Are these tripods worth buying? or wasting my $$

[surapon]

Dear Friends
I have about 12 Tripods + 6 Monopod past 30 years Start from $ 20 US Dollars up to the High End of Tripods ($$$) and High end Ball head ($$$)/ Made in The Great USA.
But past 2 years when I travel around the world, I use The Cheap and Great carbon fiber Tripods from China ( Tripods + Monopod) = $ 144 US Dollars and can Carry Load = 20 Pounds = Because of Light weight on the Airplane, Carry On, Plus can stand my Big DSLR( Canon 1DS ) + Big 600 mm Lens too.Enjoy
Surapon

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-BK-586-Trans-Functional-Monopod-Olympus/dp/B0082XM8F2

 

[Djaaf]

Well, there is a pretty stable, relatively cheap, relatively lightweight, relatively small packing and extremely flexible tripod with the option of going monopod by Rollei, the Fotopro C5i:
http://www.amazon.com/Fotopro-C5i-Camera-Tripod-Titanium/dp/B007QSAQ8U/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409647301&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Rollei+Fotopro+c5i
Maybe this one matches your conditions

It looks awfully like the MeFoto Roadtrip that I bought last week.
If it's the same thing, that's a good tripod.
It's got a hook, 4-section legs and the ballhead is sufficient for a 6D + Samyang 14mm (not tested anything else on it yet. ).
If you extend the legs to the max, you can get your eye in the viewfinder without having to bend if you're 6 ft high. That said, it seems to me that it's more stable without extending the fourth section of the leg and raising the central column a bit instead.

Seems quite sturdy, and you can disassemble pretty much everything if you need to clean some parts.

In short, it's a good tripod. I may replace the ball-head one day though.

Djaaf.


Edit : It looks also awfully like the one Surapon showed.

 

[bluegreenturtle]

I wonder what the lightest tripod that includes a bowl (of any size) for leveling is. I guess you can add a leveler to one like shown above.

 

[dickgrafixstop]

I guess I'd have to admit I'm no expert when it comes to tripods - I bought my first one (and last one) over
40 years ago and still use it on a semi-regular basis. Although Leitz quit selling the Tilt-all several years ago,
it is still available in the original design and a quite reasonable price. It is made of high quality aircraft aluminum,
is not too heavy, has reliable legs and an infinitely adjustable head.