Velbon Ultrek UT-63D Tripod with QHD-63D Ball and Socket Head, UT-63D + QHD-63D

This is an example of superb design thinking. This is my second Velbon as I own the UT-53 which I have owned for seven years and it has never let me down. I am a professional advertising photographer. In my studio I have a Foba studio stand (look it up), many Manfroto tripods, and Ronford Baker video legs so I do know what I am talking about when I say that the Velbon is a truly professional piece of kit! If you are looking for the finest travel tripod which folds down to only 305mm long and will fit inside a camera bag then this is the only tripod to consider. It is sturdy, light and functional with no downsides! The Peak Design tripod is simply a folly compared to the Velbon. For the ridiculously cheap price which is over £300 cheaper than the Peak Design CF tripod you simply cannot go wrong! Why this tripod is ignored by reviewers on YouTube I simply do not know. Buy it, you won’t regret it!

It's a pretty cool tripod. You don't need my to write up everything about it, check You Tube. One thing to say: the twisty-locky thingy mechanism for extending legs is not always perfect. It's inconsistent and makes you look like a blind drunk giraffe in front of anyone around you that you were trying to impress with your "look at me, I'm a pro" tripod. I've also had (and lost) the manfrotto befree tripod, very similar, but it had standard clippy things for the legs. I prefer them, but this tripod packs away smaller.

I love these little tripods, so much so that I have two of them. The folding leg and locking leg design is a really nice. For saying how small the tripod reduces down when all folded up, it's surprisingly solid when in use. The build quality is excellent, no cheap plastic legs and all the moving parts have a good solid feel to them. Fair enough, you're not going to extend the legs to their full height and stick a DSLR with 200mm lens and expect a 10 second exposure in strong wind to be completely successful. However, when taking a full size tripod on holiday or on a long hike is not an option this is the perfect alternative. Not too heavy to be a pain in the backside but not too light to make is useless for the purpose either. I use two of these to support a 4foot slider with a Nikon D750 and 85mm lens for video work. True, I generally use it at the shortest height but it does the job more than adequately. The head too is a great little head. Solid in feel, good strong lock and a nice simple quick release mechanism. Even has a bubble. Bad points...I've used these two tripods extensively for several months and have yet to find any negatives...life is good.

Initial review: Purchased solely as a travel photography tripod. Really compact. Slightly heavier than I anticipated but OK. Seems very sturdy (for its size) when set up. It goes higher than I need. Seems to be a quality, well-engineered product. I note some other reviewers complained about the "twist to lock" mechanism on the 6-section legs, but I would suggest this is a good feature. My main tripod for birdwatching (and also to a lesser extent photography) is a Velbon 4-section carbon fibre tripod. It is a real hassle having to use the 12 "snap clips" every time I want to erect the tripod, so I reckon that once I get used to the "twist to lock" mechanism on this tripod, it will be easier and faster to set up than my carbon fibre tripod. I will update this review after a few week's use.

Really surprising tripod for its size. Compact yet capable of extension to quite high useage. Comes with a bag and small camera case as a bonus. It also includes a neat holder for iphone or android. Where weight may be an issue. As smart phones have much more advanced in having excellent photographic quality. Having your phone around more often plus this item may just help capture that ‘sweet photograph.’

This tripod folds up to be so small it makes it very attractive to use, so convenient to carry around. But it has one serious drawback, it's incredibly fiddly to erect The legs are locked into position by turning them, each individual section and you are not sure whether they have locked. And sometimes they don't lock properly! If I could find a manufacturer that made the same kind of compact device but with proper clamps that lock the legs into place rather than twist-the-sections I would jump at it and throw this away. But I can't. My advice is, buy this, but you do so knowing how difficult it is to erect and the risk of it not being secure. In use, my advice is, NEVER walk away from this tripod, always keep within an arm's length and your hand on the camera strap so you can catch the camera and tripod if it starts to collapse. Update: Having owned this tripod for some length of time now, and having used it a few times. I absolutely hate it. Yes, it's very compact, convenient to carry around, but the leg locks are totally useless. It takes ages to set the tripod up and get all 3 legs to the same length! Seriously, it's not easy to get that basic requirement right. Then when you've think you've tightened up the leg locks enough, as you're using it, invariably one leg will start to shorten as it pushes backup in the tube of the previous stage of the leg. It's a complete nightmare! It simply relies on friction between the leg sections, as you turn them, the friction increases. Apply enough weight and the friction is overcome and the leg section is pushed up inside the previous section. There is no actual lock to lock the sections into place. Sorry, I have to issue the following advice: don't buy this model, it is not worth the hassle. I am now looking for a new tripod with proper locking leg clamps using levers.

