SIRUI AM-25S Video Tripod, 74.8″ Professional Heavy Duty Tripod with Adjustable Damping Fluid Head for Camcorder, Cameras, DSLR, 360° Pan & +90°/-75° Tilt, Quick Release Plate, Max Load 22.0lb

Good tripod for the money – works well.
Very nice – good quality, smooth operation, stable too. I’ve worked with similar designed tripods costing ten times more yet this one performs very close to them at a much lower cost.

Just what I needed and so much more! Great investment
I’m a casting director and also offer audition recording services for actors. I use a top of the line consumer camera with an attached boom mic, so nothing too heavy, but this tripod could clearly handle much heavier professional gear. During auditions, and going from record session to record session, the height of the camera is constantly adjusting up and down to accommodate actor height differences, sitting, standing, etc. This has been a challenge for the lighter weight consumer tripods, even with the larger legs, but not enough to justify a big and bulky $600+ tripod geared more towards professional gear. However, the SIRUI AM-255 is the “just right” fit between consumer and professional needs, to include the price. The floating head is a bonus feature I never knew how much I needed and wanted. The added height from previous, less stable 72″ options is really helpful with actors over 6 foot. My last tripod was a top price point among consumer offerings, much heavier duty than previous options, but there was an audible sound whenever tilting up and down that was very frustrating. Not so with the AM-255. All is quiet and smooth, and the unit is super stable, easy to raise and lower without risking pinched fingers while doing so. The size and weight are sturdy, but lightweight enough to travel with for remote projects. If I had a additional casting or recording rooms, I’d purchase this tripod again and again, but as one of my actor clients noted while admiring my new purchase – “This may go with you to the grave it’s so well built!”

Feels solid for the weight
I looked at everything else that was available before picking this tripod which was the most expensive, but now that I received it, I think the $50 or $100 difference was well invested. This tripod is metal where it counts and should last if treated well (no over tightening of the screws, not dropping but manually extending the legs when opening, letting locking ones loose during transport, etc). It strikes a good balance between sturdiness and weight and the panning is nice and smooth in both directions. Might be a bit tight vertically, but we’ll see how it ages. Now for the criticism:1. I am confident that this tripod will support my 9 lbs, $6K gear, but it still vibrates quite easily. I have not extensively tried it, but I suspect shooting with that 800mm setup will be tricky, especially if there is a bit of wind. Price of lightness, not much to do against that.2. No way to fully balance the system with only the 100-400mm lens and the battery pack. Attaching the camera itself rather than the lens creates way too much stress on the plastic battery pack. The solution is not to use the battery pack, which of course limits the continuous operating time. I do not know if there is an external power supply option.3. I would have liked a way to remove the spreader to setup the tripod on a steep slope. I might have to carry a screwdriver which is not optimal.4. Now for what I think is a big oversight: nor the bag, nor the tripod itself offer a shoulder strap options. For now, I added a spare camera strap to the tripod and that should do the job, but that does not look very good and I have no solution for the bag. The bag is well made and large enough, but it misses an other detail: there is no internal pocket where to store the two allen keys and maybe a few quarters to tighten the mounting screw.I would recommend for heavier gear.

Beast of a tripod
Build quality on this is fantastic. Heavy duty, supports my camera and teleprompter with no issues. Not the type of tripod you’d travel with but good for shooting videos in your office or studio with a mirrorless set up. I’d heard a lot of good things about Sirui prior to this, and the max weight capacity of 22lbs caught my eye. Very happy with this purchase.

Très bon pied stable

This tripod is sturdy and the fluid head is running smoothly, it would be good enough for amateurs and professionals alike. It is heavy so it is not a travel tripod, but if you need a sturdy non vibrating tripod and don’t want to spend thousands this is it. I can’t comment on the long-term reliability as I didn’t have it for long enough but the quality appears to be good to last for a long time. It comes with a good bag. I use it for spotting scope that needs stability and no vibration due to its large magnification.

Super quality tripod for a very reasonable price. Does what it should, material feels high quality, setup is easy and quick. Never worried about putting my camera gear on top of it. Bag that comes with has a handle thus easy to carry.