VANGUARDVEO 2 PRO 233CO Carbon Fiber Tripod with Panhead

It is so small and super lightweight thanks to the carbon fiber. It is a perfect tripod to attach to your backpack. Highly suggest for landscape and weddings.The feel and usability feels robust and will last for a long timethe knobs are comfortable turning them. I love that has rubber around them to get a nice grip on them and doesn’t freeze your fingers on cold weather.It a tripod meant for tilt and panning videos, also to attach binoculars to get steady faraway sights. Do not but it for photography and if you are using gigantic lenses.

the tripod is great and lighter than my Pro GT but the quick change head plates are not interchangeable - you will need to order separate quick change plates

We love this purchase! We were able to attach our scope and comfortably watch a wolf pack at 500 yards away in Yellowstone a few weeks ago.

solid and sturdy .it works

Very nice pod, good quality

I’ve only used it once and the wind was blowing but it worked great

I’ve used (and been very happy with) the Manfrotto tripods that I have used over the years for both photography and for observation with scopes and binoculars. I tried this tripod from Vanguard for contrast, and generally don’t like it as much. Here are my observations and thoughts:First, there are a number of different Vanguard models from which to choose. Mine is aluminum (instead of carbon fiber), which makes it very lightweight (good) and for which the legs use latching levers instead of twist-to-lock rings (also good, at least in my opinion). Mine also has the “tilt and pan” head which is locked and unlocked by twisting the short straight handle, while there are other options including one in which the twist handle only controls tilting (while having a separate pan lock), and there are also video head models with longer, bent handles that operate differently.The “tilt and pan” option works well with a small camera and lens, or a small pair of binoculars, because it is quick and easy to operate. But with anything heavier, I think it’s much better to have the pan lock separate because of the danger of your expensive glass suddenly tilting forward and hitting something if you had been panning but didn’t lock the handle securely (I tend to leave the pan lock on other tripods only lightly secured most of the time to make panning easier).Also, the handle is quite short (thus good for portability but not good for binoculars or scopes because it comes too close to your eyes), and is fixed on the left side instead of being movable.I like this this tripod comes with a nice nylon carrying case, and also that it has a hook on the bottom that allows you to attach a weight (not included) for additional stability if needed.This tripod uses “Arcus” style mounting plates, which I have not used and found to be incompatible with the ubiquitous Manfrotto style plates, even though they are very close to the same dimensions.Also included are rubber feet (installed) and spiked feet, which you can change between by unscrewing and screwing. Some of the other leg and head adjustments require 2 different sizes of hex keys (included), but are sure to get lost. I wish that such items would have some compartment they could be stored in on the tripod so they don’t go astray.Bottom line: A decent lightweight tripod for a small camera, but not so good for binoculars, scopes, or longer lenses

