Velbon VEX440 Tripod

I bought this as backup for my regular (heavy) Velbon tripod, to provide a much lighter alternative to go with my MM3 travel scope, which is itself a lighter alternative to my full size Swarovski.I'm generally quite happy with it so far, the whole outfit is much lighter than my other gear. My reservations were and are that it would not be satisfactorily steady for the scope (it is better than I expected) and that the all-plastic pan and tilt head would be fragile. This will remain to be seen, but after past experience with a cheapish tripod bought from Currys which was total rubbish (the plastic clamp ring broke at the first tightening and the clamping screws lost their thread nearly as quickly...straight to the bin), caution will prevail. This one seems a much better design, but I will be very cautious when tightening the clamp screws. Any problems and I will update this review. Overall on first impressions I rather like it and will try it out seriously in Portugal this summer. Will update if need be.Update after a few uses: I still like it for light use, goes quite well with my Opticron MM360 fieldscope, also as expected a little bit shaky hands-on. Best to set it up and view without touching to avoid vibration. One bad fault emerged though - the plate clamp is not secure and can allow the tripod to separate from the scope or camera when carrying it fitted, fortunately it was the tripod which dropped to the ground rather than the scope, but this is potentially disastrous. I will be modifying the tripod head to fit a locking plate clamp for peace of mind.July 2018: done that for peace of mind, successfully, with the aid of high strength bonding agent and a metal locking clamp. Another problem has arisen though, the horizontal swivel clamphand screw loosens and falls off too readily, lost it the second time and had to improvise a new one.A bit more attention to detail design at minimal extra cost would be welcome ...So, a decent little tripod but take care.

Very lightweight especially for a tripod really study very good make.

I just got my Velbon EX-440 tripod. It's very compact, which is important to me and very easy to carry.It’s very quick to set up and easy to secure the camera.A good, inexpensive choice.

Great for still but also works well if shooting video. Obviously it doesn't have a fluid head but is still smooth

brilliant light weight tripod

good quality

great product

Very happy