****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
The concept is fantastic - add the ability to put another vertical pole in your shortest leg to make both a two way stand, and also an adjustable third leg for uneven surfaces. Despite the high price compared to other stands, I bought one, thrilled by the adaptability.It arrived today. All the good things I expected are present, including the hook/clamp that can hold the second vertical when not in use, or hook batteries and sandbags or camera bags. There are lots of great design features here.Put there are some big negatives. All the locking handles are plastic, instead of metal. If I were using this as a location stand that was moving around a lot, I'd return it for that reason alone. With rough use, those are going to break. There are some other pieces on the top locking rings that appear to be plastic as well. For this price, this should be an all steel stand. Also the low leg, that is also the additional vertical doesn't extend out as far from the body as the short leg on my other C stands. On my flashpoint stand, that leg's foot is 14" from the vertical pole. On the Savage, it's 11" That makes the stand less stable in the two directions around that leg, and it's noticeable. If you push it towards the high leg, it resists tipping much better than if you push it away from it. That difference is a function of the design, and as long as you make sure you're using the stand properly, with the high leg aimed at your subject, it's probably fine, but it's definitely something to be aware of.All in all, you have to consider this stand as big trade-offs, giving up some stability for the novel and useful design. But there's no reason for the use of plastic at this price, and for that reason I'm only giving it three stars. I'll keep it for use in my studio, but I won't travel with it much, and won't be buying any others.
