ARTCISE 81" Professional Carbon Fiber Tripod for DSLR Cameras - Heavy Duty 10-Layer Carbon Fiber Legs with 32.5mm Tube & Low Profile Ball Head - Compatible with Canon Nikon Sony DSLR/SLR/Digital Camcorders - Perfect for Travel, Photography, Videography & Outdoor Shooting

It arrived a day earlier than Amazon said! Initial impressions...Wonder of wonders, the Instruction Manual i...all 26 X 4 3/4 inches oft, was well written in English, and probably Chinese, too. Apparently excellent construction, including a beautifully made ball head. 44 lbs. weigt limit. Durable? Amazon info says 8 year warranty. It may outlive me! Time will tell. I've had trouble finding an affordable tripod that fit my budget and height. I am 6 feet, and my eye height is 67-68 inches. The only real reviews of the ripod were on YouTube; one fellow who said he was about the oldest blogger. We are of an age, and he is about my height. The other fellow was more talk than info, and I kept worrying whether he had checked under the log he sat on for rattlesnakes before he sat down. Sort of hard to to Tourniquet that area! With just the legs at full extension, the ball head is really above my head, and the camera eyepiece would be 3 1/2 in higher. All of my other tripods require use of the central column to reach a comfortable eye height, because I cannot stand bent over for any length of time. It's worse since I turned 75! Most of the other tripods I researched either needed a raised center column, or were excellent, but too expensive, or appeared flimsy. My tripod complete with the ball head weighs 4lb 14 ozs. and with the center column added to the scale, and 4 lb 8 ozs. with it removed. Not truly light weight...about 8 ozs. heavier than my aluminum "medium" tripod, but fairly easily carried. Can serve as a replacement for my heavy duty and medium tripods. I am at the stage of my photography where I agree with Minor White who said "Nothing more than 100 yards frm the car is interesting!" Not cheap, but won't break the bank...about 2 times what two of my photo buddies spent for their carbon fiber tripods...the ones with bright orange accents. But...I feel it will be an investment in longevity and good photography. I am pleased with my purchase! I'll update if/when new information appears.