SLIK F630 Tripod Review

       SLIK F630 Tripod Review

      In a huge jungle of tripods out there Slik F630 is one such tripod that comes out of the store with you for $30 - $40. This is the superior model to the popular Slik F153. The vital stats of this tripod states-  

a) Tripod Weight - 1.32kg

b) Folded Length - 56 cm

c) Maximum Operating Height- 147 cm

d) Max Center Column Height- 32.5 cm

e) Max Loading Capacity- 1.5 kg

1. Brand Talk:

     This tripod is made by SLIK, a Japanese company. They are a camera tripod only manufacturing company ("which means they only care about tripods"). They are a well established brand from 50 years and have won many accolades for their innovations in the tripod industry.

Yup! This is their logo

2.   Out of the box:

     The box looks boring ("what can you expect from a tripod box anyway"). Leaving aside the looks, it packs a punch inside it. A tripod, tripod bag and its manual comes out the box. Ya that’s it, enough of the box talk!

The Box

Stripped Naked from left- carry bag, tripod with user manual and box

                         
     

The Carry Bag

                                                    
  3. Features:

     

          The tripod looks beautiful, with an all black attire. It definitely catches eye's. 

The Tripod folded

The designed load capacity is about 1.5 kg, which is enough for a Cropped Sensor DSLR or point and shoot cameras, camcorders ("obviously!"). The tripod increases your weight by 1.32 kg ("that is if you hold it and check your weight on a weighing scale"). It is a 3 way pan head type tripod, which means you can do panning, tilting in up, down and side direction ("that's impressive!"). The mounting of the camera is with the quick release shoe, to which the camera has to be mounted and should be locked on the tripod with the help of the quick release shoe lock lever. Panning is done with the help of the Pan handle. 

Panning with the help of the pan handle

Panning can be locked with the help of the panning lock knob. Tilting in the up, down direction is controlled by the pan handle. The lock for it is provided in the pan handle itself. Tilting sideways is done by releasing the vertical tilt lock through the vertical tilt knob and by turning the head in the required direction. The centre column can be extended with the help of the elevation crank handle which drives the rack. There is a radial lock to lock the extension ("nice"). There is a single bubble spirit level to show the level of the tripod. The radial extension of the legs is done by the radial braces connected to the center column along with the lock. The three legs of the tripod is extended by releasing the leg lock levers ("specifically there are 2 of them at each legs") . Feature wise this tripod has the basic minimum for amateurs at this price.

4. Design & Build Quality:

         I must say the build of the tripod is fantastic. It feels premium when operating it, that’s it! This tripod is made in China. The three legs feel very rigid, there are no loose links of any sort.  The leg lock levers, which are good; very snappy I must say ("not too hard to open or not to loose;which is you know good "). At the bottom there are rubber tips to face the ground.  The leg braces are strong along with the center column lock. The neck is made of good quality poly-carbonate plastic. There is a beautiful spirit level attached to the neck. Now coming to the pan type tripod head, which I must say is also of good quality poly-carbonate plastic. This is one piece of a nice head ! The pan handle and pan lock knob are very robust and have a great feel. The movement bearings also give you a feel that they are good.  The quick release shoe,  shoe lock lever, vertical tilt lock knob , center column locking collar, elevation crank handle are all from good poly-carbonate plastic build. The center column extension is made of aluminium, but the rack and pinion gear arrangement is of poly-carbonate plastic (" you don’t want them getting rusted, do ya").  Although I felt the center column elevation crank handle could have been designed better, for quick control. Overall for this price range I can say this type of build quality is one of the best you can get. There is a carry sleeve given along with the tripod, which you know is ok at best.

5. Operation:

  
         You really want to operate it when you see it. The radius of the leg can be easily increased or decreased because of the good leg brace arrangement.  The locking of the braces is also easy using the ring locking collar. The extension of the legs is very smooth through the leg lock lever. The center column extension is smooth, but the retraction has some jerks to it, which you know is ok! ("thank god").  The panning movement is also smooth. The locks are a bit tight, but you know they have to be that way (" you don’t want your dslr controlling your tripod, do you"). The tilting up, down motion is fantastic at best. The sideways tilting motion needs a bit power to be put to the head, but that’s the way it should be, being the most critical part of the tripod. The quick release shoe can be easily detached and mounted. But I felt attaching my DSLR to the shoe was a bit difficult, but you know its not a major problem ("remember practice makes a man perfect"). All locks in the tripod were strong and makes you feel more confident of what you are doing (" which is the only thing we want right "). Overall the operation is very easy, no problems as such.

6. Conclusion:

  
      There are a lot of tripods in the market out there with interesting specs, but you can know which one is the best by only trying them out, which I have done and am writing my experience. I brought this tripod for around Rs.1750 in India roughly around $30 from an online store, it retails for around Rs.2500 ($42) here.  But for this price I think this is one of the best you can get. The superb build quality, looks, ease of operation, features more than justifies its price. So Slik F630, I would certainly recommend.

Please leave comments below, it will help me to improve in the future.