It’s perfect for trips in the hills if you accept its limitations in terms sturdiness. I think it is too expensive for what it is. I’ve adapted mine so a bag or water bottle can be hung underneath to add weight. Quite happy with it.

Je cherchais un trépied que je puisse emporter avec ma moto, et j'ai découvert ce modèle dont je suis ravi. Il est extrêmement compact et plutôt léger. Alors forcément si on le déploie entièrement il n'est pas aussi rigide qu'un gros trépied, mais il est ô combien plus transportable.

Good small size and light weight to carry, when you do not want to be too heavy it is great to take it with you

Dopo infinite ricerche sul treppiedi adatto alle mie esigenze, sono approdato a questo della Velbon. Un marchio che già conoscevo, in quanto felice possessore del modello cx-560. Un pò datato come treppiedi, ma come nuovo nonostante i tanti anni alle sue spalle. Cercavo un modello davvero ridottissimo nelle dimensioni, da utilizzare durante i miei viaggi e nelle escursioni. La Velbon è un marchio pochissimo conosciuto in Italia, ma con la garanzia di un prodotto perfetto made in Japan. Anche su Amazon, quelli che vanno per la maggiore sono i Manfrotto, Benro ecc... Purtroppo, di questi modelli, se si cerca un modello molto piccolo hanno il rovescio della medaglia di non essere tanto elevati in altezza o di non essere effettivamente così piccoli. Questo modello, dalla lunghezza totale chiuso di 298mm, arriva nella sua massima estensione ad un altezza di 1553mm e con una capacità di carico di 3kg. Il suo sistema delle gambe è di tipo telescopico a 6 sezioni. Temevo in verità che fosse poco stabile e che mi si sbriciolasse in mano nella sua massima apertura, invece sono rimasto basito dalla solidità e fermezza del treppiede, sempre tenendo conto di quanto possa essere piccolissimo una volta richiuso. Il sistema telescopico delle gambe sembra ben fatto. Mi auguro che duri sempre e non solo ora che è nuovo. Insomma, un prodotto da 6 stelle su 5.

軽さナンバーワン。脚の固定は回転式で、伸縮部分をすべて一度に固定&開放できて楽チンです。登山のお供に使っています。 使用中にカメラに触れば揺れてしまうので、リモコンかレリーズは必須かと。同じ理由で動画用には向かないと思います。 使用中もう少し三脚を安定させたいような時には、カラビナが付いているのでそこに荷物をかけて使ったりしています。

Ich habe mich mit dem Thema Stativ recht intensiv auseinander gesetzt und bin nur durch Zufall auf dieses Stativ gestoßen. Meine Kaufkriterien waren eine hohe Arbeitshöhe und recht kleine Packmaße. Somit standen eigentlich nur die Stative von Cullmann, das MeFoto und eben das von Velbon zur Auswahl. Gegen das Cullmann Nanomax hab ich mich recht schnell entschlossen, da es unfassbar dünne Beine hatte und von der Arbeitshöhe nicht ansatzweise an die beiden letztgenannten heran reichte. Somit blieb nur der Vergleich zwischen dem Velbon und dem Mefoto. Zwischen den beiden gab es wenig Unterschiede, wobei mich dann die Packmaße wie auch der Faltmechanismus des Velbon überzeugten. Ich benutze das Stativ in Verbindung mit einer EOS 70D und einem 18-200mm Objektiv. Mit dem zusammen gelieferten Kugelkopf, der bis 3 kg Gewicht aushält, ist das eine super Kombination. Dazu muss ich aber sagen, dass ich reiner Hobby-Fotograf bin, der eigentlich nur bei Schönwetter Fotos macht. Das bedeutet, dass es bei Wind natürlich zu (leichten) Verwacklern kommen kann, da die Angriffsfläche der Kamera dann nicht zu unterschätzen ist. Letztenendes war es mir aber wichtiger das Stativ immer dabei zu haben als ein großes und schweres zuhause liegen zu haben. Fährt man es jedoch nicht auf die volle Arbeitshöhe aus, wird es dementsprechend stabiler. Bei voller Arbeitshöhe kann ich als 195cm großer Mann hervorragend damit arbeiten. Zusammenfassend kann ich nur sagen, dass dieses ein hervorragendes, sehr gut verarbeitetes Stativ ist. Die Qualität der Beine macht einen guten Eindruck und auch der Mechanismus, der sich mit einer Handbewegung ausfahren lässt, überzeugt mich vollständig. Die mitgelieferte Tasche ist ebenfalls sehr praktisch und ich kann nicht verstehen, warum es keine Rezensionen zu diesem Artikel gibt (weshalb ich diesen hier mal schreibe ;))