EDIT: I originally rated this as a 4-star product, but am realizing there is one really annoying issue with this that will potentially make it unusable in the field, and that tips it to a 3-star rating, with serious concerns. Structurally, I'm still very satisfied with it. But upon using it further (outside to do some telephoto work with birds), I realized a serious flaw in design. The screw that holds the camera in place CANNOT be tightened fully (and therefore not adequately hold the camera in place) WITHOUT the larger of the two hex wrenches. The screw can be started up into the bottom of the camera with your fingers (if they're not too big), but the screw doesn't protrude far enough below the base of the top plate of the tripod to adequately grip. Once you've got it up into the camera, you MUST pull out the hex wrench to fully and securely tighten down the camera - a major flaw. How easy will it be to lose the hex wrench?!? And once it's gone, you have no way of disconnecting the camera from the tripod (or fastening it securely on in the first place) until you locate another same-size hex wrench. This relates to another criticism I had (below) in the original review. There is a bag of parts (including the hex wrenches) that go with the tripod, all in a plastic zip-lock bag (no problem by itself). But there is nowhere to PUT the bag of parts except to simply dump it into the accompanying bag that holds the tripod. That's inconvenient at best to get back out (pull out the tripod and then dump out the plastic baggie at the bottom). And if you put it aside (either the hex wrench by itself while out in the field, or the wrench inside the bag), and forget to load it back into the carrying bag - poof! You've lost the spike feet for the tripod legs along with the essential hex wrenches. A simple little zipper pouch on the carrying bag would have solved that issue easily, leaving a place to retrieve the hex wrenches when needed, and then immediately replace it/them in the zipper pouch on the outside of the carrying bag once they've done their job - no loss. Poor design, and I would have expected better for a tripod retailing at nearly $150 (at current pricing).One other thing worth mentioning is that the adjustment of the length of the tripod legs is EXCELLENT - just flip up the "clips" (my term - that's what they feel and work like to me), extend the legs to whatever length you want them, close the clip, and they're quite secure. No more screw-adjustments as in my two previous tripods - just flip open, adjust, easily squeeze back closed, and you're done in a second or two.So as stated below, I REALLY like the tripod itself! But the side issues truly do seriously downgrade it. I'm particularly worried about misplacing or inadvertently dropping the hex wrench, losing it, and then being unable to secure or remove my camera until I go find the same size hex wrench to replace it (not easy out in the field!). But if I was buying this at retail, and somehow knew what I know now, I would not have purchased it without the manufacturer having corrected the listed shortcomings - very sad, because I love the actual tripod overall.===== Original 4-star review follows =====Overall, the product itself is great. But there are a number of "small" things - including some privacy issues - that would drop this easily to a 3-star product. Only the actual tripod itself brings it back up to a 4-star product. And there are a couple of tripod-related issues that stood out to me. First, it's almost impossible to get a direct line of site on the lower level bubble (indicator), because of where it's situated, and a completely vertical viewing of it is impossible because part of the upper portion of the tripod is in the field of view. And if the tripod is extended to full height, most people will also be unable to see the upper level bubble directly either (plus, they're very small). I doubt I will ever use them in my "advanced amateur" status with a mere 35mm digital SLR.What I love about this are the exceptionally easy adjustments as well as the solidity of the tripod - VERY easy to set up and use (and adjust), and very stable.Two items to be aware of that I found: (1) the viewing issues for the two leveling indicator bubbles (see above), and the fact that it is NOT intuitive that the screw to hold down a camera on the top of the tripod is accomplished with one of the hex wrenches (the larger one). It appears that the indentation on the screw is a perfect circle, but way deep in that indentation is a hexagonal cut-out that fits the provided hex wrench perfectly. But that also risks loss of that wrench due to size and no easy place to store it, and tightening the screw to hold down your camera otherwise would be exceptionally difficult if not impossible. A slotted screw driver would work, but you'd have to have one with you if you lost the hex wrench. The instructions for that are almost buried, and very tiny.That also brings up the instructions. For a higher quality tripod, I'm very unimpressed with the "quality" (NOT!) of the documentation that came with it, despite the fact that the English is almost perfect. It seems to be a matter of how tiny and brief the type can be, and how many languages can be fit into a small piece of paper - not impressed! And the "Warranty Card" (which is actually a booklet) does not even specify the warranty period - just that it is governed by "national law granted to the first owner." To my knowledge, the United States has NO law governing what private companies are required to offer in the way of a warranty. And by going to their web site, even trying to register my product to activate the warranty, I still cannot get a statement of warranty period - just the possibility that they "MAY extend" (my emphasis) the warranty by virtue of my having gone to their web site to register the product.There is another problem. This is a product of Myanmar (a TINY sticker placed where it nearly unable to be read, and not disclosed in any of the printed literature). In order to register the product and activate your warranty, you are giving away a very substantial amount of privacy not only to Vanguard, but to other companies as well (none you've ever likely heard of, and whose whereabouts are not disclosed), if you read the printed literature, and particularly the on line privacy policy. Personally, since this was a free product for review, after reviewing the privacy policy, I am entirely unwilling to give away the amount of privacy this company calls for - so I apparently have zero warranty. Not impressed!Functionally, this appears to be a largely excellent product (nearly 5-stars), and it has instantly replaced my primary tripod, and now my backup tripod can be entirely eliminated (probably donated to Goodwill or Salvation Army). This is a keeper! If you've got the money for a "better" tripod, this one certainly qualifies as worth it - with the above concerns about privacy, unknown warranty, etc. Physically and functionally it's otherwise a fairly close to being a 5-star product.One other irritating (and easily correctable) item is the hardware and instructions. For the price, I think this is a glaring lack of detail. There are several pieces of loose hardware (two hex wrenches, spike tips for the legs if/as needed, etc.). A zip lock baggie is provided, but it's too small for the printed instructions. There is a reasonably nice bag into which this all fits, yet it would have taken very little more cloth and a zipper to put in a small pocket on the outside of the bag in which to fit the hardware and instructions for availability during outings. The essential hardware can EASILY be lost, and the instructions need to be available for occasional reference (at least until the user gets fully used to all the functions, etc., and how they operate or need to be adjusted and put together, etc.). Instead, you'll have to simply drop the instruction packet and all the hardware down into the long bag and hope you don't end up losing them. Fishing them back out will be a hassle that could have easily been avoided. Just not user-friendly - a real shame given the relatively nice quality of the product.