A top quality, super smooth and quick to set up professional tripod.Over the years I have used a number of professional tripods from Manfrotto and Vinten, plus consumer tripods from various brands such as Velbon and K&F Concept.This is my first SmallRig tripod, though I have a few other SmallRig accessories such as a phone cage, grips, mounts etc.I like SmallRig kit as it is generally well priced and very good quality, but this exceeds on both scores - sadly the wrong way on the price score!What might immediately stand out is that price - this is the most expensive tripod listed on the SmallRig site - in fact you may have trouble finding it on their site as it is listed under their Co-Designed products section.At almost £800 this is a lot more than the other tripods SmallRig make, but it is superb quality... but I'll get into that in a moment.First of all let's address that Co-Designed thing...This Tripod has a number of badges on it - first of all SmallRig which you woudl expect. Then there is Tribex which appears to be the model name. But then there is Potato Jet...You may know Potato Jet from YouTube - he's a California guy that plays with a lot of photo gear, and produces some pretty in-depth reviews of that kit.This tripod has been co-designed with him, though exactly which bits were the result of his input I have yet to find out (he does have a video on his channel about this very tripod, but I've yet to watch it).There were limited editions of the tripod that have now sold out, though the limited edition aspects were largely just colour accented elements rather than functional. One functional element in the limted edition, though, was the centre column locking mechanism - on the limted edition this was alever mechanism, whereas on the standard edition it is a knob.OK, so what makes this special?Well, it's carbon fibre construction is a good start, though don't expect that to make it particularly light. This is still a pretty heftly piee of kit weighing in at just under 4Kg according to the spec, though it does feel a bit heavier.As is typical a lot of that weight is in the head, and this is a quality head. It has adjustable fluid damping for smooth panning and tilting - and this works brilliantly.The head also has an adjustable counter-balance feature which works up to the max head load of 6Kg.The Quick Release plate is a Manfrotto style plate and hasa locking knob as well as a release button, and the plate itself has two moveable screw sizes fitted including the now ubiquitous 1/4".The plate has left and right mount points for the arm/handle, and the arm is extendable and has a foam grip.Both the sticks themselves and the head have spirit levels so you can ensure you have everything set up level.But all of this is pretty standard fare so far... so what makes this stand out.Well, SmallRig call it 'X-CLUTCH Hydraulic Technology'.Basically this is a handle at the top of the sticks that extends the legs with a squeeze of the handle. At first thsi seemed like a bit of a gimmick, but it actually works really well and means that you can both get the correct height and a level tripod very quicly and easily. It looks a bit overkill and for a handle this size I expected it to be multi-functional, but it works really really well.With the legs not extended the head sits at 71cm above the ground, with them fully extended it sits at 141cm. This can be further extended with the centre column to 168cm.By spreading the tripod legs (via the slightly fiddly locks at the top of the legs) yo can get low as the centre column allows OR the centre column is actually removable to achieve just 27cm above the ground. (The centre column is removed by unscrewing a grub screw near the top of the centre column, just below the head, with the included Allen key )The centre column also has a henging hook on the bottom for hanging weights to further stabilise teh tripod. The tripod has a max load of 25Kg altogether.The tripod is supplied with detachable feet. With the feet removed ground spikes are revealed at two angles for use when the legs are at a 'normal' spread or when they are wide.Oddly for such a professional set of sticks, this tripod is also supplied with a pretty flimsy phone holder! It works, and has two 1/4" screw holes for mounting wither vertically or flat (or maybe the mount hole of the rear is for attaching accessories to the phone mount?!). But this seems like an odd inclusion. The wight of a phone does not justify a tripod as sturdy as this!If you do want to use a phone on this tripod, though, I have also tried my SmallRig phoen cage and that actually works quite well, though aligning the sensor/lens axis is with teh tripod head axis aint hapenning so pans are a little off centre.Everything comes in a neat bag with straps and an end handle. There are a couple of mount points on the bag for the longer straps so you can carry as you prefer (over your shoulder or horizontal) comfortably. The bag also has an insode zipper cmpartment for the handle/arm and accessories (phone mount, spare QR plate screws and caps, and the supplied allen key for those screw mounts.So what's missing?Two things are missing in my opinion.The tripod is not supplied with a ground-spreader. At this price I woudl have expected a ground-spreader to have been included, though it looks like the standard SmallRig ground-spreade, at about £60, shoudl fit this tripod based on the supplied feet.The only other thing is a roll axis. Of course you can create some roll by setting the leg lengths unevenly, but his is not the same as being able to tilt the mounting plate through 90 degrees.At the time of writing the SmallRig site is also missing a user manual for this tripod. I figured most things out, but it would be nice to confirm that I am adjusting things correctly and not removing something that shouldn't be removed. (The only paperwork supplied is a Service and Warranty note saying "We are here for you" with a QR code linking to the SmallRig website.In summary, then...At this price this tripod is not going to be for everyone. But if you want a great quality, versatile tripod for photo or video work then this is great.The lack of roll axis on the head means it probably lends itself to video more than photo, but with camera cages this is less of an issue these days than it once was.I am really, really impressed and this cements further SmallRig's reputation as a superb quality photo and video kit manufacturer.

This is undoubtedly a superbly made tripod. Its materials, construction and attention to detail are first rate. I can see this being purchased and used by professionals both in the video and traditional photographic fields.I'm not going to try and give a technical review of this as there are many technical comments out there on this product already. Nevertheless I will give some comments on how I found it to set up and use in a photography sense.Firstly the tripod is very solidly put together, everything is smooth and fits together well. Clips, screws and knobs all operate very smoothly with high levels of accuracy and no looseness in any moving parts.There is a downside to the fantastic construction and that is the weight. I measured it at about 5kg. The tripod is quite heavy and if you are are carrying this for much of the day you would be very tired. It is definitely more suited to be transported by vehicle and then set up where you want it rather than hiking over mountain ranges with this on your back. I cant see many landscape photographers wanting to carry this all day.However, the positive side of the weight is that it is very stable, little chance of being blown over unless there is a hurricane... The feet that automatically adjust according to the tripod leg angle make sure it is well placed on the ground. These feet can be removed and beneath there are spikes to allow placement on grass or soil. Basically the most stable tripod I have used.The stand out feature of this tripod is the hydraulic leg system which is supposed to level the tripod on uneven ground. This takes some getting used to in order to get a truly level tripod and I found the bullseye bubbles to be too small to gauge when truly level. It is quick but needs a bit of fine tuning. It is easier to do this without the camera in place as it is lighter.The camera is attached via a detachable plate which slides onto the top of the head. This head needs a screw to be loosened and a button on the opposite side to be depressed in order to attach / detach. It is a good safety mechanism but can be fiddly as they are on opposite sides of the plate, it would have been easier to have them next to each other perhaps? The1/4" male screw has no easy way of turning it, a small right angled lug on the bottom would have been a great help, a lot of mechanisms have these on. I guess you could probably purchase one for 50c..In summary this tripod is certainly extremely well made. It is aimed towards the professional photographer or movie maker who needs something robust that will last and also be adaptable to the environment / terrain it is in. It is certainly not cheap and I cant see a big market with amateur photographers at the price it is now. Nevertheless if you are a professional and want a top tear tripod I would suggest checking this out.I have given it 5 stars as technically it is very high quality, the price is something that is up to you to justify - if you see it has benefit for you.Recommended