Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony VCT-R640 Standard Tripod

I've been looking for a tripod that reaches eye level, and was lightweight and easy to set up. I have found it. The Sony VCT-R640 Standard Tripod takes care of the basics, even contains a spirit level so that you know your camcorder is shooting straight. This feature is worth the tripod's weight in gold in itself. In addition to this, it's handy levers allow you to pan to the left and right without too much jerkiness.

I actually considered buying their more expensive tripod with all the bells and whistles, having seen a demonstration at the local Sony shop. Now that I have this basic model, I can honestly say that there is no need. The basic model provides all the functionality you need at amateur or semi-professional level.

Oh, and thanks Amazon for delivering it so quickly.

All I wanted was a basic tripod for my Sony camera, I'm not a professional photographer but would like to be one, so this tripod offered me a starting point from which to build. It does all of your basic tilt and rotate, the height is amazing at approximately 1.6 or 7 meters at full height and about 0.6 meters at its smallest, with the addition to changing the different lengths of the legs; it offers an amazing versatility.

If you want a tripod that you can carry in a large rucksack that doesn't cost you the earth with all of those remote control gizmo's then this is the one for you. Good Price, Good Standard ... Happy Customer.

Ok, having bought this as a first-time tripod I thought you might like to know a few details. Firstly, when the legs are fully extended it takes up a triangular footprint with each side being 95cm. With the central column unextended, the full leg extension gives you a height of 115cm. Extending the wind-up central column gets you up to 145cm in height.

So far, so good.

However, a few negatives to note. First, the tilt and pan action doesn't have a satisfying damped action. It's not jerky by any means, but it just isn't creamy smooth, so you tend to grip the tripod arm a little more than you have to, to compensate. Also, because of the tripod's light weight (just over 1 kg), when you wind-up the central column the whole tripod wobbles a little bit on its legs, so you have to place your spare hand on one of the legs to steady it. Not a problem between shots, but if you're ratcheting it up mid-filming, it's a bit of a pain.

I give it 4 stars though, because it is well put together, and Sony give you a spirit level and a 90-degree tilt on the platform for portrait shots. If, like me, what you're looking for is a means of steadying your family snapshots on the go, I would personally recommend going for a monopod instead.

Sturdy, adjustable and easy to use. I have been using this for over a year now and have no complaints.

Wow, this tripod is great! For such a good price you get everything you could need. It's maximum height is more than enough for the tallest of people, its very easy to use and is very lightweight.

If there was 1 gripe it would be that they could have added a couple of hooks for a strap, but with a bit of DIY it fits nicely over my shoulder.