The construction of the Tripod and ballhead are top notch. Legs extend smoothly. The height is incredible when everything is fully extended. I'm removing one star from the rating for two reasons: First, the carbon fiber stiffness seems to be less than more expensive brands. In practice, when fully extending the tripod, you will definitely feel a "jelly wiggle" if you twist it side to side. If you only have two of the legs extended it mostly goes away and you are still at normal height. The other ding is the ballhead. I have a LH-55 from years ago that I love. I would say that it is on par with a RRS equivalent. This one fell short for me. The texture of this ballhead feels different. Less smooth. In practice that means more friction when it's loosened with almost a stickiness when trying to micro adjust, and needing to wrench down on the knob more to lock it off. I also feel like it wasn't tuned as well before leaving the factory. The hex screw inside the big knob hasn't been tightened down enough, so you really need to keep twisting to lock and unlock the head. My old one locks out with a quarter-half of a turn. The new one needs about 3 twists, and a lot of muscle. That can be a pretty significant issue if you are readjusting the tripod all day long. My fingers and writs were sore! I would have adjusted it myself, but there is a glued metal plate covering the opening so you can't get to the hex screw.
