seems like the hole for the screw is stripped. It will not tighten. I got this last year before the summer off Amazon. What is something you recommend? I always worried about my camera falling and getting damaged. I’m honestly glad that didn’t happen but I see it could have.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Hey, yeah the quality control on these K&F is utterly dreadful. I've had a couple of Manfrotto tripods for several years now. Each has been very well used and never suffered any issues with them whatsoever. For a bit extra on top of what this K&F cost, I'd recommend something along the lines of the Manfrotto Befree

[@waynetcampbell]

Almost bought a higher end version from K&F today plus accessories. You just saved me $250.00 USD. Thanks so much!

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Glad it was helpful Wayne 👍🏻

[@paulcookphotography]

I wish I new you were reviewing this tripod mate. Both of my good tripods both recently fell apart within days of each other and I needed a quick emergency replacement so I bought a K&F replacement, I think the little bother of this. I kept saying to myself YEP, YEP, YEP to everything you said. It's not tall, extremely light, legs already not sliding smoothly, and that's after just a few days. This will end up in my studio for talking head videos and just.mught do the job for one outing that I need to do in a couple of days. After that, I don't think I will trust my camera sitting on it in the field. Spot on review mate!

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Cheers mate. Well, we are not the only ones - I asked a couple of others who have reviewed K&F tripods in the past and both said that they encountered the same issues after recording their reviews. The 'review contract' only allows four weeks in which to do the review (from shipping time) so doesn't allow for proper use and testing. And that's why I bought it tbh - they emailed me and asked to send me some products before Christmas for review, but there were a couple of stipulations I didn't agree with so thought I'd spend some cash and try one out fully before committing to anything. Needless to say.....I won't be doing a brand deal with K&F Concept any time soon :)

[@RauriBarron]

😂 Was keen to see this one. I am considering doing a follow up to my KF tripod video, it’s become my video tripod and studio one that doesn’t move, I loved the ball head, but the leg twist locks were pathetic, flimsy after a months use, exact same issue you had, the internal plastic on the lock broke, and super light as you said. I’d rather lug my beefy Benro around even on long hikes as I know I can rely on it. Nice honest video mate.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Yep that's exactly what I will be using mine for - the talking head videos inside where it doesn't move. I'd maybe been a bit kinder if it had been labelled as a travel tripod - but even then you want three legs not two!! haha Cheers mate

[@RauriBarron]

@@LetsClickPhotography 😂 2 legs? Hey even the monopod probably won’t work properly.

[@MarkBender]

Thank you for saving me the trouble! I placed this model on order today but cancelled quickly after seeing your review. I'm a fan of the excellent K&F ND, CPL & Black Diffusion filters, but apparently the quality doesn't extend to their tripod line. So I opted instead for the highly regarded SmallRig AP-10 carbon fiber model. It's a much shorter tripod without the center post, but wildly capable for near ground-level shots all the way to about 4.3'. To compensate for the times I need more height, I found a nice carbon fiber extension to mount on the head. Additionally, I have a 1/4 d-ring to attach underneath to hang a weighted bag with a carabiner for added stability during long exposure shots. Truth be told, K&F is merely rebrands products. Read and watch plenty of unbiased reviews before making purchases. You can definitely save a ton of $$ over major name brands, but not all are worth it.

[@jessica9469]

Totally agree! The ballhead constantly loosens itself, the legs drop off and I actually hate it, waste of money.

[@AndrewWaltonPhotography]

A thorough review there Dave. It does sound like some better quality control is needed at KF Concepts. At the end of the day cheaper products are made to a price point, perhaps calling it a professional tripod wasn't the wisest of moves.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Absolutely....in reality it's a travel tripod. But even then there's still an expectation of some longer life span. I've had the Manfrotto Advanced Compact for 6 years - packs down shorter, is only marginally heavier and goes slightly higher.....it's classed as a travel tripod and costs £60 (£50 back when I bought it)....but K&F call it a 'pro' tripod so gotta hold it to that level - harsh, but fair I felt. Thanks for taking the time to have a watch Andrew, it's always appreciated mate 😀

[@Don-md6wn]

Companies that make junk like this are going to call it whatever maximizes their sales volume. Their website is virtually nothing but 5 star reviews which tells me that they delete bad reviews.

