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BookmarkThe NEW SLIK PRO 340 EZ tripod uses the light-weight PRO 340 DX legs in black color, coupled with a new SH-707E Multi-action pan head.
A.M.T. makes all the difference.
SLIK's exclusive A.M.T. super Aluminum-Magnesium-Titanium alloy legs make the PRO 340 EZ Black tripod very steady and easy to carry. The A.M.T. alloy has a 40% greater strength to weight ratio than standard aluminum, making it lighter and stronger than the standard metal used in most tripods.
A tripod should be solid and easy to use, so you spend more time concentrating on your photography than you do your equipment.
The PRO 340 EZ makes setting up easy with secure, speed-release leg locks. Padded leg wraps make the tripod more comfortable to carry. A gearless center column and 3-position, multi-angle leg locks allow easy set-up on uneven ground or steps. The PRO 340 EZ center column is actually two threaded pieces that unscrew to convert the top piece to a short column. This combined with the adjustable leg angle locks allows the tripod to be lowered to just 10 inches for very low angle or macro photography in the field.
Stable all-metal SH-707E multi-action pan head with easy-to-use quick release.
The included SH-707E all-metal pan head has nearly a pound of finely cast and precisely machined aluminum. The single handle operation has just one control for both pan and tilt movements. This style of head is perfect for tracking moving subjects with a spotting scope or binoculars. For this application there is a long pan handle available as an optional accessory. It also uses a fast and easy to use quick-release plate to securely mount a camera or spotting scope on the tripod. The mount for the quick-release can rotate 360&Mac176; and be locked down facing in any direction.
After reading some of the other reviews regarding this tripod, I was convinced to buy one; I was not at all disappointed. In fact, it even surpassed my expectations.
I like to travel light with only a carry-on sized wheeled suitcase and a laptop bag. By unscrewing the top head as mentioned in a previous review, I was able to fit the tripod into my small carry-on suitcase on top of my clothes without any problems! Size was very important to me for that reason.
Functionally, the attention to detail in the construction is great. Setting it up is very simple and very stable even when fully extended. Having the ability to rotate the top mount of the head without loosening the handle is fantastic for final adjustments or panoramic photography.
For a list of everything the tripod is capable of, take a few minutes to read the few paged illustrated manual; that’s when I was really pleasantly surprised. From being able to set up the tripod to only be a few inches tall, to the panning features.
All in all, it’s a fantastic tripod.
I was quite pleased when I received this tripod. It was classified as “heavy duty, but lightweight,” so I assumed it would be heavier than the old one I was replacing. It is sturdy, well made and lightweight, therefore, I am very happy with it. I have the Slik tabletop tripod and love that one as well.
After researching quite a bit into the various tripod options available to me, I finally settled on this one. I was mainly interested in a tripod that was small and compact enough that I could carry it with me and pack easily into my luggage for travel. It had to be able to handle the weight of my 40D and a 70-200mm f/4 IS lens. For me, a tripod left at home because it was too inconvenient or bulky is useless….
This tripod is truly impressive. I’ve had it for almost a year now, with no problems at all. The manufacturer specs show it folds to 19.3″ (49 cm), but if you unscrew the top head, it will fold to 17″ (44 cm), which is truly compact enough to bring along with you just about anywhere.
The included pan head is excellent – although I have to admit I ended up being more of a ball head user, and have mainly used these legs with a Manfrotto 486RC2 ball head. This screws on easily, though you will want a thread adapter (these are available from any photo shop for under $5).
The legs are rated to 8.8 lbs (4 kg), which is more than enough for a DSLR and even a large lens.
The legs fold out to three different angles (set with a small lock atop each leg), allowing quite a wide base if necessary.
The legs telescope in 4 sections, which is why it can fold so compactly and still reach a height of 58″ (147 cm). They are sturdy enough to be stable for my purposes.
The foam pads on the legs are quite convenient, allowing much easier use in cold weather (hold cold bare metal tubes is, well, cold!).
Overall, this is a bargain for a tripod. You can pay much, much more for a carbon fiber tripod that won’t really serve you much better nor save a significant amount of weight. It is LIGHT, COMPACT, and STABLE. And at this price, it is a bargain.
