E-Image tripods/heads..any feedback?

[Wayne Reimer]

I was wandering around my favorite camera store yesterday, and discovered they are carrying a fairly extensive line of E-Image tripods and heads. I was a bit surprised, since this is a national chain, that tends to stick with higher end "name" products.
I started playing around with a couple of the tripods they had on display, and was quite impressed with the overall "package" for the price. The products seem quite well made, tolerances are good, everything that "locks" does so with authority.
Since I had my camera in the car, I asked if I could mount it and test drive the tripods. I must say, I was impressed. the 5 & 6K offerings they had were beautiful; exttremely smooth pans, very stable platforms.
I then mounted my camera on their bargain basement set-up; $399 ( on sale) for a "fluid head" ( not sure about that) and tripod. Overall, it was much better than I would have expected, even for a cheap set up. Stable, smooth, several nice features that you normally don't see at that price point. Overall, it performed equal to or better than my Manfrotto tripod and head that's worth 3 times the money.
Given the performance, and the fact that it actually comes with a fairly nice padded carry bag, I'm tempted to pick one up for carrying in the trunk all the time as a casual use tripod.
Does anyone have any experience with this line? I believe they are manufactured by Weifeng in China.

[Brian Luce]

I looked in to these a while back, they get generally great reviews, and have purported great bang for the buck value.

[Wayne Reimer]

thanks Brian
Since I don't know when I may be back in Calgary ( where the camera store is located), I bit the bullet and bought one.
I spent half the day Saturday shooting with it, and I am very pleased I decided to pick it up. We had another of our usual spring days here; near hurricane force winds howling all day. I was shooting in a fairly exposed location, so wind buffetting was present, however the tripod and head were rock solid. Reviewing the footage there isn't a hint of any shake at all.
I tried setting up and balancing the head with a variety of configurations on my camera; rails on, rails off, handgrips and shoulder brace on and off, field monitor, lights, digital recorder ,etc.
Regardless of configuration, balancing was always accomplished in uder 30 seconds. the head has a pretty decent drag system with fine adjustment. Pans and tilts were comparable to my Manfrotto if not slightly smoother.
Overall, it's a VERY good system for lighter weight cameras. Even with the stripped down camera ( A sony VG-10) it is stable, smooth pans and tilts. with the entire shoulder brace set up, the camera is quite close to the max rated weight and is buttery smooth in all axis, leading me to think their load rating may be quite conservative.
Very good value for the money. I think it may see a fair bit of use

[Brian Luce]

Which model did you buy and what camera and accessories are you using?

[Wayne Reimer]

It's packaged as the EI-7050-AA Small DV Video Tripod Kit It includes the 7050H Fluid video head, AT7402B Aluminum tripod & Soft case.

I'm using it with a Sony VG-10 mounted on an Indi-systems Areeba shoulder brace/rail system, indi-systems follow focus and mattebox, and a 7in. Lilliput monitor. For tripod work, I remove the handgrips and shoulder brace/counterwieght, but even without it's pushing 10 lbs.

[Dan Jones]

+ 1

I picked one up off eBay for under $200.

Good quality for cheap.

Very tight pan/tilts, but the extendable pan-handle gives you plenty of leverage

The 75mm bowl also means I can remove the head and mount my DIY jib/slider on it too.
1 piece of kit - 3 purposes