[@jerryrichards8172]

Thanks I was thinking of purchasing one. Back to $30 49 yr old tripod that has few thousand backpacking and mountaineering miles on it. And it's still going strong. If it's not broken don't replace it !

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Definitely Jerry - new doesn't always mean better

[@elzafir]

Any experience with the similarly priced Zomei Q666C carbon fiber? Looks much sturdier

[@LetsClickPhotography]

I use Zomei Glass Filters and they are a great product but the truth is, any carbon fiber tripod at this price point is always going to be hit and miss. A quick look at the Zomei website does not fill me with confidence in that tripod. Personally I'd rather invest in an aluminium Manfrotto travel tripod or Three Legged Thing travel tripod for similar money. They are built to a much higher spec and will be much more secure. Sure, they aren't carbon fibre but weight vs secure, I'd opt for secure every time.

[@elzafir]

@@LetsClickPhotography Thank you for your insights! I'll take a look at those two brands.

[@vincetarrosa]

Thank you for this honest review! I was looking at K&F tripods but will now think twice about them.

[@Mike-ss7er]

I have just come across your channel and have found it really useful, thanks, I have gained a lot from it. Just one thing though, I have exactly the same tripod and it's brilliant! I have used it regularly for two years and have never come across any of the issues that you have. It's a shame that many of the comments below are negative, but maybe, if you are happy with the product then theres no need to make a comment and maybe you have had a duff one. I would definitely recommend that you contact them as from my experience, their customer care is great - no I don't work for them (😅).There are many professionals that use them, in fact it was a pro that recommended it to me. I have also bought other products from them, again they have been very good. I guess you can only go on your own experience thought. Keep up with the great video, thanks again.

[@ant3387]

what would be the good tripod but not too much, something

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Thanks - you're right actually I do need to do a couple of recommendation videos for tripods. It depends on your use but I would recommend something along the lines of the Manfrotto 190XPRO - I've been using it for years and it is probably the best tripod investment I've made. It is an aluminium though at the price, so weight is a factor if you are doing landscapes and the additional ball head may take you over budget.....For an all in one that falls into your dollar budget perhaps the Manfrotto BeFree. Not quite as sturdy as the XPRO but decent, I use an earlier model of the one currently available for my vlogging camera and between 2014-2016 was my main tripod before I upgraded to the XPRO. Outside of Manfrotto my experience with products by 'Three Legged Thing' is good, although I'm not sure how they price outside of the UK as they are a UK Based company.

[@AdrianRankin]

Nice very honest review mate! I owned a variable ND filter by them on Rauri’s recommendation which does a good job for video. Shame to see some of the issues you had, you really can’t afford to buy cheap tripod, let alone one that’s leg falls off!

[@LetsClickPhotography]

haha too true! There is a bit of a back story to how I ended up with this tripod (a little research before a potential partnership) as it wouldn't be at the level I would normally purchase these days.....although I have had my fair share of cheaper tripods in my time. Even the cheapest though, at around £12 (about AUS $24) back over a decade ago, didn't have this many failures......to good to be true springs to mind. Thanks for having a watch Adrian, appreciate it

[@AdrianRankin]

@@LetsClickPhotography I had a cheap one too and the camera fell in the river so after that I dropped a small fortune on the best I could find. Hasn’t let me down yet. But I also had to get second one for filming recently so I bought Peak Design aluminium tripod and I’ve been suitably impressed. It’s not as sturdy as the big Sirui but it’s a tidy tripod that gets the job done.

[@ant3387]

I am about to buy this... thanks so much for giving a true review that not everyone tries to.

[@SR-mm2wz]

What’s the tripod you are using in this video (as in the one your camera is mounted to, looks good)

[@LetsClickPhotography]

That’s a ‘Winston’ by 3 legged thing. Not quite perfect but very solid carbon fibre tripod

[@SR-mm2wz]

@@LetsClickPhotography Thanks for the reply. Recently came across the channel as was looking at reviews of the K&F from this video. It was really helpful - please keep up the good work.