The best tripod is the one you have with you when you take the shot – and this one is easily packed along, even in a backpack for those wonderful wilderness landscape shots. Go for it!
After a lot of research looking for a high quality tripod that folds very compactly yet extends to a usable height, I chose this model. This Slik AMT model is compact enough to throw in a backpack; a major plus for hiking and other outdoor activities. This model’s metal construction doesn’t feel flimsy yet it is not burdensomely heavy either. Legs are very steady when locked. I use this tripod with a small camcorder or DSLR with primes so I cannot testify as to how stable it is with long heavy zooms. The legs can be spread out at wide angle and center post can be separated in half for low ground or table shots. The tripod extends to a decent height. For a six-footer, it may not be at eye level fully extended but the compromise isn’t too bad considering its compactness, stability and cost. Foam leg coverings look cool and are nice to hold when moving the tripod around. The pan head is average and does not lock as stable as I would like. It is very sturdy and somewhat heavy and would be suitable for a larger tripod. The bubble levels aren’t accurate. For the price this is a very good and compact product suitable for medium to light devices. I really enjoy this versatile little tripod and I think you will too.
If you’re anything like me taking a picture without a tripod; that is, always looking for surfaces to put the camera on for long exposures, for group photos that include you, for macro shots under lighting conditions that are anything but enlightening, and folding camera shoulder straps to tilt the camera; then this tripod, or for that matter of fact, any tripod, is a godsend!
Okay, so I have only ever owned those 6″ mini-tripods before this, and have nothing to compare this tripod to, for a first full-length tripod this little thing satisfies my need for a tripod and my review will be about finding that satisfaction more than “buy this as opposed to whatever else is on the market”.
The requirements I had for a tripod were to have a short tripod when collapsed, with decent max height when extended, and for it to be lightweight but durable. If that is what you are looking for, this tripod is great! With my heaviest lens on my camera + camera hood (Rebel XTi + 17-55mm IS USM), fully extended, the tripod is plenty steady without any bending in the feet. This tripod stands just under 1.5m when fully extended and weighs just over 1.5 kg.
Forget the instruction booklet. As soon as I got the toy I began to explore it on my own. The first thing I noticed is that just about every piece of this tripod is adjustable. You can extend the feet at three sections, the center column, you can rotate the pan 3-way pan head, or hold it steady and move the top along one direction (e.g. rotate along the horizontal without moving the pan-head), you can shorten the center column or completely remove it and reverse it (have the pan-head hanging up-side down.) The legs can be spread to three different stops, setting up the camera to different heights but also increasing stability as the center of weight gets lower.
For the legs:
Changing the leg heights is a snap. Literally. It’s that easy. In fact, with the exception of the center column, every bit of this tripod is childishly easy to change.
For the rest:
The sponge covering on the tripod legs looks cool and makes carrying the tripod nice and comfortable. On the pan-head there are two bubble level columns built in. These are awesome, and were unexpected.
I’m not sure I would change anything about this tripod. No, not that I don’t know what to change, I could change a few things, like have the maximum height be higher and the weight lighter, I’d also have liked a light carrying case to come with it. What it is, is that knowing the specs in advance and having accepted them for the price range and overall weight, there is nothing I can think of to improve on this tripod. It is exactly what the specifications indicate, and it is also a pleasure to handle.
If you want something with a higher maximum length, that tripod exists from Slik. But you will have to sacrifice weight and a longer collapsed height to the tripod — an exchange I am not okay with, considering I travel and hike extensively.
I would highly recommend any tripod for anyone who is into photography. While I don’t have any reason to recommend this tripod versus any other one of similar specs (especially knowing this is my first), I would highly recommend it just for the fact I am far from disappointed with it; In fact I am very pleased. And it’s not so much that I love the tripod, but that with the tripod, I love using my camera much more! The ease with which the tripod can be used just makes taking pictures that much more of a pleasure, it takes little time to setup and adjust everything to just how I want it.
*Note: You can also begin to experiment with HDR, panoramas, and other cool camera techniques with a tripod among your camera equipment*
If you don’t have one, go get a tripod!
If you want one that has the specs of a Slik 340 EZ and are not sure about how user friendly it is, rest assured, this thing extends to your will.