RobusRC-8860 Vantage Series 5 Carbon Fiber Tripod -

The Robus RC-8860 is an absolutely beautiful piece of kit. I'm no machinist, but one gets the feeling that this item is solid, steady, reliable and long-lasting. And the entire kit also includes spiked feet, the wide circular feet (which seem to be the rage these days with newer tripods) and a decent carrying case (good luck trying to get this last item included with an RRS or Gitzo). A couple of issues that I don't care for: First, the legs are a bit stiff to fold in and out. I was able to somewhat fix this by using an Allen wrench to slightly loosen one of the two screws that connect each leg to the spider base. Be careful not to overdo it, as it only takes a slight loosening before you feel an easing of the tension. Overdo it, and the legs will flop around. You just need to find the sweet spot. Second, it's a beast, as others have accurately described it; heavy and a bit unwieldy to set up and break down. This is more of an observation than a criticism, since it is, after all, a beefy Series 5 tripod. It's not meant to hike with in the back-country of Yosemite. It's more suitable for a stationary shoot with large heavy lenses (think of a bird photographer situated for long periods of time in a bird blind with his 600mm f/4 attached to a heavy-duty gimbal head). Lastly, the mechanism that locks each leg into the various angles (as you situate the tripod closer to the ground) isn't spring-loaded like you would find on an RRS or Gitzo. In order to set each leg to the target position you must manually push in each leg lock to set the desired angle. It's not a deal breaker, but a mild annoyance. For these reasons I would rate it 4.5 stars, but I decided to round up to 5 instead of down to 4. Bottom line: I would buy this product again. It's an absolute steal at its current price. Last comment: If you need something slightly lighter and more mobile, consider one of the two Robus Series 3 tripods.

If you want a very stable camera tripod, especially for outdoor use, and you don't want to pay 3x the price for a Gitzo, this is the one you want. The quality is very high; machined components are exceptionally well finished (40 years in machine shop). It is a large tripod, though being mostly carbon fiber the weight is not unmanageable.

Mounting a gimbal head and long lens zoom its very sturdy. Well built and solid. Although its carbon fibre its a bit on the heavy side for backpacking/hiking. This model is not meant for that anyway.

There was a defective mounting bolt that was replaced by customer service in a very expedient manner. Very pleased!

I bought the Robus RC-8860 to support my 600mm f/4 on a gimbal head. Even though the 17pounds combined weight of camera, lens and gimbal are substantially less than the 77 pound capacity of this set of legs. I wanted the peace of mind only a substantial tripod could provide. So far I am more than impressed with the build and quality. The legs are beefy but light for the size. The large easy to grip leg locks require a little less than 1/4 turn to lock and unlock. The aluminum parts are machined very nicely and are of a very high quality. It comes with a nice set of feet, points and a set of large flat feet. There is a nice solid aluminum base for mounting what ever head you want. There is also a nice large removable hook on the base bottom for hanging your pack or weight for extra stability. it also comes with a 1/2 bowl for a video or leveling head. There is a fairly nice case that will accommodate a 5 inch high head mounted on the tripod. So far it has done a great job of supporting my long lens in a variety of situations. I am impressed enough to order the Robus RTH-1050 ball head. And the best part is that it is hundreds of dollars less that other equivalent tripods. In the end, I am very comfortable trusting it to support $16,000 of equipment.