[@mattbates1977]

Your honest review has just saved me from wasting my cash. Thank you ☺️

[@leeaguiar]

Nice review. I've got one of these, less "orange" details, but I guess is the same, the KF-28, mine is doing well after 2 years and several jobs on it. My ball head dosen't have this "knob" on the lower part to bring up. Maybe the models has re-worked some functions? I'm on Brazil and this came as a good choice between prices on Benro and Manfrotto. Maybe it was a lucky buy, seing your review, I hope this tripod runs a few years more with me. Thanks for your review, and for the honesty!

[@leeaguiar]

Mine's is a K&F Concept SA254T2, maybe the diference is there (genuinly asking, lot os diferent names for me, got confused)?

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Thanks for the info, I'm guessing from the comments and messages I've received on this video that perhaps 1 out of 3 tripods have the issues, not a great result, but if you are getting the 2/3 that are fine then great. K&F did contact me stating that they are aware of issues and working with their R&D team to resolve but the fact that they they tried to offer me 'incentives' to remove this video doesn't fill me with confidence in their integrity. Hope your tripod lasts for many years and thanks again for sharing your experience.

[@leeaguiar]

You are absolutely right on that matter, and again, your level of details and review on the product was spot on! You are a true professional sir, thanks again!@@LetsClickPhotography

[@catalinstaicu4120]

What's the other tripod you are using to shoot this video? It really looks more sturdy. Is that a Benro ball head you use with it?

[@LetsClickPhotography]

It’s by ‘three legged thing’ and the model is the Winston 2.0. Very good, very sturdy, not quite perfect but very good overall

[@catalinstaicu4120]

@@LetsClickPhotography thanks for the input, i got a 3 legged things tripod, the punks travis original, mpb has them for £65. It looks really sturdy and being rated for 18kg, I'm sure it's gonna serve me well for a long time.

[@LeeOFrey]

Very through and honest review Dave. It sounds like it was disappointing which is unfortunately. It may not be professional level but it looks like it would be a good light travel tripod which isn’t a bad thing. I looked at this as on option because I have my specific video/studio tripod and I needed a second for photo. I needed it to be small and light compared to my video tripod. I ended up going with the Sunpak Travellite Pro and it’s been good. It sucks you had so many issues with it but overall I appreciate hearing your honest review on it. Great stuff sir I hope all is well out there.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Apart from the terrible build quality, I'd be alright with this as a travel tripod......if that is what it was advertised as. But as a 'pro' tripod not a chance. It is small and light though so if I could trust the legs to stay attached, I'd definitely use it for travel. Cheers Lee, good to hear your thoughts and glad to hear the Sunpak is working out well

[@peterrothwell4964]

I had the exact same triod. Went on a hike got to my destination only to find my momo pod leg had fallen somewhere on the hike. A two leg-legged tripod is no use to me. Great as always dave.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

I can only imagine some of the explitives that came when you took your bag off and realised!! It would seem, from speaking to a few others, that this is a common issue with many of their tripods. Last purchase from K&F that's for sure. Thanks Peter.

[@spudbeau]

I have a K&F full size aluminium tripod which has had a lot of use in all types of conditions; sandy beaches, uneven rocky ground, mud, sitting in creeks doing long exposures. It has a couple of minor faults but is very usable, safe & stable. It was by far one of the cheapest capable tripods on the market. I have a couple of minor paint chips after years of use; my fault, not about the quality of the paint! A hook under the centre pole is NOT an indicator of a less than stable tripod. It is a useful accessory! I have used a weight outdoors in very windy conditions and uneven ground. That's common sense! It has twist grips on the legs and I have pulled it apart on a couple of occasions to clean beach sand out of it. Mine has never fallen apart or legs got stuck, and wouldn't come apart unless I am completely careless. I question the objectivity of this review and I would suggest if you are researching tripods, that you look at other reviews or talk to someone who owns a tripod you are considering. A mate recommended K&F as he has their tripod. I don't work for K&F and have no investment in them! I am considering buying the K&F carbon fibre travel tripod. It has some great reviews.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

The hook on the tripod is no bad thing on a cheap tripod. I referred to it as a negative as this is marketed as a pro tripod. It is not. Objectively a tripod should not fall apart from general light use.

