Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony VCT-R640 Lightweight Tripod for DSCV1/P41/W1/P93/P73/P92/P100/P150/F88/F828 Digital Cameras

When I was shopping for this, one review caught my eye saying this tripod was "mostly metal." That claim, along with the light weight in the description, were the two things that sold me on the model.

Well, NEITHER ARE TRUE. This thing is indeed mostly plastic made to look like black metal. Apparently, this fooled the other reviewer, but not me. The only metal I found on the whole thing were the bars of the legs themselves, and the bar of the swivel handle. Every single other part of this thing is black plastic. All of the hinges and joints are plastic. The leg braces are plastic. The height crank is plastic (yikes!). Even the center tube is PLASTIC. Overall, it looks nice, I'll give them that; but please know that you are NOT getting a "mostly metal" tripod here. No way.

Now, that by itself wouldn't be too bad, except that you'd expect something that's nearly all plastic to be much lighter - it isn't. The part of the description that reads:

Product Dimensions: 22.3 x 5 x 4.9 inches ; 1 pounds

..is WRONG. Maybe this thing weighs 1 pound on the moon, but it's much heavier where I'll be using it, here on earth. It is, indeed, much closer to it's described shipping weight:

Shipping Weight: 4 pounds

Why the large discrepancy? Who know? Sloppiness on Amazon's part, I guess. At any rate, the weight was key for me, and there were several tripods lighter than 4 lbs which I passed up. I guess I should have trusted my instincts when they told me this was too good to be true.

Anyway, if I'm going to buy a plastic tripod, I want it to be much lighter than 4 lbs.

I bought this tripod a short while ago, and I'm extremely glad I did. It's very light and easy to carry around, even without a carrying bag or even a handle, neither of which it comes with. The bubble level built into it is very handy to have and works well. And with a little practice, you can break and set it, camera attached, in 10 to 15 seconds (provided you keep the quick release tab screwed to the bottom of your camera, like I do), so you won't miss that once in a lifetime shot. It's also very inexpensive and easy to use, with a head that has a fantastic range of movement. And while the legs, when fully extended, don't bring it all the way up to eye level, it brings it close enough to keep you comfortable while looking through the camera. If need be, just buy a small folding travel chair to carry with you and use with the tripod.

I use this "Handycam" tripod for my Sony Alpha DSLR-A700 which doesnt say is compatable through Sony. Works like it should, very lightweight, easy to use, and a great tripod.

This is a nice lightweight tripod from Sony. Stable and well built. I have used it with both still and video cameras without any problems. It would be nice if it came with a travel bag of some sort.

I bought this tripod just a few days ago through Amazon.com. First, it shipped on time and arrived on the first estimate date. It's got the basic features, and although it may not stand up to the wilderness, it certainly is well made. All the movements are smooth, and don't jerk at all. I have owned a couple of cheaper tripods from wal-mart, and paid $25 for them. This is only a little more money, but you get a lot of quality for the price!