My old Manfrotto just broke (it’s been a disappointment generally) so it was time to try something different. I was attracted to this one because you can tilt the central column over by 90 degrees. I do macro photography and this makes it much easier to get the camera just where you want it, even when you’re against a table or need to point the camera straight down. I also like how you can have the legs at different angles – there’s a simple ratchet on each leg and you can splay the legs right out and have your camera nearly at ground level. It’s just tall enough for me when fully extended (I’m 172cm tall).The damped fluid head rotates really smoothly in two different places. You'd be able to do really nice video pans with this, especially if you have the central column at 90 degrees and use it as a handle.It’s not especially heavy but when collapsed to be its smallest does feel quite chunky. But it’s easy to carry over your shoulder with the very nice padded carry case. There’s even a velvet pouch to protect the head of a tripod in there. And there’s a sprung hook at the bottom of the column to hang something like a heavy bag to stabilise the tripod.There are so many features my old tripod didn’t have, like a bubble spirit level, easy conversion to a monopod (you get a small extension tube and an allen key for this), and a quick release plate. I’m starting to be glad the Manfrotto broke!All the knobs and moving parts operate smoothly. The tripod feels solid and well-engineered and is a pleasure to use. It looks good too.Any niggles? Hardly. Mine doesn’t stand ‘quite’ straight even with all legs fully extended, though that doesn’t matter because you level the camera at the head. Also, I would have preferred all the adjustment knobs to be wing nuts. Only one is and you realise it’s easier than the others to turn, but it’s no big deal. Oh, and the instructions are terrible.Overall, I think this is great tripod, the best I've used. It's good value too.