[@spokofox77]

thanks mate. i was considering to buy one, well not any more. i will spend my money on something a little more reliable

[@LeePelling]

Good honest review , such a shame as well, i would not of classed it as a pro level tripod even if the build quality was better , far to small. Good little travel tripod im sure if it stood up to the task at hand. I only ever seen good things about K&F so i am a little surprised at your experience to be honest but the test of good company is when you have problems, i would certainly be in touch with them if it were me, after all you spent your money already in good faith. Interested to see the outcome of that !

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Cheers Lee. From what I hear from several others, their customer after sales is pretty good and I do not doubt they would send me another. But, quite honestly, I don't really see the point in bothering. In my research I have spoken to a few other people and they all have similar problems - so it's not a one off. I'm just going to fix it myself with some glue and keep it as a travel tripod - which is all it should be sold as. I was also a little surprised given the feedback and reviews I read and see.....however there are some stipulations in the 'review contract' which limits the amount of testing and negativity surrounding the product......one of the reasons why I paid for it with my own money - I'd been asked to do a brand deal and, having never used K&F before, wanted to test out a product fully, without barriers, before I was willing to enter into a deal - needless to say, I won't be

[@LeePelling]

@@LetsClickPhotography think its shocking to have any stipulations in a contract suggesting people cant say what they want about a product, says it all really, glad you went the route you did !

[@justmathew]

You compared the height of the tripod against a second tripod but for accuracy, you didn't extend the central column which would make the K&F Concept tripod taller. I have two aluminium tripods from K&F Concept, neither of which has ever caused me any issue.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

The second tripod didn’t have the centre column extended at all, when you extend any centre column you lose stability and what I was showing was that to get the k&f to an acceptable use height the centre column had to come into play. That makes it less stable than one that doesn’t need to do that. Hey look I’m glad you haven’t had a problem with yours but k&f clearly have a quality control issue and this tripod is not pro by a long shot

[@LetsClickPhotography]

The second tripod didn’t have the centre column extended at all, when you extend any centre column you lose stability and what I was showing was that to get the k&f to an acceptable use height the centre column had to come into play. That makes it less stable than one that doesn’t need to do that. Hey look I’m glad you haven’t had a problem with yours but k&f clearly have a quality control issue and this tripod is not pro by a long shot

[@zariamultimedia]

I'm a wedding videographer. I bought 3 similar K&F tripods from B&H last year including one carbon fiber tripod just like this one and the first week I used the carbon fiber tripod one of the top leg joints got totally stuck and I was never able to open it again. The other 2 tripods are fine but 1 out of 3 is not a good percentage. Buyer beware!

[@thepepsiboys69420]

I was gonna get a carbon tripod over an aluminium tripod thank god i didnt.

[@janneroz-photographyonabudget]

I have nearly the exact same thing, only aluminium, others that I know in local groups have bought the same thing as a cheap alternative. It seems that the build quality is hit or miss. It's a 50/50 split. You get a one in two chance of getting a good one, as I have or a complete lemon. I find that mine, as a cheap alternative does brilliantly, much the same as much more expensive items. Other people that I know have bought ones that are just, basically, pieces of crap. Is it worth the gamble and hassle? No. As stated, I'm overjoyed with mine and the cost, I was just lucky.

[@wakuyanow]

The ball head on my KF-25 tripod popped off. I've hardly used it. So disappointing.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

It's shocking.....K&F reached out to me a few months back and admitted that their quality control was poor but that this video meant they were losing sales and they couldn't invest into it because of that!...Then tried to bribe me to remove it from YT. Says it all about K&F I think

[@anphotoart]

Considering the price, K&F carbon fiber are good tripods. Rebranded at twice the price are the same.

