(2 views/week)
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Review Date
September 2, 2009
Overall Rating
 5 of 5
Value Rating
 5 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
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Reviewed by
meschow
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$58.00
at Wal-Mart
Photography Experience
11-20 years
, People
Summary
I purchased the DF 60 to replace one that was broken by T.S.A. on a trip. It has worked well since mid 2006, in a variety of situations, locations, and with a number of cameras, from point and shoot to SLR to video cams to 15 x 30 binoculars.
I have not found it too light, or flimsy, it is sturdy, compact and has never disappointed me. This unit feels light, but in use is a very sturdy unit. I have never had a problem with it.
It is probably not for the full time pro, but for the average user it will work fine, as long as they treat it like any good piece of equipment.
Strengths
It is quick and easy to set up and use.
Quick release is nice, as i use more than one cameras. The extra QR plates are not very expensive. Having the ability to change cameras in 15 seconds, instead of 2 or 3 minutes of messing with a non QR mount is really nice. That is the man reason for QR plates, not one handed camera changes.
Easy adjustment for level, thanks to the built in bullseye level.
Light weight, so I can take it on camp outs with my Scout Troop, take it to the lake, or even to meetings, with out making a big production of it.
Weaknesses
The pan head does need a quick spray of white lithium grease now and then to feel smooth and move easy, but is not a real problem.
QR hold open clip needed to be heated up a little and bent up so it held open the QR latch, and I polished the base plate under the latch so it moved a little easier. A quick spray of white lithium grease under the latch also helps.
No J hook to add weight on the center column, but I was able to fix that for under $2.00 US.
Similar Products Used
I have used a number of tripods over the years, from top line professional fluid heads down to $5 discount specials, and the DF 60 has pleased me more than most, if not nearly all.
Customer Service
I have never needed to contact the customer service
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Review Date
June 8, 2009
Overall Rating
 3 of 5
Value Rating
 4 of 5
Used product for
Less than 1 month
Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes
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Reviewed by
QPhoto
, Professional
Price Paid
$89.00
at local camera shop
Photography Experience
6-10 years
, People
Summary
I use my DSLR with a bracket and off-camera flash, and the complete setup is heavier than many tripods can handle. I hoped that the DF-60 would serve my needs for a sturdy yet lightweight tripod.
The legs were sturdy and were easy to adjust. In the box there was one quick-release plate and an order form for replacement plates (QB-5W). A quick check on the Internet showed several vendors that offered replacement plates at similar prices. The leveling bubble was a nice feature to have.
However, the quick-release head itself was poorly designed. In my opinion, after releasing the camera with the latch, that latch should remain locked open. That way you can snap the camera back into place with one hand. While the DF-60 is designed to function this way, in practice it doesn't work, since the latch doesn't stay locked open. This makes putting the camera back on a two-handed operation: one hand to open the latch, and the other to put the camera back. Though it may seem like a small inconvenience, it effectively negates the advantage of the quick-release mechanism. What's worse, even after you put the camera back on, the latch is only partially closed, and you need to press it fully closed. Otherwise, the camera is only partially held in and could snap out. My camera snapped out a few times, whether or not the latch was firmly shut.
The mechanism that is supposed to hold the latch open is a thin plastic tab. You can push the tab up to keep the latch open, but the tab felt flimsy and breakable. A better design to keep the latch open is to use a button that is kept pushed up by means of a metal spring. This design is used on other tripods, even ones made by Velbon.
I made a quick comparison to the quick-release heads of a few other Velbon tripods. The DF-40's quick-release latch is held open by an even smaller, weaker plastic tab. The DF-50 has no mechanism at all to keep the latch locked open at all. The Videomate 607 has a spring-loaded button to hold the latch open, and sports many of the features of the DF-60. However, since it is designed for videocameras, it pans in only two dimensions rather than the DF-60's three, and it costs more.
