SLIKLeveling Unit II - Black & Blue

It slips pretty easily. I have several leveling bases. The Kingjoy, Neewer, Gemtune models all slip at about the same torque ratio as this one. It's around 15lbs by my estimation. 22lbs sounds like a bit of an exaggeration but I'll test it with weights. The Manfrotto 438 is amazingly tough and holds with conviction. This unit is not "worse" than the Manfrotto... it's just DIFFERENT. This unit is *by far* the easiest to use of all of them. That's why it gets 4 stars. It is the clear winner in the ease of use category. But if it were twice as strong, or if there were a 'heavy duty' version, I can tell you honestly I would never use anything else. But alas, all we have is this one that works well with your standard DSLR hobbyist rig, but slips if you place a TV camera on it. So for the time being, it remains my second strongest unit.

Even after using my Benro tripod for years, I still have to stop and look down to make sure I'm adjusting the right angle. With the SLIK Leveling Unit II, it's one turn of the control ring, balance, tighten and done! Used it for the first time on a real estate shoot and it made my workflow SO much damn easier! Don't see how I never got one sooner! Sturdy, heavy (aluminum?), absolutely love it!

While researching tripod leveling bases, this was one of two that were different than the rest. Instead of an arm to tighten/untighten the leveling base, it is a simple rotating horizontal ring. So no worries about the arm hitting the bottom of the tripod legs. Twist to tighten and untighten. No hex wrench to worry about either. This all metal level comes with the proper screw mounts for the tripod and ball head. I hope in future revisions they will make the bubble bigger, so it's easier to read at night. Overall I am very happy with the purchase.

Nice compact design but the release ring can get a bit jammed up when screwing in and operating a heavy fluid head.

This is one of the best leveling units I have used. It is real easy to set up and allows me to take level panorama photos with ease. I no longer have to mess around with the the tripod legs. I highly recommend this product.

In my opinion, this unit is better than Acratech Leveling Base

I bought this product used- stated " like new". It looks fine but the leveling head was stuck and would not budge. I wish someone had tested it before it was shipped- very disappointed.