I purchased this product because recently I started a YouTube channel and I have been doing quite a bit of recording videos lately. I had a very cheaply made stand for some lighting that I modified so that I could screw a quarter inch toilet bolt on to it and was able to mount my camera onto the end of that. It was better than no tripod at all, but the more I used it, the more I realized that it was time for an upgrade. What a night and day difference I experienced once I began using this tripod. When this product first arrived the box was so small that I thought that there was going to be some type of assembly required before I can use it. Upon opening the box, I discovered that the tripod is already assembled. It is just oriented inside of the zip-up carrying case to where it takes up the least amount of room possible. or transportation, etc. Set up with super easy. The multiple rings along the main shaft of the tripod can be easily unscrewed an extended by pulling on them and screwing back tight once extended. The three legs are just as simple to extend, if not easier. Each leg has three levers that can be easily released and the leg can then be pulled out to extend and once it's fully extended to your desired length, the three levers can be locked back down, holding everything in place. A lot of other tripods have bars connecting the three legs on the sides so that when one leg is angled out away from the center of the tripod, the other 2 legs must be angled out at the same angle. This is not the case with this tripod, and it gives you the ability to extend and /or angle out the legs in all different lengths or angles, therefore being able to set this tripod up on even the most uneven surfaces. The camera mount part of the tripod is very well made. Everything slides and turns and pivots smoothly, and once locked, it all stays that way. The part with the actual 1/4 in threads that screws in to your camera is a small removable metal plate that can easily be taken out and screwed to the bottom of your camera and then clipped back onto the tripod. This allows you to not have to balance the camera on the top of the tripod as you are screwing it into the threads. This potentially eliminates instances of stripping threads or not being able to get the thread started. Overall, this is a very good entry to mid-level tripod and I am very impressed with the overall build quality and functionality of it. I'm very satisfied with my purchase and I would definitely recommend this product to anyone interested.