Dolica TX570B150SL Ultra Compact Tripod with Professional Ball Head (Black)

I bought this for an overseas trip as an alternative to my studio setup, a full-size 4.5lb Induro AT-214 and 1lb Giottos ball-head. In short: I'm impressed. This is an excellent tripod.DESIGN:Tried and true: telescoping aluminum leg extensions with short-throw twist locks, three leg angles with full reversal for storage, a two-level telescoping reversible center column, and a ball head. The legs don't twist. The connection base appears to be made of the same solid cast metal as my Induro. No foam leg covers to save your hands in cold weather, though.A few noticeable features are missing: an angle adjustment on the center column (e.g., Manfrotto 190), spring-loaded leg locks, and the ability to detach a leg to make a monopod. Dolica's TX570B150DS does the last; this TX570B150SL doesn't. There's also no way to attach the ball head to the legs absent the center column. Still, both versions come with a decent padded case and two hex keys.Actual weight is 2.64 lbs. (The lightest carbon travel tripods at four times the price are around 2 lbs.) Compacted height is 13.25". The packed case is 2/5 the height of my Induro case and half the weight. Taking the Induro anywhere always involves a mental calculation of whether I'll actually use the thing. This Dolica is like an overstuffed umbrella; I'd throw it in a backpack without a second thought. When set up, height to viewfinder with a 5D II (no battery grip) is 49" (center collapsed), 54" (center up one), and 60.5" (center up two). At 6'1", I find it comfortable enough at 54" and short at 49".My first copy had a noticeable tilt of about 2 degrees, I believed caused by a casting defect in the base. My replacement copy has no tilt. This is a nuisance only; it's easy to compensate with the ball head.BALL HEAD:Exceptional at this price. It's strong locked down. I had no qualms attaching my 5D II, battery grip, 200/2.8L with tripod collar, and 1.4X TC. A 20 pound dumbell on one side of the QR plate didn't cause any shift in position. Ball adjustments on all axes are smooth at partial tension. It's actually easier to use than my $150 Giottos.Twisting the base without the lock engaged is smooth. Engaging the lock raises the effort, but not consistently. Double-check that the head is screwed on tight before you rotate the head with high lock tension. It wouldn't be that hard to unscrew by accident.The ball doesn't shift position when it's being locked (unusual, this), but flex in the camera frame itself will cause some droop with telephoto lenses that aren't attached with a collar. The plate has excellent grip and secures tightly by hand or with a coin. It doesn't twist with my 5D II and 200/2.8 in portrait position.There's no trigger on the head to release the QR plate lock, so you need to loosen the top knob all the way and tilt the camera to raise it off the head. Not a big deal, just a bit slower than rigs where you can slide the plate out.STABILITY:Good for this size, material, and weight. Carbon fiber and wood damp vibrations better than aluminum, and heavy tripods do better than light ones. Clearly we're starting at a disadvantage. I did a few ad-hoc measurements. The setup was: Canon 5D II, 100/2, focused on a distant object, zoomed to 10X in Live View. I flicked the ball head hard and timed how long it took for vibrations to disappear. I did this twice for each configuration. I also tried my 200/2.8 (no lens collar) and did one trial with the Induro.All legs extended, center column down: 3 seconds (8 w/ 200mm) (46" to base of camera) (Induro: 5 w/ 200mm)All legs extended, center column up one: 6 secondsAll legs extended, center column up two: 18 seconds (25 w/ 200mm)Smallest leg contracted, center column down: 1 secondSmallest leg contracted, center column up one: 3 seconds (42" to base of camera)Smallest leg contracted, center column up two: 12 secondsResonant vibrations are not a strong suit with the center column raised. They have a definite period as the image shakes, stabilizes, and shakes again as the energy moves up and down the legs. Again, status quo for a tripod at these specifications. Hanging a 10lb bag from the bottom ring reduced the times only slightly, perhaps 10%. If the bag swayed even the slightest bit, leg flex was visible on the screen. I wouldn't attach a weight unless part of it was sitting on the ground.Other best practices:* Don't ever extend the second center-column extension if you can help it. This tripod won't stabilize in any sort of breeze at full extension. If you can, drop the center column entirely and retract the last leg sections.* With long lenses (>135mm), use 'Live View' mode for long exposures. Mirror Lockup (MLU) doesn't wait long enough to let vibrations die.* For short lenses with both center extensions down, MLU is fine.* Use the camera's self-timer or a remote release.* Use tripod collars with long lenses to balance the rig weight directly above the ball-head. This'll also make it harder to knock the tripod over.* Disable image stabilization with slow shutter speeds. If it's very windy or the center column is raised, leave it on for faster shutter speeds.IN SUM:For this price, I like it. A lot. It shames the Manfrotto MKC3-H01, another ~$75 travel tripod I reviewed that has only greater base height in its favor. The closest alternative is MeFoto's A0350Q0T. That one costs twice as much and looks for all the world like the same model. Save for the defect in the first copy, there's no significant fault to this Dolica. Shorter folks with lenses under 300/5.6 may well find it equal to any purpose, travel or not.I discovered two issues in extended use: first, the main adjustment knob doesn't have an end stop. If that knob rubs against a pack while you're walking, it's possible it can unwind itself and fall off. Then you're SOL. The second issue is that the hex screws that attach each leg to the base can loosen. Not entirely, but enough to make that leg floppy when not in use. Thread locker can prevent this.

