Would you believe it's true, if someone offered a full featured Tripod Leveling Base, capable of holding 15 kg (33 lb) within a range of +/- 16°, with a Fluid dampened smooth operation, at half the price from competition?
Well it's true, since Desmond Photographic Dist. just did with the release of Desmond DLB-66 Tripod Leveling Base.
DLB-66 features a 66 mm (2.6") diameter Top Platform, a 60mm (2.36") diameter Base, 42 mm (1.65") Height, Weighing only 262 gr (9.24 oz).
It is an all metal construction with no plastic or rubber, while it includes a bubble spirit level and an 1/4" to 3/8" stainless steel bushing adapter.
All the above sound very promising considering the very affordable price, so stay tuned as I think it deserves a full evaluation and review soon.
Price & Availability:
Current price for the Desmond DLB-66 is US$ 59.00 and
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I bought one of these and the tightening screw for the base stripped after 2 uses. It's also ridiculously heavy and the leveling action is extremely jerky. I would not recommend this at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback and I'm sorry you run into a bad copy. Although the evaluation copy, which I have for a long time in my hands, operates very smoothly and has not shown any issue regarding the base lock lever, I contacted Desmond, who verified that there were some faulty copies in the initial production batch. In this respect you can return it for an exchange within the warranty period.
DeleteHowever, I regard your comment about "ridiculously heavy" as unsubstantiated since according to my measurements DLB-66 weighs 262gr bringing it among the lightest leveling bases in its class, only by 22gr heavier than the lightest and quite lighter than the rest.