[@russellnewsham]

Got mine from Amazon 45 quid delivered next day

[@truckernige]

nice one Dave, i won’t be investing in one of those. i have a Manfrotto tripod, aluminium, pretty heavy but really good, really safe and really stable.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Same here - my Manfrotto is just solid. Had it for years, never any problems, needs a tighten up every now and again but solid as a rock, fantastic build quality and safe as houses. I suppose it is the age old saying - buy cheap, buy twice! Thanks

[@adamlittle8158]

@@LetsClickPhotography Same, big old Manfrotto. Stable as anything, slightly less portable than the Eiffel Tower!

[@flippy66]

Thanks for this review, I was about to pull the trigger on one of their aluminium leverlock models and saw this review, decided to go with the Manfrotto Advanced which is on sale at only a little more than the K&F. A travel tripod with an RRP of £200 must be better.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

I have two Manfrotto tripods, one travel and one pro. In their class and pricing bracket they are each easily the best tripods I have owned. They are well built, robust and reliable. Honestly think the extra money will prove a great investment for you.

[@nadsa.709]

What Tripod would you recommend then? 😩

[@LetsClickPhotography]

For a similar price point, probably something along the lines of the 'Manfrotto Element Mii' or the 'Three Legged Thing Punks Patti'

[@paulkennedycreativemedia]

Haha. Was wondering when this video would pop up. Nice review on something that you should not get. They might just send you for free and be ok to use in the studio to hold your camera with doing videos. Not built for outdoor use.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Definitely not mate, and yeah this will be limited to the talking head vids or a very underused travel tripod. Cheers

[@SniperPhotography]

I wouldn’t recommend anything from this K&F mob.Filters,tripods and anything they profess to be professional. Buy cheap,buy cheap many times.Buy well and only buy once. Not recommended. Great video and thank you for bringing this to us.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Cheers mate, yeah I won't be buying from them again that's for sure

[@bcegerton]

These tripods look good, on paper but they are not as good as they seem, well mine isn’t anyway. At the moment it’s in bits, picked it up the other night to put away and the head fell off,not where it’s supposed to either, just the way you said yours did, managed to get the head together but what happened to your legs has happened to mine. I’m just hoping I can get it back together as I can’t afford to go out and just buy another. Plus, my hook fell out a few weeks ago and those spirit levels are near useless, they are just too high and like you say you can’t see them half the time, even with an L Bracket on. You said you don’t want another K&F Product but to be honest, I think you’re being a little unfair, I’ve had filters from them for a few years with no issues, yes sure they do sell same really cheap ones, used to be even cheaper and awful but they’ve come a long way since then. I’ve had a few single ND Filters before, screw on one’s which cost about £25 and they were ok but now I’ve got their quite new Magnetic Filter Kit which I bought just after Christmas but only got around to using them a few weeks ago with quite good results, a better photographer ( wouldn’t be hard to find ) would get much better results though. I’m going to check to see if my tripod is still under warranty actually come to think of it. Love the videos Dave, keep them coming

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Thanks Brian, unfortunately it seems to be a widespread problem as from this video several others have told me they have the same issues. Like I mentioned in the video, I believe that they will repair/send a new one whilst under a warranty without too much hassle, other than the wait for it to be shipped. And I have also heard good things about their filters. However, for me, with this being the first product of theirs I had ever tried, it was a case of once bitten, twice shy. Definitely worth digging out the receipt though and getting onto them about it, let me know how it goes if you do - I'll add a little update note at the top of the video if you find all goes well with their after sales team. Thanks again Brian

[@bcegerton]

@@LetsClickPhotography I’ve got the email receipt, I’ve managed to put it back together BUT the biggest issue is trust, the whole top fell off the pole, and that was with nothing on it. My question, or my worry is, would I trust it to stay on with 2 grand of camera gear on it??? If they replace it I think I may just sell it, I did buy a Vanguard one at first but it was a little heavier and didn’t fold up as small, I think this is where they grab you. It does make a change to see a perfectly honest video, I’ve seen so many that rated the tripod I have but it’s funny that one in particular has never used it since

