Pros:

–Weighs in at 2 lbs 4 oz.

–Extends to 67″ from ground to platen.

–19 inches collapsed, so it can fit in a backpack (with a few inches sticking out)

–Padded booties on the upper most segment… a joy for walking around with the tri in your hand.

–3 Lockable leg positions. Narrow, wide, and super wide for getting the tripod near the ground.

–*invertable stem*! Just unscrew the stem in the middle, pull it out, invert, screw back… and HELLO… you have a tripod for doing close-up macro shots!

–Separable stem- can unscrew lower portion and leave it off… so you can collapse the tripod down near the ground.

–3 leg segments. While it limits how short it’ll be once it is collapsed, you can extend/retract fewer segments faster (i.e., 9 clips vs. 12 for a 4 segment design)

–Head can adjust pitch by about 300 degrees, roll/tilt by about 90 degrees, and 360 yaw**(with caveats, see cons)

–Ability to hold a Canon T1i *with* a 200mm lens fully extended without droop.

–Has liquid-level.

–Hackable: most parts on it have obvious ways of removing/dis-assembly using screws or threads rather than being punched or welded in place. If you’re creative you may be able to do some interesting things with this feature. In my case, I unscrewed and drilled the plastic cap at the bottom of the stem, installed a J-hook, and pow! I can now hang my camera bag from it. My other tripod is well constructed, but quite a few of its components look like they’ve been welded or heavy-pressed in place… so no dis-assembly and therefore diminished mod-ability.

Cons:

–Yaw is the most odd part of the design. There is a 1mm hex screw that locks yaw in place. If you loosen this, you can have “free-er” yaw, but on mine, its still very tight even with the hex bolt removed. If you adjust the yaw clockwise while holding the stem, its fine, if you adjust yaw counterclockwise the head unscrews (unless you torque it down really tight which I don’t want to do).

-Platen lock mechanism: There is a plastic pin in there thats designed to assist in mounting the cam. It’ll hold the latch open until the platen is dropped in. Mine is already wearing and has failed. Not a big deal… I just hold the latch open before I mate the platen into the head, but I think the design for this can stand to improve… at a minimum change the plastic pin to an aluminum one.

Summary:

If this was a $200+ tripod, I’d give it 4 stars given the cons. For a sub-$100 tripod, it easily earns 5 stars. You want a portable, sturdy tripod, here it is.

Rating: 5 / 5

Pros:

-Aluminum construction. This means solid, jitter-free construction versus overpriced, plastic-construction tripods from Best Buy. I just shake my head at the Best Buy tripods.

-Amazingly portable due to its low mass and collapsible, 3-section leg design.

Cons:

-The lowest leg sections are thin and small (diameter-wise). Great for reducing weight, but bad for stability. I recommend extending the smallest section last.

-A little unstable when fully extended. I’m 6’2″, and to get the tripod to a comfortable height requires full leg extension and almost full extension of the stem. While vibration dampening is still good, the tripod has a tendency to twist about the center axis. So I rarely use it fully extended. I just extend the legs, leave the stem almost the entire way down, and squat to the viewfinder. :-/

-No pan. I know it’s a ball head, and Slik doesn’t claim it can pan. But it would be great to have pan as well since I love to shoot multiple-image panoramics. The ball head either allows several degrees of freedom (untightened) or none at all (tightened).
Rating: 5 / 5

I first replaced the stock center column with the optional shorter column sold as an accessory. I do not believe that a lightweight tripod such as the 330DX should be used with an extended center column. Another option would have been to shorten the stock center column by sawing off a portion of its length. However, I opted to use the accessory column as a more professional looking modification.

Secondly, I replaced the rather heavy stock SLIK pan/tilt head with an Adorama Flashpoint F-1 Arca Compatible magnesium ball head. This head not only considerably reduces the total package weight but allows the use of a Really Right Stuff L-Bracket. The RRS L-Bracket increases stability by eliminating the need to cantilever the camera/lens over to the side of the head when using a non-tripod-ring equipped camera/lens in the portrait position. This head provides a significant advantage in stability while lowering the total weight of the modified tripod/head package.

The modifications reduce the weight of the SLIK Pro 330DX tripod/head package from its stock 3.5 pounds to only one pound, eleven ounces yet allows me to adequately support my 1.6x cameras with either my 17-55mm f/2.8 IS or 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses. The modified tripod/head has performed very well; even in some rather heavy winds while photographing Bryce Canyon, Utah.

The one drawback with this package is that it is fairly short in height. I adequately compensate for the lack of height by using a right-angle viewfinder which weighs only an ounce or two and allows me to comfortably shoot from the lower platform. I would give this setup five stars if it were only a bit taller. However, if it were taller, it would also be heavier. I wish that the SLIK Pro 330DX had been available without the need to purchase the pan/tilt head but, tripods in this price range are usually not offered without a head.

I really like my modified SLIK Pro 330DX and since it is so light and small of a package; I can carry it everywhere with no problems.
Rating: 4 / 5