I’ve been in the market for an upgraded tripod for several years and I’ve decided to get a travel sized one because having something with me all the time is better then not having it when I need one. After a lot of research, I decided to go with the Dolica TX570DS. I was impressed with the reviews and specs of the tripod and going with a Dolica which has a good name behind it was a safe bet. I also watched several YouTube reviews on the tripod compared to other models and I was impressed (even though the reviews were not the best, for my needs it would be perfect). I also loved the idea of having a mono-pod which was built into one of the legs.When the tripod came in, I jumped right in, opened the box and it was setup in about 90 seconds. My first impressions were it seemed very light weight which many people related to “cheaply built” but in my view that was expected (since it is a budget tripod and its greatest feature is its size and weight). The tripod comes with a bag, head, tools, and some instructions (which I disregarded). I started with expanding the legs and applying some weight to it. Its my goal to mount my laptop between the legs so I can use my camera tethered. My laptop only weighs a few pounds and combined with the camera I will be about 1/2 the max load. If needed, I can always put the laptop on the ground but I don’t think I will need to. There was some flex to the legs and the legs did collapse a bit but I was applying way more then the 15 pounds it was rated for so I was very happy with its strength.I then removed one of the legs and converted it to a monopod and I wasn’t impressed. I don’t think it had anything to do with the monopod, I just learned that I would have little need for it. I tried taking a few long exposure pictures but I was not able to keep the camera steady enough to make it work right. This is something I will play with more to see if I can find a good use for a monopod.The real reason for choosing this tripod was its portability. I started to play around with getting it to nicely pack in my existing camera bag. I tried to connect it to the outside using the straps on my backpack and it did fit well but I was a little concerned about it falling off. This is more a limitation of my camera bad since the straps were not long enough to wrap around the tripod. I then connected it to one of my D-rings using the tripod bag and that worked really well. It also fit inside my bag which I didn’t expect. Of course, I can just carry the tripod using the included bag. Having several options for packing the tripod is something I never had with my other ones given its size and weight. The new travel version fit my gear perfectly and was the main reason for my decision for getting this particular model.The last thing to check was mounting the camera and start taking pictures (really long exposure to test its stability). I mounted my quick release plate and ran to get my camera. I had it mounted with my 28-200 lens which I consider rather small and light compared to may other lens. This is where i found its critical flaw. The head would not hold its position no matter how much I tighten the head. I even replaced my 28-200 with a prime 35 and I still had an issue with the camera holding its position. There are 2 possibilities for this happening. Either the head is defective or very poorly designed.I contacted the company about the issue and received a reply a few hours later. They will replace the head under warranty at no cost to me and they did seem concerned about my issue. I am not sure if this reaction was because this is a common problem with the tripod or a rarity and Dolica wanted to protect their good name by correcting the problem right away. I just need to email my information, receipt, and a picture of the problem and there was no cost associated with shipping the bad head back to them. I will update the post once I receive the new head and let you know if its better. I ordered a small (really cheap ballhead from Amazon just in case the new head has issues but I plan to continue my research on a replacement head just in case.I was determined not to let this defect affect my weekend plans of visiting several state parks and shooting some landscapes. Since I couldn’t rely on the head holding its position, I will need to hold the camera into position for each shot and hope for the best. Overall, I am very happy with my weekend trip for one main reason. The portability of this tripod is fantastic. I will need to reconfigure my bag because I would prefer to carry it inside my bad instead of the outside but in a pinch, it can be easily be connected to one of my bad D-Rings.If the replacement head works as expected, I will revisit the review and give it 5 stars. If the replacement head has the same issue, I will give 3 stars.