[@hobie1dog]

so far, mine is perfect. all the other videos on here praise it.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Glad to hear it Marty, honestly I do hope it stays that way for ya……as ever, I can only offer my experience with a product, and as you can see, it wasn’t good. It is interesting about some of the other reviews on here though isn’t it, wonder why that is….possibly the reason I personally turned down K&F’s ‘kind’ offer of a freebie 🤔🤔

[@hobie1dog]

I use.mine to attach a ham radio antenna on so that I can track satellites across the sky, also adapted a drill chuck so that I can put launch rods in to set off model rockets . Mine has the boom arm feature

[@user-km8fv5og5f]

Let'sㅡ ✔Hi! pleasantly a wide smile~^^15

[@philippk819]

Good review! Dammit, I thought I had found a good, compact and reasonably light tripod. But I guess there is no free lunch. Light and stable don't go together...I know the perfect tripod for my needs (DSLM and a 150-600 tele on a gimbal), the Rollei Rock Solid Alpha XL Mark III (the name says it all lol) and I don't even mind it's 399...but it's 66cm long packed and weighs 3,17kg...being a carbon tripod...guess the Flipside 500 won't do to carry it inside the backpack lmao...I consider it perfect since it got an integrated levelling plate and no center collumn (that's why it's 66cm packed). I just would have preferred something lighter and easier to pack. The weight of the equipment the tripod has to hold shouldn't be an issue...camera, lens and gimbal are about 3,5kg total...so I hoped I could get away with a good travel tripod.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

Cheers mate. Yeah this tripod won't do you any good at all - this is not even close to the Rollei. I've done a few workshops with folks using various models from the travel range of Three Legged Thing and they always have good things to say about them, pack down to around 30-40cm (model dependant) and weigh circa 1.5kg - I ended up buying one of their pro line due to the amount of good things I was hearing (much like the Rollei though the pro-line are a tad long packed down so no good for your use) and it is serving me well - anyways here's a link to the travel line (it's on Amazon UK btw so don't know if any good for your neck of the woods), might be worth a look if you haven't come across them before amzn.to/3rXo8GO

[@philippk819]

@@LetsClickPhotography thanks for the hint. I of course considered Three Leggend Thing since they always come up when good tripods are mentioned. I'm new to the use of gimbals with long tele lenses, so I wasn't entirely sure what kind of tripod to consider, but as it turns out, I wasn't far off with that Rock Solid. Rollei however offers two dedicated gimbal systems, the Lion Rock Gimbal in an M and L variant. They are based on the Lion Rock 25 and 30 tripods respectively. The Lion Rock line is also part of their pro series and the 25 and 30 as the name implies carry 25 and 30kg. They are a bit more compact and hence lighter than the Rock Solid line. The M should do as the gimbal is rated for 10kg. If I got that right, the tripod itself should collapse down to 53cm and weigh 2.4kg. I should be able to find a backpack that can fit it inside. Of course the question remains whether I even need to carry it inside. I clearly would prefer it but the more important feature obviously would be enough internal space for the camera + lend and gimbal ;-). The gimbals actually are rebranded Fotopro products. The M version eg. is the Fotopro E-6H, which is considered to be among the best. One really nice and also pretty unique feature is that the side arm can be swivelled up to 180°. If it is swivelled backwards by lets say 45°, you get a lot more leeway to move the camera/lens upwards for astro photography since it is farther off the center of the tripod.

[@micksullivan6678]

Yep ive this brand of tripod and experienced same problems utter rubbish

[@nokianx400]

Shoot, I just bought a K&F from B&H because it went on sale for $129. I'll try to cancel it.

[@LetsClickPhotography]

You might get lucky and get a good one - the responses to me from photographers have been about 50/50 as to whether it fell apart - not great odds though!

[@sugarcell4580]

Just got their geared tripod head. There’s play in it and they won’t exchange it. Garbage.

[@jamesl.9776]

Wtf?