Another complaint of the DF-60 is that at full extension of the legs and head, the tripod is unstable and can't hold heavier setups. Moreover, there isn't a weight hook at the bottom of the center post to stabilize the tripod.
In the end, I returned the tripod, since its quick-release feature is flimsy, and the head can't hold heavier camera setups. This might be a nice tripod for casual users, but not for professionals.
Strengths
Sturdy legs, doesn't wobble like lightweight tripods, leveling bubble.
Weaknesses
Quick-release mechanism flimsy and requires two hands to use, unstable with heavier cameras, no weight hook to stabilize load.
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Review Date
August 10, 2002
Overall Rating
3 of 5
Value Rating
 3 of 5
Used product for
More than 1 year
Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2 votes
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Reviewed by
Jerry Monroe
, Expert
, from San Diego CA
Price Paid
$60.00
at local
Photography Experience
21+ years
, Other
Summary
There are lots of better tripods thans this one. I have four others. However, for the price, this is a first rate product. For a 4 lbs. unit, there is a limit to how steady one can expect it to be. The fact is that it holds the camera and with reasonable care the operator can expect to get steady pictures.
Strengths
Light, easy to use, sets up quickly, has a quick release (very important) and is black (rather than one of those shiny sivler ones).
Weaknesses
Light (so it could be steadier), made of plasic (easily breakable) and the head does not operate smoothly (for still pictures, who cares?)
Similar Products Used
four other tripods, from $50 to $500 and from 3 lbs to 20 lbs.
Customer Service
no occasion to use it
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Review Date
October 29, 2001
Overall Rating
 1 of 5
Value Rating
 1 of 5
Used product for
3 Months to 1 year
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Reviewed by
Jeff82
, Intermediate
Price Paid
$59.00
at Wolf Camera
Photography Experience
2-5 years
, Other
Summary
I''m posting this as a follow-up to my initial post.
Said tripod seemed sturdy. A leg broke after about a dozen uses. Since this was billed as a "heavy duty" tripod. I was very disappointed in its failure after light use.
Strengths
none
Weaknesses
Poor quality.
Does not hold heavier pro lenses too well, but otherwise it worked well.
Similar Products Used
numerous other tripods
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Review Date
March 5, 2001
Overall Rating
 4 of 5
Value Rating
5 of 5
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Reviewed by
J Drummond
, Intermediate
, from Portland, ME
Price Paid
$50.00
at netphotostore.com
Photography Experience
0-1 years
, Fine Art
Summary
As someone who's more greatly concerned with the making of images than the tools the images are made with, I give this tripod a firm stamp of approval. It holds my camera steady...and that's what it's designed to do. Anyone who isn't an exacting critic of the quality of their basic equipment would likely be very pleased with this tripod.
Strengths
The inclusion of a liquid level, retractable metal spikes in the feet and the overall weight of the tripod (I chose it because it's the heaviest in its feature and price class) make it a reasonably impressive offering at a modest price. (the $50 I paid online is a wildly distant contrast to the $80 I would've paid retail locally) I also appreciate the extended height of this tripod, and it's ability to remain stable when fully opened (attributed to its greater weight).
Weaknesses
Although I'm not the sort of photographer to put his equipment in mortal danger on jagged rock faces or in the midst of angry wildlife, I can't ignore some of this tripod's flimsy components. In particular, the plastic everything on this tripod (leg snaps, center post gear control, quick releasing head) seem on the verge of fragility. I sometimes cringe when I extend the legs at the stiffness in the leg snaps. Also, and this may be anally retentive nitpicking, the hard plastic feet afford no friction when placed on even the most mildly smoothed surfaces. A dense rubber would've been a far more useful material for them to be made from.
Similar Products Used
Flat rocks, calm and sturdy hands, pillows...in other words it's my first tripod.
Customer Service
They've already served me by manufacturing it... A tripod in this price range is more or less disposable, by my estimation. If it suffers a fatality, I'll simply buy a new one.
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